Bulls Black Adder 29

The Ride

I’ll get the obvious stuff out of the way right now: As expected, the Black Adder 29 is a really good climber. It’s a sub-22 lb. hardtail with geometry designed specifically to put the rider in an aggressive climbing position (see my discussion of geometry above), so there would be something seriously wrong if this bike wasn’t great at zipping up hills.

The bike’s low weight made it easy to haul up rock ledges, and kept my legs fresh all day. Likewise, the bike’s 70.5° head angle kept the front wheel from wandering during seated climbing and allowed me to put all of my energy straight into the drivetrain. I also felt very confident climbing over technical terrain at low speeds, which I mostly attribute to the bike’s long wheelbase and big wheels.

Playful, aggressive, and capable are not words commonly used to describe a purebred XC bike, but the Black Adder 29 is quite a lot of fun in its own domain. After a few days of riding trails that I would consider ideal for hardtail usage, I started to find myself pushing the bike into terrain that I usually shy away from if I don’t have rear suspension and a dropper post. Intelligent line choice is mandatory when pushing any bike of this type through chunky stuff, but in the hands of a skilled rider, the Black Adder is capable of handling terrain beyond a typical XC course.

I especially enjoyed airing into stepdowns at high speed and letting the bike bounce through rock gardens. Using the bike’s stiffness to pump and pop off of little natural lips in the trail was also a ton of fun, even when I was deep in the pain cave after a sprint.

I largely attribute the Black Adder’s composure through technical terrain to the Rockshox RS-1 up front. Due to its one-piece carbon steerer tube/crown/uppers, the fork is remarkably capable for its weight.

Although it felt like the RS-1’s torsional stiffness was on par with most conventional XC forks, the RS-1 was dramatically stiffer under braking and in any situation that involved bouncing down awkward, ledgy rock gardens. Especially when compared to a Fox 32 or Rockshox SID, the RS-1 had me reevaluating what I had come to expect out of a XC fork.

Bulls also did an excellent job with the rear end of the bike. There are a few carbon hardtails I’ve ridden in the past that have felt overly stiff. Particularly on the Pivot LES 29 and Yeti ARC, the rear triangle is stiff to the point that it often feels like the rear end is getting deflected upward off rocks rather than simply rolling over them. This is an area where the Black Adder really stood out. I never felt like the ride was excessively harsh over rocks, but the rear triangle still managed to not feel flexy at all in corners or other contexts. Combining vertical compliance with lateral stiffness is the name of game when it comes to making a good hardtail, and I feel like Bulls really nailed this.

In the context of XC racing, this is great. Over the course of a 3+ hour ride on the Black Adder 29, I didn’t feel like I was getting quite as beat up on descents as I would have on the Pivot or the Yeti, which meant that I had just a little more energy left over for the next climb. This is exactly what an XC racer should want from a bike.

Earlier in this review, I mentioned that the inclusion of a rear quick release was an odd choice, but at this point I’m actually curious whether this made for a more compliant rear end. Bulls has made the bike stiff in all the right ways without making it feel over-engineered, and if a quick release is part of this equation, so be it.

Changes for 2016

At 455 mm, the Black Adder’s chain stays are far from the shortest out there for a 29er. Moving the bike around in the air and changing direction through rock gardens was a breeze, but this was more due to the bike’s weight than the length of the chain stays.

For the 2016 update, Bulls dropped the chain stays down to 435 mm. This is still on the longer end of what’s being offered on today’s XC bikes, but I think even this change should boost the fun factor quite a bit. Having said that, shorter chain stays have the potential to transmit trail feedback more directly into the rider. Bulls may have chosen not to shorten the chain stays excessively in order to preserve the frame’s vertical compliance.

I’m also interested in throwing a different wheelset on the Black Adder, as the WTB XC-25 Lite rims are definitely not the stiffest out there. Since the frame and fork offered quite a lot of lateral stiffness for a XC bike, the flexing of the wheels was especially apparent. I would happily eliminate some of this flex by upgrading to some more substantial hoops.

The 2×10 XT drivetrain performed fine for the most part, but I occasionally had to deal with a dropped chain on bumpy descents. This was actually the first time in years that I’ve spent a significant amount of time on a bike with a front derailleur, and it served as a good reminder of why the bike industry is ditching these things for the most part.

Value

The overall package of the Black Adder is excellent, but if there’s anything that stands out about the bike in comparison to other carbon hardtails, it’s the value. At $2899, the 2015 Black Adder comes with many components that are typically only found on XC bikes in the $4000-$8000 range. I felt like the Black Adder’s weakest links were the 2×10 drivetrain and the WTB wheelset, and these could easily be upgraded without getting anywhere near the price of many similarly spec’d bikes. If there’s a XC race bike out there that offers a similar amount of bang for your buck, I have yet to hear about it.

Bottom Line

As a bike, the 2015 Black Adder 29 is a strong climber that is surprisingly composed over technical terrain due to its thoughtful frame design and intelligent parts spec. And as a package, the bike offers unparalleled value via the consumer-direct approach. Both experienced athletes and those just getting into XC racing should give the Black Adder 29 a serious look, as it’s easily one of the best bikes for the money within this segment.

As for the decision on whether to buy the 2015 or 2016 version, I’d say this: if the thru axle and updated geometry on the 2016 version seem worth it to you, go spend the extra cash on the latest update. That said, the 2015 version offers such great value that I’d be tempted to buy it instead, then upgrade the drivetrain and wheels with the leftover money.