Santa Cruz Bullit 4
Wheel Sizes: 29’’ front / 27.5’’ rear
Suspension Travel:
- Frame: 170 mm
- Fork: 170 mm
Geometry Highlights:
- Sizes offered: S, M, L, XL, XXL
- Headtube angle: 63.6° (High), 63.3° (Low)
- Reach (size Large): 480 mm (High), 477 mm (Low)
- Chainstay length (size Large): 446 mm (High), 447 mm (Low)
Drive System Highlights:
- Motor: Bosch Performance Line CX
- Torque: 85 Nm
- Power: 600 W
- Battery: Bosch PowerTube 600 (600 Wh)
- Display: Bosch System Controller
- Remote: Bosch Mini Remote
Frame Material: Carbon fiber; C or CC grades
Price: Complete bikes from $7,399 to $11,899 USD / $9,649 to $15,549 CAD
Intro
Santa Cruz surprised a lot of folks when it did away with VPP on the Vala, and now they’ve done it again with the fourth-generation Bullit. Despite looking a whole lot like the Vala, the Bullit kicks things up a notch, with 170 mm of travel front and rear mated to Bosch’s latest CX motor. We just got one in for review and will have a Flash Review up very shortly, but in the meantime, join us to walk through the details of Santa Cruz’s burliest eMTB, the Bullit.
The Frame
Santa Cruz has long maintained similar design language across most of the various bikes in its non-motorized lineup, and they’re going down that same path with their new eMTB lineup, too. The Bullit shares its aesthetics with the Vala (Full Review coming very soon), driven by the Vala’s new-for-Santa-Cruz Horst link suspension layout that allows them to get around some of the limitations of building an eMTB around the VPP design seen on the bulk of their non-motorized bikes.
While Santa Cruz doesn’t publish the new Bullit’s suspension kinematics, it seems likely that they are generally similar to what was achieved with the Vala (those graphs are in our First Look here) in their smoother, flatter anti-squat and anti-rise curves relative to their prior VPP-equipped eMTBs like the last generation Bullit.
As with the Vala, different spec levels for the Bullit get either C or CC-grade carbon fiber, CC being a bit lighter and reserved only for the top-spec build (more on that in the Builds section). The Bullit is also a mixed wheel-only bike, again like the Vala, and Santa Cruz is clear that they believe the mixed wheel arrangement offers better handling traits for eMTBs and their added mass.
The Bullit also gets the same high-quality hardware used with the Vala, which includes a geometry flip chip where the rocker link meets the seatstays, and the suspension progression can be adjusted between 26% and 29% via a flip chip at the lower shock mount.
Drive System
The latest fifth-generation Bosch CX motor and 600 Wh battery also carry over from the Vala to the new Bullit. The battery is fully enclosed in the downtube, and a 250 Wh PowerMore range extender can be purchased separately to allow for extra ride time.
Fit & Geometry
We’ve talked a lot about the Bullit’s similarities to the Vala, but it starts to deviate a bit when it comes to geometry. Reflecting its aggressive intentions, the Bullit is rather slack at 63.6° in the high flip chip position, or 63.3° in low. In the case of a size Large, that slack head tube angle is mated to a 480 mm reach in the high setting, while the effective top tube length remains relatively compact for a Large at 617 mm thanks to a quite steep 78.7° effective seat tube angle. Shifting to the low position tightens up the reach slightly to 477 mm, while the effective seat tube angle drops slightly to 78.4°.
Chainstay lengths vary by size as a part of Santa Cruz’s proportional geometry concept, with approximately 3 mm between sizes. A Large gets 446 mm chainstays in the high flip chip setting, which changes very slightly to 447 mm in low.
The full geometry for the updated Bullit is below:
The Builds
Santa Cruz offers four builds for the Bullit, with the first three getting the C carbon frame, while the top step XO AXS RSV gets the higher-end CC construction.
All of the builds get SRAM brakes and shifting, with the base 70 build getting the new mechanical Eagle 70 Transmission and DB8 brakes, while the 90 build is next in line with Eagle 90 Transmission and Maven Base brakes. Shifting goes electronic for the next two builds, with the GX AXS build getting GX Transmission shifting, along with Maven Bronze brakes. The top-end XO AXS RSV has XO Transmission matched to Maven Silver brakes. Rotors are 200 mm front and rear on every build except the 70, which gets a 220 mm front rotor for the slightly less powerful DB8 brakes, and all get Maxxis DoubleDown tires, reflecting the Bullit’s descending-oriented intentions.
