2026 Santa Cruz

Bullit 90

Revamped Bullit switches to Horst-link suspension design

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For 2025, Santa Cruz gave the Bullit a fresh new look and a Bosch Performance Line CX motor. But can the latest version outshine its predecessor?

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Wind the clock back to last year and one of the biggest stories in mountain biking was Santa Cruz throwing out its own rulebook and a 20-year history by ditching its synonymous VPP suspension. Think Santa Cruz, think VPP, was pretty much the way it had always been, but the change was brought about with the launching of a new Vala e-bike using a Horst Link design. – Short of time? Click here to skip to the verdict – Packaging the Bosch CX motor the brand (and many customers) preferred demanded a shift to a four-bar suspension layout to achieve the numbers the brand’s engineers were after without the VPP layout getting in the way. You guessed it, the all-new long-travel Bullit follows the exact same formula, but also adds extra suspension. We loved the Vala when we rode it at the launch last year – can the new Bullit shoot a bull’s eye and jump straight onto the shortlist of best e-bikes on sale now? Santa Cruz Bullit e-bike need to know 170mm travel e-bike for enduro and bike park smashing MX wheel set-up (29in front, 27.5in rear) Bosch Performance CX motor with 85Nm and 600W peak power Non-removable 600Wh internal battery can be supplemented by 250Wh range extender Geo and progression tuning chips More dropper post insertion means size L gets 210mm post Unique rear centre lengths across the size range Weights from 21.83kg (claimed) Prices from £6,799 to £9,999 The 150mm rear and 160mm front travel Vala was universally well received and highly rated by us, so it was only a matter of time before a longer travel version appeared, and with the Bullit built for higher speeds and designed to ‘come alive when you start hitting things hard’, I went out to Slovenia and got to ride it on some pretty amazing trails. This latest Bullit replaces the previous, long-in-the-tooth Shimano-powered model, with the brand describing it as the e-Nomad, whereas the Vala can be seen as the e-Bronson. And, if you thought it was already hard enough to tell the difference between regular Santa Cruzs models – with the same CX motor, it’s arguably even tougher to distinguish between a Bullit and a Vala from a distance. The bikes obviously share much of the same design language, DNA and construction touches, but some subtle Bullit changes add even more capability, and the bike is built a bit tougher, with durability being a huge focus for longer travel e-bikes. Tough doesn’t mean tank-like though; it’s still pretty light considering the travel, and I weighed my size Large test bike at 22.3kg without pedals. One (perhaps surprising) other similarity with the Vala is that more travel doesn’t equal any more power or range – the Bullit gets the same 600Wh internal Bosch PowerTube battery as it’s stablemate. This is a chunk (200Wh) less power than many rival brands using Bosch CX are offering. It also means you’re out of luck if you need to remove the battery …Continue reading »

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It could have been a straightforward bike review. Instead, Seb and I conspired to squeeze in a few days of riding in Powell River as well.

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Positioned at the king of Santa Cruz’s e-MTB line up, the Bullit has always been a big burly bike specifically for riders that want an ultra aggressive gravity focused machine – and this new version ups the ante in every way over its predecessor.  Not only does the new Bullit now come with a better motor which delivers more grunt, the actual design and execution of its frame has been beautifully refined from front to rear. And of course akin […]

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