I've been looking at a Heckler as a change to a longer travel bike that I can use for ski slopes and limited downhilling along with corss country. Anyone out there gine some info in how the bullit is as a cross country bike? I know its more of a freeride/DH bike, but I've been told that it works as a XC bike also.
Bullit as a cross country bike...
- Thread starter genpowell71
- Start date
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Hahahahaahahahahhaa
Sorry. It weighs a ton (in xc terms) and has seven inches of inefficient single pivot travel. The geometry would also be thrown way out of wack by anything under a 5 inch fork. I mean sure you could use it as a trailbike...it would suck...I've ridden them before, they rock for DH and FR, but I wouldn't go trailriding on one if I had options. Get a Heckler.
Hahahahaahahahahhaa
Sorry. It weighs a ton (in xc terms) and has seven inches of inefficient single pivot travel. The geometry would also be thrown way out of wack by anything under a 5 inch fork. I mean sure you could use it as a trailbike...it would suck...I've ridden them before, they rock for DH and FR, but I wouldn't go trailriding on one if I had options. Get a Heckler.
you can ride it as a burly trail bike. 7" in the back and 5 or 6" up front.
I think the frame only weighs a pound more than a Heckler - so if you built it up with the right components you can pull it off for sure.
It would be more like a burly trail bike - not a cross country bike however.
But it would be fun as hell in my opinion.
I think the frame only weighs a pound more than a Heckler - so if you built it up with the right components you can pull it off for sure.
It would be more like a burly trail bike - not a cross country bike however.
But it would be fun as hell in my opinion.
I've seen it built up to be a heavy-duty trailbike w/ a 5" fork. What you could do, as far as versatility goes, buy a 5" fork for the trail and pick up a cheap Boxxer for the Dh runs.
i couldn't agree more with xbluethunderx
It seems kind of pointless to me to buy a 7 inch travel bike and then stick a 5 inch trail fork up front. It's massive overkill...If you're looking for a "do it all" bike (Not like there is any very good solution to this), get a heckler with a 5th and something like a Marzo Z150 , a RS Pike, or a Manitou Sherman on front. That would probably get you by all right...
i use my Bullit for XC when my XC/Trailbike is broke down. It is a pig though and you won't be able to climb steep climbs that well if at all, and they're pretty heavy, i've got mine in at around 40 lbs. you can trim em down a few lbs, but still it's a biggun regardless.
Of course the Bullit is a great bike for any aggressive trail, you can really carry alot of speed on the descents of course. A Heckler however, will be able to handle quite a bit of punishment and you should be able to do quite a bit of light freeride easily on it, and it's not such a pig on the climbs.
i'd say if you can only choose and have one bike, get the Heckler to split the difference so you can be much happier on both sides of the fence.
Of course the Bullit is a great bike for any aggressive trail, you can really carry alot of speed on the descents of course. A Heckler however, will be able to handle quite a bit of punishment and you should be able to do quite a bit of light freeride easily on it, and it's not such a pig on the climbs.
i'd say if you can only choose and have one bike, get the Heckler to split the difference so you can be much happier on both sides of the fence.
I know somebody who uses his Bullit as a xc bike. He just puts in a Manitou Supernova and some other stuff,and the same wheels he is riding dh /freeriding with. Mavic 521. Instead of his Boxxer who is normally on it. That way according to him its pretty dooable to ride xc with it. It's a bit heavier thats all. But he does'nt mind.
i know a few guys who use an '01 bullit as their xc bike, w/ a z1 on the front. personally, i would choose a heckler.
If you need one bike to do it all, the Bullit is a good choice. It CAN be built up sub 30 lbs but that would be with really XC parts. Frame is a bit over 8 lbs I think. With an SC fork and reasonable parts, you could have it in the mid 30s without too much trouble. It rides nicely with a 5 inch fork. With a long enough stem, it climbs fine. With a 5th, it does not bob much at all, set up correctly. Not a bad choice at all if it's your one bike.
