Test Bulls Trail Machete: Bulls is adding another exciting facet to the growing gravel market and is adding a carbon model to the proven grinder series that focuses on off-road capability and bikepacking. The bike is packed with innovative features designed to ensure riding fun and versatility on both fast off-road laps and long-distance adventures.
Almost everything at Bulls revolves around mountain bikes, but the Cologne team always had a few racing bikes in their program. The advent of gravel bikes has given this segment new impetus - with the Grinder, a versatile aluminum bike has been in the program for years, which is available with full equipment suitable for everyday use as well as sporty-reduced. Bulls has now introduced a carbon Graveller, and it is again more oriented towards mountain bikes - the suffix "Trail" already gives it away.
Carbon frame with modern geometry
The tires already show where the journey on the machete is going: 50 mm wide tires are ideal for rough terrain and bring the Bulls a little closer to the MTB. Where conventional gravel bikes reach their limits, this bike still has reserves. The core is a carbon frame whose geometry was developed in extensive test drives with Bulls athletes like Karl Platt. With a slack steering angle, steep seat tube angle and short stem, the Trail Machete is very much like a mountain bike; the compact seating position improves handling on demanding routes and ensures comfort on long tours.
Despite the high rigidity and the great resilience, the frame could be designed very slim - this should make it easier to mount bag systems, for example. Otherwise there are some innovative features to be discovered, such as the four mounting points under the top tube: A flexible luggage strap is attached here, with which a rain jacket can be fixed to the top tube. Of course, the typical top tube bag can also be mounted, as well as various bottle holders and luggage holders on the fork; fenders can also be attached and even a headlight can be attached to the fork.
Bulls Trail Machete Geometry
| S | M | L | XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stack | 575 | 599 | 626 | 649 |
| Reach | 381 | 398 | 626 | 649 |
| top tube length | 546 | 570 | 587 | 610 |
| head tube | 135 | 160 | 189 | 213 |
| seat tube | 450 | 470 | 510 | 550 |
| chainstays | 419 | 419 | 419 | 419 |
| wheelbase | 1016 | 1041 | 1060 | 1084 |
| BB drop | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Steering angle | 71 | 71 | 71 | 71 |
| Seat angle | 74 | 74 | 74 | 74 |
Top modern equipment
The striking carbon frame is equipped with an electronic circuit from SRAM. The wireless electronic twelve-speed groupset with Eagle cassette (10-52 teeth) ensures an extremely wide range of gear ratios of 520%; the levers of the new Rival eTap are pleasantly slim and can be gripped very comfortably with optimal ergonomics. In addition, the machete comes with a very special feature: a RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post, which is also activated via the electronic shifter and, with an adjustment range of 100 mm, allows the saddle to be lowered deeply on downhill sections.
The clean appearance of the electronic shifting is underlined by the tidy routing of the brake lines, which run under the handlebars into the head tube. In addition, the machete stands out from the crowd with its clear aero shapes. This is particularly noticeable on the seat tube - this construction should also offer noticeable vibration damping with defined flex zones. The Schwalbe G-One Ultrabite in the current tubeless version is also made for comfort and grip, mounted on gravel-specific wheels from Mavic with a large inner width, which offer the 50 mm wide tires optimal grip even with low air pressure.
Bulls Machete: super technology, attractive price
Innovative frame, state-of-the-art equipment and practical high-tech extras - with these features, the Bulls Trail Machete is at the forefront of trail-ready gravel bikes. In terms of price, however, the top model from the Cologne sports brand is pleasantly restrained: Bulls is asking 3.999 euros for the new model – a more than fair offer given the features mentioned and the high-quality components. With Shimano 1×11 and without a dropper post, the bike is even available for 2.399 euros
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Product News / Gravel: Gravel power from all tubes: With the XPLR components, Sram is expanding the range of Gravel-specific products enormously. This not only applies to the groupsets from our own company, but also includes RockShox and Zipp. Both manufacturers are also at home under the common “roof” Sram. So you get three new groupsets, a suspension fork, a […]
Bulls Trail Machete - short and sweet
- Frame material: Carbon
- wheel size: 28 inch
- Frame sizes: S, M, L, XL
- Max. tire width: 50 mm
- Price: 3.999 Euros
