Submitted by
Rolling Death
a Weekend Warrior
from Chico, Ca, U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: October 11, 2008
Strengths: So far the entire bike
Weaknesses: Me, the pilot.
Bottom Line:
This bike is 6 years old and in pristine condition. The gentleman I purchased it from took immaculate care of this bike. I was in the market to buy a new bike and my buddy found this Bullit on craigs list. I looked at it and knew it was a tough bike. So I bought it. Today I put it through a couple of tests on south rim and it performed beautifully. Felt like a Abrams tank under me. I really think they hit the bullseye with this bike. Its strong and light. And did I mention almost brand new. What a steal.
Submitted by
Garrett Glowienka
a
from Hope, British Columbia, Canada
Date Reviewed: December 31, 2006
Strengths: frame is bulletproof! "Everything"
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
Overall this bike is amazing! No complaints what so ever. I have owned it for about 6 days now, and I have increased the distance/fall on my gaps AND drops. This bike is good for everything! XC, Trails, Freeride, DH! Whatever you throw at it, its gonna handle. GO out and buy one, you wont be dissapointed
Similar Products Used: RM7, Norco Shore, Demo 8 II, A-line park edition, Devinci 8flat8
Bike Setup: Doubletrack rear, Doublewide front, DH2 Whitebrothers fork, WTB Seat, Fox Vanilla R 6"
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Allen Weton
a Racer
from Fort Collins, CO USA
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2006
Strengths: amazing bike! great metallic blue color. takes drops like nothing. flies high on dirt jumps. can pedal it around town. solid bike. feels smooth as butter.
Weaknesses: my chain guide and crank kept coming loose until i put some grease on them
Bottom Line:
this bike is sick! i would recommend a used one to anyone just starting out at freeride/downhill like me, or even experienced riders.
Favorite Trail: Virgin, Utah- Red Bull Proving Grounds
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Price Paid:
$950.00
Purchased At: my buddy Jason
Similar Products Used: Yeti ASX, Azonic Eliminator
Bike Setup: Jr TT in the front, 7' front and 7' rear, 2.6 tire on front, 2.6 in rear, Hayes nine- amazing brakes
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Allen Weton
a Racer
from Fort Collins, CO USA
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2006
Strengths: amazing bike! great metallic blue color. takes drops like nothing. flies high on dirt jumps. can pedal it around town. solid bike. feels smooth as butter.
Weaknesses: my chain guide and crank kept coming loose until i put some grease on them
Bottom Line:
this bike is sick! i would recommend a used one to anyone just starting out at freeride/downhill like me, or even experienced riders.
Weaknesses: The swing arm flexes a little and the 5th element bottoms out alot
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike to jump because it is light and flies high but dont clip the landing or it will bottom out. It also flexes at high speed or if you land crooked. But it is a great bike.
Strengths: 5th Element shock, great simple single pivot frame
Weaknesses: no replaceable rear derailleur hangar, uncommon seatpost diameter
Bottom Line:
changing the rear triangle to fit 8" rotor and larger tires was a good change for 03-04 and the 5th Elelment helps alot to get this boat anchor up the hills. This bike handles big hits and rolls over alot of stuff an XC bike can only dream of.
Bike Setup: Marzocchi triple Drop Off, XT, Hayes 9, Easton
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ky surfin
a Downhiller
from Van Island, BC
Date Reviewed: October 17, 2004
Strengths: Was tough till today. I easily land 20+ foot gappers, 10 foot flat landing drops, and 20 foot to tranny; landing is solid. I weigh 190 geared up. Awesome bike, I'm rotted out.
Weaknesses: Was lovin' the bike. Today(OCT 17/04), broke it. Not happy. On the right side of the rear triangle, it snapped and the piece on top the pivot bolt broke. It went all squirrelly on me, I figured it was my rear tire not my FRAME! ughh... Looks like I need a new rear triangle, time to polish I guess... or VP FREE??