However, if I had to pick one bike from either a heckler or bullit, it would depend on how much downhilling and freeriding I was planning on doing vs. xc riding. I can say that I owned 2 different bullit frames over a few years and I loved that bike. I rode it for everything: DH, XC and everything in between. Had a Z1, Vanilla 125, Slider and Shiver mounted on it at different times and they all woked well.
However, if I had to pick one bike from either a heckler or bullit, it would depend on how much downhilling and freeriding I was planning on doing vs. xc riding. I can say that I owned 2 different bullit frames over a few years and I loved that bike. I rode it for everything: DH, XC and everything in between. Had a Z1, Vanilla 125, Slider and Shiver mounted on it at different times and they all woked well.
...and buying new get the Heckler. That said, you can score a number of Bullits on line used. You could find a big Float and have it PUSHed and run a 5" travel air fork to keep everything stout but more XC-able.
The Heckler would be the path of least resistance though.
Sean
The Heckler would be the path of least resistance though.
Sean
I road a bullit with a 5" Djer. It was nice and made a great fun trail rig that offered a lot of flexibilty. It was not that heavy for trail riding and a XC ride after work from time to time. I could DJ it , urban it and hang, for the most part, with shuttles.
I do agree with Dingus though, a single crown fork does not make the bullit ride to its potential. I also rode the bullit with a monster and that was awesome to for just free riding and shuttling.
I guess my point is IMHO, the bullit offers maximum flexibilty. It can go both ways unlike the Heckler. The bullit can be a fun trail rig that can go almost anywhere then swap a fork with a 1/2 of labor and you have a VERY capable free ride, DH, big drop bike. The heckler is a GREAT trail rig but will fall short in the other direction (free ride, DH.....). The wierd way I looked at it was both the heckler and the bullit are great in their element (heckler/ XC & bullit/FR) but for maximum flexiblity which frame is better out of their element. Here I believe the bullit is a better trail bike than the heckler is a free ride bike. So I say go with the bullit. If you have the heckler keep what you have.
I do agree with Dingus though, a single crown fork does not make the bullit ride to its potential. I also rode the bullit with a monster and that was awesome to for just free riding and shuttling.
I guess my point is IMHO, the bullit offers maximum flexibilty. It can go both ways unlike the Heckler. The bullit can be a fun trail rig that can go almost anywhere then swap a fork with a 1/2 of labor and you have a VERY capable free ride, DH, big drop bike. The heckler is a GREAT trail rig but will fall short in the other direction (free ride, DH.....). The wierd way I looked at it was both the heckler and the bullit are great in their element (heckler/ XC & bullit/FR) but for maximum flexiblity which frame is better out of their element. Here I believe the bullit is a better trail bike than the heckler is a free ride bike. So I say go with the bullit. If you have the heckler keep what you have.
If you have the bullit on-hand and don't want to lay down the cash for a Heckler, it'll be fine. A shorter stroke air shock might be a great way to XC-ify it; I don't personally know squat about Bullits so I can't help you with the technical aspects of doing it (what i-i, stroke you need). Maybe a Manitou Nixon or Zocchi all mountian SL up front?
It's never going to be an XC bike per se, hence XBTX's sniggering, but neither is a Heckler, really... But those of us who ride 'big bikes' tend to be looking for similar attributes when we describe our 'all around,' 'trail,' or even 'XC' bikes.
It's never going to be an XC bike per se, hence XBTX's sniggering, but neither is a Heckler, really... But those of us who ride 'big bikes' tend to be looking for similar attributes when we describe our 'all around,' 'trail,' or even 'XC' bikes.
I bought a Bullit for the same exact reasons you are looking into one.
It started out with a Marz Z.1 and pretty beefy parts, it was about 37lbs and worked pretty well for trail riding, I live in the front range of Colorado and the trails around here have long and steep climbs. I had two rings up front of course.
