A great honor for the Bulls Vuca EVO AM 2: The fully electric bike is now a "Technical Cultural Heritage" as part of the permanent exhibition in the Deutsches Museum's Transport Center. It owes this, in part, to the Pinion MGU, which completes the final step from bicycle to vehicle.
Many e-bikes boast top-selling recommendations and design awards. But what the Bulls Vuca EVO AM 2 has achieved is unique: With its inclusion in the Deutsches Museum's Transport Center, it can now officially call itself a "Technical Cultural Asset." And that's saying something, because, for one thing, bicycles—with or without electric motors—are rare in the museum's permanent collection. For another, it's not often that a brand-new product gains access to the hallowed halls of transport technology—what's museum-worthy is usually only decided in retrospect.
Fully integrated concept with engine-gearbox unit
How did the Bulls Vuca achieve this? A large part of its success is, of course, due to the Pinion motor-gearbox unit. The MGU (motor-gearbox unit) takes the final, decisive step from a bicycle with an auxiliary motor to a fully integrated concept that merges the individual components into a single whole. And with the Bulls Vuca, this is more than the sum of its parts.
First of all, the respective functions of the engine and transmission are optimally coordinated in the MGU. The electronically controlled twelve-speed transmission, with Smartshift options, is extremely user-friendly and tuned for maximum functionality in trail use; overloading the transmission during shifting is impossible, despite the high engine torque.
In addition, MGU also optimizes the function of the "4-Link Swingarm" suspension on the Bulls Vuca. Since the rear derailleur and cassette sprocket on the rear swingarm are eliminated, the unsprung mass is reduced, allowing the suspension to respond more sensitively and quickly.
Perfectly harmonious assemblies
And with this, the process of "becoming a vehicle" is complete for the E-MTB: Where once (or until recently) individual, partly interchangeable components harmonized more or less well, we now see an optimized interplay of components that can no longer be thought of individually. The electronic transmission does not function without the large battery of the motor system with 800 or 1.000 Watt hours, and the 150 mm chassis of the Bulls Vuca was developed purely for use on e-MTBs.
This makes the Bulls Vuca a true milestone in the development of the e-mountain bike, or rather, the mountain bike itself, which, as many experts believe, only reached its full potential with the advent of the electric motor. The bike has truly earned its place in the Deutsches Museum; it's also a pioneer of the mountain bike exhibition that the museum will be showing starting this fall. Most importantly, the Bulls Vuca is already available in specialist stores – not exactly unusual for a museum piece...