Despite being a rather aggressive eMTB, the 70, 90, and GX AXS builds of the Bullit all get Fox’s Float X rear shock; it’s not until the XO AXS RSV that we see Fox’s updated X2 in the spec. Only the 70 sees a RockShox fork in the form of the Zeb Base, while the rest get different tiers of the Fox 38. Wheels are provided by Santa Cruz’s affiliated Reserve brand, and all are built around 30 HD aluminum rims up until the XO AXS RSV, which gets a 30 HD carbon rim up front and a 30 DH carbon rim out back.
Despite proper tires and beefy brakes, all of the Bullit builds come in under 50 lbs / 22.68 kg, with the heaviest being the 70 build at a claimed 49.56 lbs / 22.48 kg. The XO AXS RSV will lighten your wallet the most, and it’s also the lightest build at a claimed 48.4 lbs / 21.95 kg. We’ll, of course, have to validate the weights once we have a chance to test one, but it’s great to see even burlier eMTBs dropping lots of weight from where they were just a year or two ago.
The full build details are as follows:
- Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle 70 Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM DB8 (220 mm front / 200 mm rear Centerline rotors)
- Fork: RockShox Zeb Base (170 mm)
- Shock: Fox Float X Performance
- Wheels: Reserve 30 HD AL6061 rims, SRAM MTH 716/746 hubs
- Dropper post: SDG Tellis
- Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM Maven Base (200 mm HS2 rotors)
- Fork: Fox 38 Performance (170 mm)
- Shock: Fox Float X Performance
- Wheels: Reserve 30 HD AL6061 rims, e13 SL E-Spec hubs
- Dropper post: OneUp V3
- Drivetrain: SRAM GX Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM Maven Bronze (200 mm HS2 rotors)
- Fork: Fox 38 Performance Elite Grip X2 (170 mm)
- Shock: Fox Float X Performance Elite
- Wheels: Reserve 30 HD AL6069 rims, e13 SL E-Spec hubs
- Dropper post: OneUp V3
- Drivetrain: SRAM XO Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM Maven Silver (200 mm HS2 rotors)
- Fork: Fox 38 Factory Grip X2 (170 mm)
- Shock: Fox Float X2 Factory
- Wheels: Reserve 30 HD carbon front / 30 DH carbon rear rims, DT Swiss 350 DEG hubs
- Dropper post: OneUp V3
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) The new Bullit 4 borrows a lot of inspiration from the Vala, but cranks things up a bit in terms of travel and geometry. How differently do the two ride on the trail, and how should shoppers decide between the two?
(2) Santa Cruz makes Downhill bike references in multiple places when referring to the Bullit’s capabilities. How big and “game-on” does it really feel?
Bottom Line (For Now)
The new Bullit 4 is a natural evolution of Santa Cruz’s eMTB lineup, essentially pushing one notch higher than the Vala in both suspension travel and geometry aggression. We’ve been impressed with the Vala — and have that Full Review coming very soon — so we’re very curious to see what Santa Cruz has managed to do with the new Bullit.
Flash Review: Our Initial On-Trail Impressions
BLISTER+ members and those who purchase our Digital Access Pass can check out the Flash Review below to read our initial on-trail impressions. Get our Digital Access Pass to view all our Flash Reviews and Deep Dives, or become a BLISTER+ member today to get access to that and a LOT more, including the best worldwide Outdoor Injury Insurance, exclusive deals and discounts on skis, personalized gear recommendations from us, and much more.
Flash Review: Santa Cruz Bullit 4
Santa Cruz has added the 170 mm travel Bullit to thier revamped lineup of Horst Link euipped eMTBs built around the latest Bosch CX drive system.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
To get our comprehensive Deep Dives and our initial, unfiltered reports on new gear, become a member and receive many other services, deals, and discounts.
If you’re already an active member, please log in.
(If you’re already logged in and a member in good standing and seeing this message in error, please refresh this page in your browser.)