Eurobike News 2024: The Cologne-based brand is adding a model to its carbon machete that is unrivaled in the entire range. The titanium gravel bike Bulls Mache-Ti is not even that expensive despite its high-quality features.
The Bulls Machete is not necessarily widespread (yet), but has already been tried and tested in gravel racing. Bulls pro Alban Lakata, the three-time mountain bike marathon world champion, already finished 14th in the 2023 Gravel World Championship on the carbon bike and recently finished the super-difficult Unbound in the USA over 326 kilometers in a strong 26th place. We didn't ask him whether the "Albanator" has a titanium frame - if so, he could well interpret the Mache-Ti as an appreciation of his achievements on the carbon model.
Frame set made of precious metal with beautiful details
What did Bulls do? Simply put, the geometry of the Machete was cast in precious metal more or less unchanged - although this term is sometimes meant literally. Connecting parts such as the steering head area are in fact cast, while the bottom bracket housing and chain stays are connected by a milled part. The top tube proves that titanium tubes do not have to be round, and overall you stand in awe in front of an incredibly beautiful bike, the metallic shine of which is further underlined by the lasered brand logos.
What makes the Mache-Ti even more beautiful is the fork made of the same material. Everything is made from one piece, and the metal fork is even slimmer than the carbon fork on the Machete. Details such as the various mounting options and the fully integrated brake lines, which make the bike even smoother, have been adopted more or less one-to-one. The UHD dropout, which already complies with the upcoming standard, is state-of-the-art.
Bulls equips the Mache-Ti with a high-quality complete SRAM Force AXS and a trade fair novelty from France, the Mavic Allroad Carbon - a gravel wheelset with 42 mm deep rims and 25 mm inner width of the hookless rims, which weighs only 1.550 grams and costs 1.499 euros alone. In other words, a quarter of the complete titanium machine, which will cost 5.999 euros. Finding something comparable at this price would be difficult, and the Mache-Ti is also exclusive, as Bulls is only producing 100 units. And since titanium is an extremely robust material from which frames are made "for eternity", gravel, titanium or Bulls fans should not miss this opportunity.