Copperhead Evo HD 750 Wave

1 review for Copperhead Evo HD 750 Wave

1. 

   CC E-Cycles – April 21, 2023

   Video Review

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   Written Review

   This review was provided for free using a demo bike. My goal is to be transparent and unbiased with you, this video and writeup are not meant to be an endorsement of BULLS products. I welcome your corrections, additions, and feedback in the comments below, and the BULLS electric bike forums.

   Observations:

   • The bike is purpose built with good weight distribution, although it is a bit heavier than most cross country models I’ve covered due to the large battery, plus sized tires, and reinforced wave frame. It’s unique to see a step-thru mountain bike that’s so approachable but also sturdy and trail capable. It comes in four frame sizes, one color scheme, and is generally sold through dealers.
   • Boost hub spacing for the front wheel means the spoke bracing angle is sturdier and the fork is wider. The tires are 2.6″ wide which is the narrowest “plus” size, offering improved stability, float, and overall forgiveness.

   Pros:

   • Excellent two year warranty from Bosch, their hardware is UL certified, highly water and dust resistant, and I was told that they provide support on retired products for 10 years.
   • BULLS is a large company with a good reputation, they sell through dealers who can help with fitting and service, their products are sold internationally including Europe and North America.
   • The COPPERHEAD EVO HD 750 models (WAVE and High-Step) come in four frame sizes each, which improves rider fit. You get better comfort and handling this way.
   • Purpose built frame with internally routed cables, drive system weight is kept low and center, the battery is completely hidden and well protected. The bikes handle well and are truly trail-capable in my opinion.
   • I love that they included a kickstand mount on the left rear chain stay, and it’s not a tab that hangs down. BULLS used industry standard two-hole threaded 18mm spaced interface. this would be a great accessory for people who use the bike to commute and add a rear rack. I also appreciate where they positioned the battery lock and charging port (high up on the downtube, near the steer tube).
   • The battery pack locks into the frame using an ABUS locking core with XPLUS Code keys that can be matched to ABUS locks (like folding locks, u-locks, and frame locks), so you don’t need multiple keys! They seem to be high quality locks in general that would be more more difficult to defeat.
   • The battery offers extremely high charge capacity, 36 volts and 20.1 amp hours for roughly 750 watt hours of capacity. That means you can use higher assist levels without range anxiety, and just go farther in general.
   • Outstanding battery charger that’s relatively light weight at 1.6lbs, compact with removable wall-side plug, and puts out 36 volt 4 amps vs. just 2 amps on many competing chargers. It has a sturdy plug design that connects directly to the battery as well as the plug port on the bike. It’s also UL certified for safety.
   • There are two magnetic light mounts with MonkeyLink interface, so you can add a headlight and a rear light or fender with light that will run off of the main rechargeable battery pack. The headlight is very nice with a flattened beam that won’t shine up into oncoming traffic and offers adjustable angle for aiming.
   • Clean aesthetic with metallic dark gray paint on the frame. Black fork lowers, rims, spokes, posts, and handlebar all match for a more premium look.
   • The Schwalbe tires look great, provide excellent traction, and come with some puncture protection built into the lining. This should help make them last longer and save you time and hassle if you encounter stickers. Great PSI spread so you can ride with lower pressure (to improve float on soft terrain and overall comfort). The rims and tires come tubeless ready for even lower PSI options and reduced weight.
   • Both wheels and the seat post clamp are quick release. This makes the bike easier to adjust or fix on the trail, you won’t have to carry along as many tools. The downside is that it also makes hardware easier to steal if you’re commuting and parking at a rack, so consider security hardware if that’s the case.
   • A large 203mm hydraulic disc brake rotor and quad piston caliper up front offers a great mechanical advantage for continuous descents and control over the larger plus sized tire. The rear brake size is 180mm with dual piston caliper, which is pretty standard. Note that you may see Shimano or Tektro hardware depending on supply chain.
   • Decent resin platform pedals wit grip tape from Wellgo, comfortable co-branded Velo saddle, and locking Velo grips with rubberized ends that won’t scratch your car or wall as easily. The touch points are BULLS / Zecure branded to look great, but come from reputable manufacturers.
   • This is a little thing, but the seat post is quite nice. It’s a two bolt design that is easy to adjust and the metal from the post merges seamlessly with the clamp at the top. It’s 30.9mm wide, which means you have plenty of options to swap for a suspension post or dropper post if you wish.
   • As mentioned in the introduction, it’s rare to find a truly capable cross country electric mountain bike that’s produced in a deep wave style step-thru frame design. It’s extremely approachable, but sturdy enough to handle the speed, bumps, and drops of cross country riding. Note that BULLS also produces a high-step version of this ebike.
   • I love that both frame styles offer bottle cage bosses on the downtube. If you opt for the high-step frame, you get a second bottle cage mount on the seat tube. Keep in mind that mounting a bottle cage on the wave frame will raise your standover height a bit and crowd the area. Consider a handlebar cup holder or hydration pack instead.
   • Solid drivetrain with 38 tooth sturdy steel chainring that has a narrow-wide tooth pattern for improved grab. Plastic chain guide ensures you won’t experience chain drops, even on the roughest terrain. The 10-speed 11-46 tooth cassette provides enough range for steep climbs and comfortable pedaling at speed. It’s light, durable, offers a clutch to keep the chain tight, and is one of my favorite drivetrains (Shimano Deore with clutch).
   • Sturdy 120mm air suspension with lockout, rebound adjust, and thicker 34mm stanchions. The stanchions are steel vs. anodized aluminum alloy that would be lighter, bit the action was smooth and satisfying during my ride tests. The tapered steer tube supports a wide range of upgrade options if you wish to go that route someday.
   • Bosch LED remote is easy to reach with your left thumb, the buttons are consistent and satisfying. The 5 LED lights actually communicate 10% charge level increments for more precise readings (blue is a 20% chunk and white is a 10% chunk). The four assist levels are matched to colors, so you don’t need to read anything, just memorize the colors Green = Eco, Blue = Tour+, Purple = eMTB, Red = Turbo.
   • You could easily wire in the Bosch Kiox 300 LCD display panel for more precise battery readouts, current speed, trip distance, heart rate, range estimate and more… if you are willing to buy and upgrade. The free Bosch eBike Flow smartphone app offers many of the same readouts and lets your phone act as a display in Ride Mode.
   • I love that the Bosch Flow ebike app offers trip planning with GPS and gives you three options for direct, casual, or mountain routes. It dynamically updates your route depending on your ride preferences! It also lets you adjust Eco and Turbo assist settings (power output, acceleration, top speed, max torque). You can update your own firmware without visiting a shop, track rides, and connect to other cycling apps like Strava, Komoot, Apple Health, and Apple Watch all with this free eBike Flow app.
   • The Tour+ and eMTB assist settings allow you to focus on gear selection, pedaling, and steering. They dynamically provide more power based on how hard you’re pedaling, which improves efficiency too. Think of Tour+ as the efficient dynamic setting and eMTB as the more power hungry high torque dynamic setting.
   • The Bosch Performance Line CX motor is super smart, measuring rear wheel speed, pedal cadence, and pedal torque over 1,000 per second! It’s extremely responsive and quick, is quieter than I remember, doesn’t weigh a lot at just 6.4lbs because of the magnesium housing, and supports over 120 RPM pedal cadence. That means you don’t have to adjust your pedaling or ride style to the bike, it adapts to you… and even provides shift detection to reduce wear on the chain and sprockets.
   • BULLS has positioned the magnet for measuring rear wheel on the wheel hub near the disc brake rotor mount vs. a spoke. This means that your wheel can stay more balanced and you won’t end up with a loose spoke over time, it also improves reliability because this tucked-in position isn’t exposed to mud and debris as much.
   • It’s a small detail, but I love the little plastic mudguards that come with the suspension fork. They will help keep mud and water out of your eyes as you ride faster across varied terrain. I’ve added similar fenders to my own mountain bike with zip ties, but these are a lot sturdier and look great.

