Bike Check: Andy McKenna's new MS adapted Santa Cruz Vala Lite

A long term Tweed Valley resident, near legendary Scottish mountain bike guide, wilderness enthusiast and friend of ours, Andy McKenna will be a face known to many. Probably only slightly less well known these days is that he has spent the last two decades quietly battling against the lifelong condition that is MS. 

These days, working both to raise awareness of MS and to show that it’s still possible to live a meaningful and fulfilling life with the condition, he has produced some excellent short films in association with Santa Cruz and Shimano. Not confined just to MS, they shine a light on individuals finding ways to live positively in the face of a variety of challenges and should provide some inspiration and a kick up the arse to get on with life to all of us. 

Two Andys enjoying new bike day

Needless to say, Andy still gets out on his bike as much as he can and just recently we had the pleasure of building him a new Santa Cruz Vala Lite which he’s a few weeks into riding now. Over to Andy to tell us about his bike. 

The Right Bike at the Right Time

By Andy McKenna

There was a time when I'd happily spend all day pedalling a mountain bike through the biggest terrain I could find. These days, things are different. Living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has taught me to be smarter with my limited energy. Every ride is precious, and if a bike can help me spend less time worrying about getting back to the van and more time actually riding trails, that's exactly what I want. But there's another challenge that no motor, suspension design or lightweight build can solve.

MS doesn't just sap energy. It affects the central nervous system - vision, reaction time, balance, limb coordination, and fine sensation in my hands & feet. The small corrections most riders make without thinking become harder work. On fast, rough ground, every one of them matters. Over the past year I've spent countless hours aboard my custom Santa Cruz Vala. It quickly became one of my favourite bikes - not because it's electric, but because it rides exactly as a Santa Cruz should.

Now there's a new version: the Vala Lite. For where I am in my riding right now, it might actually suit me better. Or, more honestly, I've finally accepted that brute force was never going to work long term.

Riding It As Santa Cruz Intended

I've been fortunate to spend real time across the Santa Cruz e-MTB range over the years - Hecklers 8, 9 and SL; the original Vala, and now the Vala Lite. That continuity matters more than it might sound. It means I'm not just reacting to one bike in isolation; I've lived through the evolution of how Santa Cruz approach full-power and lightweight e-MTB design, and how those choices translate on actual trails in Scotland.

Most riders get a snapshot - one bike, one build, one moment in a product cycle. I've had something different: time with the original Vala, time to understand how I adapted it, and now time with the Vala Lite in its refined form. That changes how you approach a bike.

The original Vala gradually became a highly personalised machine - small changes, carefully chosen components, subtle adaptations that helped me ride more comfortably and with more control. Over time, it also became a reminder that I can still overthink anything mechanical given enough opportunity. The Vala Lite I deliberately left almost untouched; I wanted to ride it exactly as Santa Cruz intended. Not to benchmark it, not to improve it, but to understand it properly before I interfered. So far there has been less interpretation required than I expected. It's the same DNA, but a different character.

I've really only made one essential addition - the Pademelon CS1 steering damper, which for me sits more in the category of adaptive equipment than tuning. 

The Vala Lite hasn’t compromised on power or range to become a lightweight e-bike. It still uses Bosch's eminently capable Performance Line CX motor - no output numbers here, just real-world feel - and there's no compromise in climbing performance. For long Scottish days, that's what matters. Most of my riding sits in Bosch's eMTB mode. It adds support when fatigue creeps in without taking over. It simply extends what I can already do, which is useful because what I can do depends heavily on what my nervous system has decided that morning.

The latest Bosch system is noticeably more refined: lighter, quieter, better integrated. Instead of a motor soundtrack, I get tyres on dirt and the occasional internal reminder to stay upright. The difference with the Lite isn't the motor - it's where Santa Cruz have chosen to save weight.

A Fox 36 fork, lighter EXO+ tyres, and carefully selected components subtly change the bike's feel. On paper, the difference is fairly small. On the trail, it isn't. It feels easier to place, easier to correct, and less physically demanding for me when fatigue kicks in. That matters more than chasing a number on a scale.

I've ridden plenty of e-bikes over the years - some climb brilliantly but feel like barges on the way down, others feel planted but require constant effort to keep on line in tight terrain. The Vala Lite sits in the middle ground where nothing feels exaggerated. Santa Cruz have always prioritised ride feel, and it shows here.