But shortly after buying the Bullit I got way more into DH and FR and then upgraded with DH stuff. Super T, Evil SRS, beefy wheels, etc.
After the new stuff it was no longer a good trail bike.
So then I started missing trail riding and bought a Heckler, good combo. But NOW I want a new V10!!!!
Good luck!
It started out with a Marz Z.1 and pretty beefy parts, it was about 37lbs and worked pretty well for trail riding, I live in the front range of Colorado and the trails around here have long and steep climbs. I had two rings up front of course.
But shortly after buying the Bullit I got way more into DH and FR and then upgraded with DH stuff. Super T, Evil SRS, beefy wheels, etc.
After the new stuff it was no longer a good trail bike.
So then I started missing trail riding and bought a Heckler, good combo. But NOW I want a new V10!!!!
Good luck!
Mwaha...sniggering.MikeD said:
*Dances around in a shirt that says "weight whore"*
The point i'm trying to make is that the Bullit really isn't a bike that tries to bridge the middle ground, like a Heckler does. It would be a total pain in the ass to me if I had to swap forks out of my bike if I wanted to ride different stuff, but thats just me. It really depends on how much you intend to do of each. If you're looking at buying either one, buy a Bullit and then buy an XC hardtail, they're cheap. If you have one on hand...just use it
I'm really thinking about keeping my tracer and just getting a Bullit for the biger stuff. But I have my "you dont need 2 bikes" wife to deal with. So that puts a kink in alot of things
get a used bullit and never look back. i have lots of friends that ride them. hell someof my friends run monster-t's on them with dual rings up front and ride 20 plus mile epic days on them. they beleive in going fast and big but they dont beleive in shuttling. i kid you not when i say that they ride 5-7 miles up hill on them, bomb the downhill single track then climb back up and do it again. hell man, for the longest time i did all my riding on a foes dhs tube, it pedals horrible but whatever. its all in how bad you want it.
Riding 45lb bikes up 2000 foot climbs only makes you stronger 
If I could have just one bike, I'd get either the Heckler or the Turner 6-pack and put a Maverick air DC fork (or maybe the new Fox 36, or a Nixon or a Sherman or a Marzo Z1 or all-mtn) up front and possibly an air shock in back, too. Evil DRS guide with 38/28 front gearing and a 32t or so cassette. Stout but light rims like 521s, 519s (old Mavic designations), Ryno Lite XLs, Tiogas, possibly tubeless rims, something like that, some 800-1000 gram 'freeride' tires, or a set of light tires and a set of DH tires (or two whole separate wheelsets; I did this on my RFX and it was a decent arrangement).genpowell71 said:
Maybe even one of those Easton ad-vice stems that'll adjust to the riding style of the day.
That'd be a great bike for SoCal except for the most wicked of the technical DH runs. Would even be fun at big bear and all.
MD
I picked up the Rhyno lites last week so we're on the same sheet of music.
As for the rest of the bike I think that I'm going to go the original route I wanted to go when I got my Tracer. I was planning on getting a mixture of Sram and Shimano parts. I've heard that the shimano shifters work REALLY well with the rear derailleurs. I picked out the Z150 for the front and I'm going to go ahead and run a coil over in the back just because I'm 225 lbs. I gave the fox some consideration, but I do like the technical downhills. Fox cant cut it as a downhill fork. My last fox Vanilla bottomed out WAY too often and eventually broke. So Z150 it is this time.
As for the rest of the bike I think that I'm going to go the original route I wanted to go when I got my Tracer. I was planning on getting a mixture of Sram and Shimano parts. I've heard that the shimano shifters work REALLY well with the rear derailleurs. I picked out the Z150 for the front and I'm going to go ahead and run a coil over in the back just because I'm 225 lbs. I gave the fox some consideration, but I do like the technical downhills. Fox cant cut it as a downhill fork. My last fox Vanilla bottomed out WAY too often and eventually broke. So Z150 it is this time.
