Eurobike / test ride: The Demo Day at the Eurobike always offers a great opportunity to take a detailed look at the many bikes for the coming season and to do a little lap on the nearby test course. At Bulls we grabbed the new 2016 Race Hardtail Black Adder Team.
The Bulls Black Adder is not a completely new model. The carbon racer has been used by the in-house Team Bulls in the World Cup for several seasons under the toughest competition conditions. But for the coming season, the Black Adder will get a completely new frame that was developed and designed together with the team around the German MTB luminary Karl Platt.
Above all, the geometry of the bike was fine-tuned. The chainstays, which were relatively long on the previous model, have been reduced by almost two centimetres, which should ensure significantly more agility in tight corners. The head tube and seat tube are also getting shorter. So the cockpit is a little lower and the standover height decreases. In general, the frame becomes much more compact for better and more agile handling on the trail. In addition, the weight of the noble carbon component could be reduced - the frame in size M now weighs only 950 grams.
The Black Adder Team model we drive is the top model of the Black Adder series. With a complete XTR drive group including brakes, Rock Shox RS-1 upsidedown suspension fork and DT Swiss XR 1501 Spline One wheelset, nothing is left to be desired - everything at its finest. The complete bike weighs less than nine kilos.
Of course, a test ride on the crowded test course in Friedrichshafen is only a sample of limited value, but at least we can absolutely confirm the promised agile handling of the frame. We even push the Black Adder through tight corners with playful ease - that's an impression that the bike leaves on us anyway: For a bike that's trimmed for race, the Black Adder is surprisingly playful. The stem, which is quite short for us at 70 mm, certainly has a part to play in this, but the Bulls bike also invites you to a bunny hop.
You really only have to say a few words about the performance of the consistently noble add-on parts. The RS-1 fork from Rock Shox is currently the measure of all things in the XC/marathon area, not only in terms of weight, but also in terms of performance. Absolutely creamy response, without being too soft or giving you that sofa feeling with enormously high rigidity - it doesn't get much better. The XTR drive from Shimano makes shifting just as much fun, as the easy-to-dosage XTR stoppers always bring us to a standstill in good time.
All in all, a really great bike that, given the equipment and the high-quality frame, is also extremely affordable at a price of €4.799. Thumbs up!
Leave a Comment