Bottom Line:
Not happy about this breaking, all you hear about it is how reliable the bullit is... how it's bombproof, can take a beating. I just broke it, walking my dogs (pitties!) I broke my bullit... not cool. At the bottom of Peckerhead there are 18 built jumps/drops, I hit that at least 5 times a week, maybe there are limits... I dunno, going to grab a new triangle and either sell it and buy a VP free or see if I can break it again.
I don't care where you ride you can always have fun on a bulli, Mine weighs in at around 46lbs. and I can still manage 20 mile rides, Karpiel, Sticks and Stones, Towers in SLO, or Mine Trail in Sonora, no problem. it is the perfect bike for near any occasion!!!!
Similar Products Used: Rocky mountain PipeLine(crap), GT LTS 2000DS, Trek Y-3 (What, it was my first bike?)
Bike Setup: Fifth ele, Shiver, MAG 30'S, Minion's, LRP, Hayes Purple
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
joey
a Downhiller
from australia,blue mountains
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2004
Strengths: tough as nails
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
What can i say that hasn't already been said.I have it set up for DH but wouldn't hesitate to take of on a 60 km crosscountry run.It promotes confidents,and you feel safe on it.It's saved my ass on a number of occassions.Buy this bike if you break things or are hard on things.(not just bikes)
Strengths: This bike can be built up any way you want! Strong enough for DH and just about light enough for a hardcore XC bike. My bike has had a fair amount of abuse, and is still going strong. I don't intend on changing the frame for some time yet!
Weaknesses: The bushings do need changing every so often if you ride hard. The rear end moves about when they need changing. I had to change my 5-th element spring as it was too soft standard, all sorted now thanks to FT Tuned.
Bottom Line:
If you are someone who gets through a lot of frames, I stongly suggest this one! I have yet to see one broken......(touch wood)...
If for some erason you get old and want to stop DH, just swap some bits around and you have yourself an XC bike!!
Similar Products Used: Orange Patriot, and 7+ Patriot.
Bike Setup: Shivers, Hope E4's (soon to be changed), Hope bulb hubs, Raceface Cranks, gigapipe DH bottom bracket, XT casset/chain e.t.c, 5th element, EA70 handlebars, Tioga White Tiger tyres, Mavic rims........
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Warren Cooksey
a Cross Country Rider
from North Lake Tahoe
Date Reviewed: December 22, 2003
Strengths: The frame is bombproof, 2001 w/ Fox Vanilla. I just bought the bike but I know I will have it a long time. It's indestructible.
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
This bike is the poo. I just bought it a few days ago for $1000, an incredible deal considering it's fully customized and no stratches. I just sold a XC bike and bought this because I enjoy hauling ass downhill. My XC bike was pretty beat up just cuz it's not designed to be hammered like a bullit. Mine is set up for DH, I am considering throwing on a couple of chainrings upfront so I can attempt to climb it. For now, I will probably use it strictly for DH, I need to invest in some body armor. It will be a big transition coming from XC riding but I am looking forward to see how it handles. A lot of people have complained about Hanebrink forks. Mine feels pretty good, its plush, no problems yet. The thing I like about the bike is that I always have the option of making it a freeride bike. I would recommend this bike to anyone who likes to ride aggressively and is not concerned about weight. (mine weighs about 45 pounds) Can be set up as a Freeride or Downhill. Nuff said.
Similar Products Used: First DH Freeride bike, used to have a Trek Fuel
Bike Setup: Hayes 8" disc brakes, Hanebrink 9" fork, Fox Vanilla, Mr. Dirt Gizmo, XTR shifters, derailluers, Azonic bars, shorty neck, 24" double wide rims, xt hubs, 3" tires
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Bird
a Weekend Warrior
from Las Pinas, Philippines
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2003
Strengths: -frame is very strong and reliable - accepts 8-inch rotors - minimal bob - very plush feel because of 5-th -easy maintenance
Weaknesses: -stock spring is to soft.
