E-Downhill: The new Santa Cruz Bullit

This is the one I was really excited about. For a few reasons. One is that Im just a Santa Cruz fan boy through and through. Another reason is this bike will split opinion which means we will be talking about this bike alot this year in store and its good to have your facts straight with bikes like this and another reason is that we were going to some awesome new tracks in a beautiful part of the UK.

So why will this new Bullit split opinion? Well its the battery. The battery is 600wh and if you go reading the forums and comments you'll find loads of people moaning that they wont buy as the "battery is too small" and "I cant ride anything below 10,00000wh" and so on and so forth.

What they are missing is that this bike isnt for them. If you want to do big epic rides with your spare battery on your back and your 3 course lunch in your bag this is not your bike. Buy a different bike! 

If you are prepared to push on the pedals a bit to get 14 runs in at your local DH track and you want a bike that you can literally rip the tyres off the rims on and almost never bottom out then maybe this is the bike for you! 

And for these reasons its the bike for me! 

The XO build weighs 21kg which for a full fat ebike is very very good! This translates downhill to a bike that performs and feels planted but can move and flow and jump. Its eats up rough sections and massive compression like a DH bike does. You come out of sections thinking "oh, i could have done that twice as fast" as the bike just inspires confidence and makes you want to push. And push we did! 

Micky from our Newmarket store joined me for this test and as an expert DH racer he doesnt hang around and is very well qualified to critique a bikes descending prowess. 

In our video we both ride the bike in the high bottom bracket setting in the morning, switching to the more DH inspired geo setting in the afternoon and what a change it made! 

The tracks we rode were steep, loose and technical in sections and the lower slack approach to the afternoon made the bike feel perfect for the tracks we were hitting. We both agreed this really did bring the bike to life on the downhills with more controll and grip from your new riding position.

Uphill it feels just like the Vala. The 85nm (FOR NOW!!) Bosch power unit giving you way more than you really need on a DH day. I ran the bike in Eco mode for the morning and then treated myself to E-Bike mode for the afternoon when I was getting tired.

We did 14 runs of a 2.30 min ish hill and we both had around 20% battery left at the end of the day. I was cooked. My arms were done. The bike wasnt! 

Im sure if we had more elevation we would see the battery chomped a little quicker but remember there are range extenders available or in my opinion a better option if range is your thing is to loop back to your car and fast charge your bike on your after market battery charging unit in the back of car whilst you have lunch. Something like this!

This bike is meant to be doing laps of the same hill, over and over again. Hitting the same corners, faster and faster each run. Nailing the tech sections with more speed. Building your confidence run after run.

Its not an epic loop, 3 peaks, 2 pubs, 70k trail bike. Thats a Levo Gen4 but it is an electric downhill bike! Which is why its best riding E-Bike out there! 

Granted the Unno Mith is pretty close in ride feel and has more power and battery but theres maybe some stuff in works from Bosch that will help out there! 

Check out the bikes here

Watch our YouTube review here