They're not doing the Z150 anymore...Z1 is 5 or 6". The Fox 36 is a 20mm thruaxle, 6" (adjustable to 4" or inbetween via TALAS) air fork under 5 lbs...40mm lowers, bigger than the Marzo 888/66 forks. Should be stiff, but I'd have the 1st-year product jitters, exp. with $850 MSRP. Air fork might be good for your weight, though...pump it up instead of trying to tune big ol' springs. I know how you feel about the Fox Vanillas...mine is really soft (stock), and I weigh 160.
Shimano shifters run fine with Shimano derailleurs, but if you haven't tried SRAM/SRAM combos, the ESP 1:1 ratio stuff, you should. The new triggers are really nice (I still like twistshifts, though).
So you will be putting all this on a Bullit and selling the Intense?
MD
Shimano shifters run fine with Shimano derailleurs, but if you haven't tried SRAM/SRAM combos, the ESP 1:1 ratio stuff, you should. The new triggers are really nice (I still like twistshifts, though).
So you will be putting all this on a Bullit and selling the Intense?
MD
what parts are youn looking at? if you want it to be light you will need to forh over the cash ant the parts could cost up to $1100+.
it would be more ethical to get a nice hard tail for xc and then keep the bulit as a fr/dh bike.
it would be more ethical to get a nice hard tail for xc and then keep the bulit as a fr/dh bike.
I'd like to keep my Tracer, it's a great XC bike. But like I said, my wife has objections to me having 2 bikes. So my thoughts are order the Heckler, and have the best of both worlds. I know it'll take a 6' fork and it's strong as an ox. I'm just not thrilled about the wait time.
I've owned both.
I like the Bullit for versatility. And the angles are very easily adjusted. Plus, it is a simply a real fun bike to ride. If the Heckler could adjust head angle that would be more appealing. But, sadly it doesn't. So, go Bullit. You won't be sorry.
Only other option may be the newer 4X Blur. Though the pivots look complex and semi-weak by comparison.
( I still wish a Bullit could hold a H20 bottle though. Its a sad thing. Camelbacks suck (hehe). Don't believe me ? Try ride once without it. Boo Hoo Hoo)
I like the Bullit for versatility. And the angles are very easily adjusted. Plus, it is a simply a real fun bike to ride. If the Heckler could adjust head angle that would be more appealing. But, sadly it doesn't. So, go Bullit. You won't be sorry.
Only other option may be the newer 4X Blur. Though the pivots look complex and semi-weak by comparison.
( I still wish a Bullit could hold a H20 bottle though. Its a sad thing. Camelbacks suck (hehe). Don't believe me ? Try ride once without it. Boo Hoo Hoo)
My husband, Squirrel, rode his bullit for XC, Freeride, Urban, & DH until May of this year when I got him a Yeti 575. He still rides the Bullit (outfitted with a Rohloff) for quite a few of our XC rides though. 
ghostrider used an older Bullit (5" travel I think) for 24 hour races until he got his Blur.
My buddy Tom has an 01 bullit and has 5' of travel. He loves it.
amen to the mavrick. My friend (Jestere on ridemonkey) rides a heckler and from what ive seen it great. Ive ridden it a few times (before i bought my bullit) and it works well as a trail bike with FR/DH capablities. Its just i little ruffer ride but can just as much fun. Jumps better aswell, which is a given.
Echo said:
It was 6" There never was a 5" Bullit. Ghostie got away with it because he's fricken fit!
