2011 Bulls Copperhead 3 - Update 2015-07-02

Hi all,

Just thought I'd show one of my Bullses.

I bought the bike after I got fed up with my 2007 Cannondale F6. The F6 was a good bike, but had some handling issues and I simply never bonded with it.
This one however was different. As soon as I got on it for the first time, it felt like I've been driving it for years. Maybe it's because of my other Bulls, or maybe it's just because these bikes are excellent to begin with.

Due to medical reasons (I'm recovering from stomach surgery) I can't do much off-roading, so I slapped on a pair of slicks. I also fitted all the necessary stuff for long-distance riding. I used to do 35-50 miles/day, and plan to get back to that level in a year or so.



I'm not too happy with the grips yet and the seat will need to be replaced with something more touring-friendly.
I'm also worried about the pedals after seeing a similar set in which the axle was sticking through the side of the plastic body, so I'll be looking for a pair that is a bit stronger.

Apart from those small things, I'm quite pleased with it.

I know it's not a hyper high-end carbon fully, but at £1125 it's a bargain really. A lot of bang for your buck.

EDIT : removed some pics because they're now obsolete.

I REALLY like that.

Not heard of Bulls before but im going to have a look into them now

seems great value

Great value indeed. The frame is strong, the geometry is good, the paint and finish is flawless ... and then there's the speclist. Mostly XT (the crankset is a mere Deore) for £1100-ish is excellent if you consider that magazines nowadays are testing £1500 entry-level hardtails that weigh the same and have lower spec components.

I can imagine that these aren't selling well in the UK because it's a lesser-known brand and therefore not fashionable, so you may be able to pick up a bargain.
My LBS still has one 2011 Copperhead 3 in his showroom and is selling it at the equivalent of £956 to make room for the 2012 version.

reminds me of cube bikes.

looks great though, my favourite colour, i run a badboy with slicks in the summer, great tool

Sweet ride!

They have to do a model named 'Hit'.

I would buy one.

bulls

I like the colour scheme.

what did you do to make it more touring friendly?

sam

Little update.

A little while ago I took the City Jets off my 728 and decided to put them on the Bulls, just to see what it looked like.
However I quite liked the result, so they'll stay on. This is one of those few modern bikes that actually gets away with skinwalls without looking ridiculous.



By changing the tyres, the entire bike has been dropped by nearly half an inch, which does make a difference. Now I can actually get on and off the bike without feeling like I need a ladder.

No idea on the current weight, but I think the removal of lights and computer and the difference in tyre weight shaved around 1.5lbs off the bike's weight. It should be somewhere in the mid-to-high 23lbs region now. .

Sweet


Im still reading it all.Lovely build

Re:

I've been messing with other bikes too much and as a result the Bulls was kinda neglected. However I do still have it and it keeps evolving.





One of the Formula RX brakes was leaking, so I replaced them with XT M785 brakes. Big mistake, I later found out that the reservoirs are in the way of thumbies, so for now I'm stuck with the stock shifters.





The 180mm Hope rotors were replaced with a 180mm XT at the front and a 160 at the rear. Parfumisme sorted out the hose lengths and set the brakes up for me. After all the misery with the Formulas, I really didn't want to do this myself anymore.



The fork was dropped to 60mm using Rockshox spacers in the left leg. With 185psi it's about perfect for my current 192lbs (aiming for my 160-165lbs ideal weight by the end of August).
Of course dropping the front this much did affect the geometry and hence the handling, but not by that much really and the small changes are positive. It feels more like a 90s short-travel hardtail than one of those modern 100+mm bikes with their slack geometry.

Oh, and if you're going for such short travel, it has to have one of these decals.








The dual 1 liter bottles should come in handy for my daily 35-40 mile trips, but I tend to drink less than half a liter from them because the water tastes like liquid plastic as soon as it is exposed to the sun's heat. I know there are bottles with a special inner coating that preserves the taste of the water, so I guess it's time to look for those.



Next winter I'll probably get a closer-ratio cassette and a mid-cage or short-cage mech. I never use the granny ring or the tallest few cogs on the cassette, so I might as well get a better choice in the gears I do use. I'll probably go for slightly larger front chainrings too, the current 42/11 top ratio gets used a lot and I found myself trying to upshift from it at least half a dozen times in the last 2 days.

Bike looks great with the slicks on and as for the brakes well fortunately that's one mistake you'll not repeat again so are you going to be using them on another bike then and will you be going back to your old brakes lol .