   Cons:

   • Due in part to the heavier steel stanchions on the suspension fork, wider Boost hub spacing with 15mm thru-axle, and high capacity 9.4lb Bosch PowerTube 750 battery pack, the bike weighs 56lbs which I consider heavy for a hardtail cross country model without fenders or rack attached.
   • The suspension fork offer less refined compression adjustment, it’s more like open and 80% locked out. The good news is that it’s still nicer than an entry level fork and the tapered steer tube means you can easily upgrade to nicer models someday if necessary.
   • The battery cover seated well and provides good protection from dust and water, but it doesn’t lock to the frame. As a result, I feel that it could be easier to lose or have taken off, but at least it’s probably affordable and easy to replace because it’s just black plastic… and it’s not as heavy as a metal shield that some other ebikes use.
   • I wish that the USB-C port on the Bosch LED remote was active for charging smartphones and other devices, especially since the Bosch eBike Flow app has a ride mode that shows realtime stats and mapping. The bike has such a high capacity battery, and I love that it can run lights using the MonkeyLink interfaces… just wish it could do the same for other accessories.
   • If you aren’t using a smartphone as a display, the readouts on the Bosch LED remote are a bit limited. You get a battery charge level percentage with 10% steps (blue blocks represent 20% and white blocks represent 10%). Four colors communicate assist level… but there’s no current speed, min or max speed, range, cadence etc. that you would get from the Bosch Kiox 300 (which is sold separately).
   • The Bosch Performance Line CX Smart System motor is very responsive and powerful, but it uses energy faster and produces more noise than a lower powered variant, and some of the competition. It’s gotten a lot better, so this is more of a “high powered motors make noise” comment than a Bosch specific critique.
   • I didn’t see a slap guard on the right chain stay, which leaves the nice paint exposed to chips if the chain bounces around on a rough section of trail (when pedaling in higher gears mostly). Consider using some clear box tape, or purchasing an aftermarket slap guard made from neoprene or rubber to keep things looking nice. The derailleur does have a clutch lever that can tighten the spring that helps reduce bounce and drops, so make sure it’s activated (positioned up and to the left).
   • When mounting the battery back onto the frame, you have to actively twist the key to unlock the latch or the pack won’t go in. It requires two hands and just isn’t as convenient as a ramped latch that I’ve see on other interfaces where you just push, especially because the battery is heavy at 9.4lbs.
   • None of the Bosch Smart System hardware is backwards compatible, so you can’t use a PowerTube 500 or 625 on this ebike, you cannot use the original Kiox, or other displays like Purion, Intuvia, or Nyon.
   • This is a minor thing, but the chainring doesn’t cycle backwards when you backpedal, this changes how drivetrain service is done… you basically need a bike maintenance stand or a friend to lift the bike and pedal to clean and lubricate the chain. One positive note here, is that Bosch has setup the bottom bracket with some resistance so the cranks won’t spin as freely backwards, which could lead to more shin scrapes and shin bumps if your foot slips off when pedaling.
   • Be careful when lifting and transporting the PowerTube battery because it does not have an integrated handle like the PowerPack mid-frame and rear-rack models. I do appreciate how it clicks down one step when unlocking, before completely coming off the bike because you are less likely to drop it when removing.