Bottom Line:
In shopping for a full suspension frame, I was looking for a good all-around bike that can be riden everywhere with more bias on the light freeride, and downhill capabilities. I paid a little more for this frame versus the other frames that were available but no regrets.
I now have more confidence in doing more technical lines. Doing DH is now much easier. Doing up to 4-foot drops is easy for me know. I just have to muster more courage to go higher but I'm sure there will be no problem with this frame when I decide to go higher.
On the 5th element, the bike came with a 325 lbs spring. The previous owner was about 170 lbs., like me. Even after reading the manuals and experimenting the shock settings. I still have problems with bottoming even at 2 foot drops. My basis is the bottoming feel and the bottoming damper on the shaft. I was afraid I'd destroy the shock/frame if I bottomed it often enough. I switched to a 375 which I still bottomed, and later to a 475 spring. As is turned out, I liked the feel of the 475 spring much better. My set-up is now volume adjuster 2 turns out, 110 psi, beginning stroke, full-out, ending stroke, 1.5 turns out. But what I don't understand is that a friend, weighing 260lbs, who has a similar frame-fork set-up, uses a 375lbs spring on his 5th. Please email me if you have any comments on this.
Also, putting a 7-inch fork is the best upgrade you can do for this baby.
What I like best about this frame is that you can just ride into tough terrain without having to worry whether your frame/bike can hold up to the punishment you give to it.
Having to save for a long time for the frame enabled me to try out and reseach on a lot of types and brands of aggressive XC/ freeride/DH frame. I'd like to give credit to my friend Rocky Lim, who was very generous in letting me try out his bullit, to help me in making the best choice.
Strengths: The frame is perfect you can hit anything (relitivly) speaking). I have had no problems with the frame, gears, shocks, rims or tires. There is no complaining here!
Weaknesses: There isn't!
Bottom Line:
This bike it perfect for any freerider or downhiller. It can take hits that aren't smooth and have no problem. This bike can do anything you want it to. I have had a number of freeride/downhill bikes that are even more expensive than this but the santacruz does amazingly better than them. If you perchase this bike you can't go wrong!
Bike Setup: I purchased it with the Super X free ride kit, and if you were to go to www.santacruzmtb.com you could find out what it has on it.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
adam guess
a Downhiller
from whistler B.C.
Date Reviewed: June 23, 2003
Strengths: Ahhhhhhhhh!, it is the best bike ever! monster T's, and a 5th element shock, ginormous tires...... whoa!
Weaknesses: none the bikes too amazing.
Bottom Line:
Using this bike just feels right. I've never been one to do 20 foot drops on my former bike. Now im nailing them and 8 foot huckers? not a problem. Light frame, 6 inches of rear and 8 inches of front travel are more than enough. It seems the more you ride the bullit the more confidence you get----cool! Easily one of the best bikes out there.
i bought one of the last bullit's available and i'm going to build it up soon.
up front i'll probably put a dorado (maybe 180mm) but i'm not to sure about the shock. i'll use it f Read More »
Super sucks but got my 2 mountain bikes stolen from my house on the night of January 2nd in Santa Cruz, CA. The bummer is that I just finished building up the Niner One9 in Decembe Read More »
Super sucks but got my 2 mountain bikes stolen from my house on the night of January 2nd in Santa Cruz, CA. The bummer is that I just finished building up the Niner One9 in Decembe Read More »
i just bought a 2006 (?: so says the EBAY seller, being shipped) Bullit frame with a Fox Vanilla RC shock that'll complement my crusty old steel hardtail.
Currently I have a 130 Read More »
Conundrum. I think Im gonna finally retire the fox dhx 5.0 coil on my '08 bullit. (blew it up again, instead of another full rebuild I wanna get something new). I have a Xfusion Ve Read More »
