Bulls Sharptail 3 review: This affordable mountain bike is designed for serious off-road riding, but also performs well in everyday use. Besides its solid components, the wide range of sizes available for this versatile model is also a plus.
Has the gravel bike overtaken the mountain bike as the go-to sporty everyday bike? You might get that impression here and there, but the mountain bike will probably never truly go out of style. It's simply too versatile and robust – and perfectly suited to what young people, in particular, like to do with their bikes. Things that can be a bit risky, but which tend to put more strain on the equipment than the rider. And for stairs, trails, and jumps, the mountain bike is simply the best choice – especially when it's as affordable as the Bulls Sharptail 3.
Bulls Sharptail 3: Budget-friendly all-round hardtail
At just under €700, this sleek hardtail fits well into a family budget, although you shouldn't expect miracles at this price. The Sharptail's steel spring fork offers 100 mm of travel; the 2x8 drivetrain is easy to use and, with a sufficiently high top gear and a clear low-range gear, is well-suited for both road and off-road riding. It also features hydraulic disc brakes and grippy knobby tires, making it ready for anything. Since the Sharptail is a Category 3 bike, it can be used quite aggressively off-road.
Bulls Sharptail 3: the highlights
- Aluminum frame in six sizes with balanced trail geometry
- 100 mm steel spring fork
- 2x8 drivetrain with a wide gear range
- Price 699,95 Euro
Bulls focuses on a balanced trail geometry with a slack head angle and short stem, and there's an interesting feature: Bulls offers six frame sizes, with the two smallest models rolling on 27,5-inch wheels and all the others on 29ers. This, along with the significant difference in seat tube and head tube height, not only allows for easy size adjustment but also enables a more sporty or upright riding position.
Large enough for teenagers and young adults
Incidentally, the largest Sharptails are already adult-sized. When the teenager becomes a student, the bike can easily continue to be used – just not for school anymore, but for university. The solid construction and the easy replacement of components (for example, thanks to external cable routing) ensure that the affordable MTB can be used for a long time, and thus the Bulls Sharptail contributes to ensuring that the suspension fork is not completely replaced by drop handlebars on sporty everyday bikes in the long term.
The slots for reflectors, which can be replaced with special battery-powered lights, are also designed for everyday use. With these, the Sharptail then has, let's say, a "semi-permanent" lighting system, and with this, at the latest, the Bulls MTB has made the transition from a fun off-road machine to a true all-round sports bike.