On the specifics: the mixed-wheel setup keeps things lively. The four-bar suspension stays composed under braking and active when traction matters. But the bigger change isn't any single feature - it's how little I now have to manage while riding it. The bike simply behaves. I deal with the trail instead of negotiating with the bike.

The Build Kit

The Shimano 4-piston brakes paired with the new rotors deliver strong, consistent stopping power without requiring much hand force. That's not a minor detail. With MS, grip strength and fine control vary, so consistency matters.

The lever adjustment is just as important. Being able to set reach and bite point precisely means the brakes meet my hands where they are, not where they should be in theory - which is pretty handy (pun intended) because clonus and spasticity change finger dexterity from one ride to the next. It removes friction before I even start riding.

Shifting follows the same logic. Shimano XT Di2 shifts cleanly, consistently, and without hesitation under load. It's powered by the bike's battery and works in harmony with the Bosch platform, with simple manual shifting or Auto Shift handling gear changes when I don't want to think about cadence, gradient, and survival all at once. The result is simple: fewer interruptions, fewer decisions, more focus on the trail.

Despite all that, my first few rides on the Vala before I had a chance to fit the Padmelon steering damper were genuinely intimidating. Not because of the bike, but because of me. With MS, sensation and coordination can be unreliable. Balance shifts without warning. At speed, every root or loose rock feels amplified. The problem wasn't capability - it was processing speed. The bike was ahead of me. I ended up riding in a constant state of overcorrection, locked into short-range focus and mental fatigue, and it quietly pushed me away from terrain I used to love.

The Pademelon Steering Damper, A Piece of Adaptive Equipment Disguised as a Bike Component

The only change I made to the Vala Lite was fitting a Pademelon CS1 steering damper. DH  riders would probably see it as a performance upgrade. I don't. For me, it's adaptive equipment.

After hearing about my riding, Pademelon's Jeremiah Boobar sent me a message: "I've given you a high-force damper, which we've been reserving for our adaptive customers. Let me know what you think."

It’s a tune that, compared with the standard version, offers a little more resistance to sudden steering deflections, giving my nervous system a fraction more time to catch up with what’s happening at the bars. That might not sound like much, but out on rough trails it’s been transformative. The bike feels calmer. My grip softens. My shoulders relax. Instead of fixing on the trail directly in front of the wheel, I’m looking further ahead again. It’s a bit like finally finding a supermarket trolley that actually goes where you point it.

The surprise, though, has been climbing. On awkward technical climbs, where the front wheel would previously wander and I’d waste precious energy wrestling it back on line, the extra damping simply lets me get on with the job. Less correcting. Less fighting. More climbing. I genuinely didn’t expect that.

The clever bit is that I can adjust it on the fly. A quick twist of the dial - even for someone whose hands don’t always cooperate - and I can add or remove support to suit the trail or however my body has decided to behave that day. Some days I barely touch it. On others, that extra bit of damping feels like someone has quietly turned the volume down on everything that’s trying to distract my nervous system.

That doesn’t mean everyone should rush out and buy the high-force version. If you don’t have the neurological quirks I do, the standard damper may well be the sweeter option. That’s the clever bit. Pademelon haven’t produced one answer - they’ve produced different tunes for different riders.

For me, though, that’s the real win. Every bit of mental bandwidth I don’t spend on internal negotiation is another little bit I can spend reading the trail, picking better lines, and quietly sticking two fingers up at MS.

Of course, neither the Vala Lite nor the Pademelon damper fixes MS. But together they reduce enough friction that I spend less time managing symptoms and more time actually riding. The damper removes steering noise my system struggles to filter, the CX motor extends my usable energy, Shimano helps reduce mechanical and cognitive load, and the Vala itself reduces the physical demands on me, improving my composure. Individually, none of it is dramatic. Together, it changes the experience of a ride - not faster, not easier in a simplistic way. Just more possible.

Vala vs Vala Lite?

If you'd asked me a year ago which I'd choose, I'd probably have said the original Vala. It has a wonderfully planted, composed feel that rewards commitment when trails become rough and speeds rise.

Today I'd choose the Lite. Not because it's objectively better, but because it asks a little less of me over the course of a four-hour ride. It changes direction more willingly, feels easier to place, and - perhaps most importantly - leaves more physical and mental bandwidth for the things that actually matter: reading the trail, enjoying the scenery, and remembering where I parked the van.

That's the thing about getting older, or living with MS, or both. Eventually you stop choosing bikes for the rider you used to be and start choosing them for the rider you actually are. Strangely enough, that's a far happier place to be.