I'll be rock'n an SGS expert with a Breakout for my "XC" rides, obviously my idea of XC is slow climbing/pushing for big thrills on the way down. Its gonna hurt
I don't mean to throw more variables into this discussion, but I'm on a 28lbs FSR Enduro Pro and it's pretty good for XC and lite DH. I've swapped out the Float RL w/ a Romic Twin D w/ Ti spring, and a Z1 FR QR20. I'm running the IRC 2.2 Trail Bear w/ Stan's for rubber. Everything else is pretty standard, all the way down to the old school square taper BB/cranks. The only odd thing is I'm running 180mm crank arms and a 11-34T cluster to get me up really steep hills. If you didn't swap out that rear shock, you can definitely pedal more efficiently w/ the lockout engaged on climbs. I've seen the 04 Enduro Pro frames go for as little as $600.00 new on MTBR.
My buddy from KY owns an Enduro with a RisseRacing hex link that gives him 6' of travel. That bike is a do ANYTHING bike. I took it to snow shoe last year and beat on it while he was on crutches. The Enduro is a great bike and built extremely well. Unfortunatly, it just doesnt fit right. I've tried all sorts of different combos on it, and I cant seem to get it right.
To tell the truth, I saw the Turner 6 pack the other day on line, and thats looking pretty good too
Only issue with that is the fact that building it the way I want it will cost an extra 1K on top of the other parts, fork and Frame. But I guess you get what you pay for
I have freinds that ride bullits from XC to FR to DH, equiped with Shivers and weigh around 42 pounds. That said, there in top shape but on long climbs like the three B's at the Oaks or Mustard in Whiting they can get wipped. Still though they live for the thrilla down so they will live to climb again. A med. Bullit with a DHX/6" Z1 with some decent parts weighs around 34 pounds.
TreeSaw said:My husband, Squirrel, rode his bullit for XC, Freeride, Urban, & DH until May of this year when I got him a Yeti 575. He still rides the Bullit (outfitted with a Rohloff) for quite a few of our XC rides though.
Interesting, Im on, and getting the same set up, Bully and a 575, just wondering if your hubby ever put alonger travel fork on the Yeti and took it on some heavy duty trailriding or even light DH/FR'ing?
Add the cost to quality rate and no one can compete with the Bullit.gmac said:
I know many Bullit owners with the XC setup. The Z-150 , 8 inch rotor, 3 chain ring, build is my favorite. It is a bigboy bike. It is a normal XCsize and weight to scale of a Clydesdale. At 35lbs. it is not that heavy . The fork drops 2inchs for climbing from 6" (same as boxxer).The 5th Element when pressurized right works like a champ to smooth the pedal bob.
My Bullit is equiped with a SuperT. 9lbs. of fork steal from the XC side of it. I won't try to sell this set up as trailbike material. It is just to slow uphill on a 42lb. pig.
Unfortunately I have only ridden the SPV equiped 6 inch forks on other frames. IMO this would be the ideal fork to choose for the 7" 5thelement Bullit to make it a multi-task bike. Very climb worthy and DH . If I had cash I would put one on my Bullit.
Serious thought should be put in the Maverick DC fork for you Bullit . If I could do it over I think the Maverick would have been a better all around fork than my SuperT.
Heckler owners I have talked to only 2 of 20 did any freeride. The 17 said the Heckler was for heavy duty rocks and or steep tech riding ( almost all with fox fork and air shock). Not a complaint at all from these guys love the bike. 1 guy with a DJ'r and 5thcoil got it to trail and DJ. he thought it was a perfect trail bike if he changed the fork. 2 guys with Boxxers coil shock ,did freeride and rocky dh trails all pedal only access. All 20 guy said a Bullit would be perfect for going bigger . Also that the heckler had a limit in doable comfort zone. Saying it as they comfortably pull away.
kewl...
Man i just rode my Bullit on a trail ride today since i might have blown up my Enduro.... such a pig on the climbs, i really think it would be better served with a variable travel fork such as a Fox 36 or a Rock Shox Pike. With my Boxxer it's just so slacked out to climb.... But with alot of power and a lowered front end you could plow thru anything, just power pedal thru stuff. If they came out with a way i could throw a U-turn in my Boxxer i'd be totally stoked on my Bullit on ANY trail.