Santa Cruz launch the New Vala E-MTB

Today sees an all new E-Bike launch from Santa Cruz in the Vala and in this case it really is all new, showcasing a new motor, design philosophy and even an entirely new linkage for the Californian brand. That’s right, do not adjust your screens, the Vala is not a VPP bike.

With Santa Cruz already making two excellent full power bikes in the Heckler and Bullit, there was some speculation where the new bike would fit in and with the detail now revealed, it seems the Vala looks to sit between them combining the best traits of both. 

At 150mm rear wheel travel with a 160mm fork and using an MX wheel setup, the Vala may be the same travel as the Heckler but it adds considerably longer and slacker geometry along with a burlier 38mm stanchioned fork to create what looks like it will be a considerably harder riding and more DH capable bike. Given how good the new Bronson V5 was with similar geometry, given the Valas extra heft and  Fox 38, it should be able to take on pretty much anything that comes its way. Ordinarily that might be the headline tag on the new bike but in the case of the Vala there is a whole lot more to look at, with both a brand new motor system and linkage design to consider.

The Bosch Cx motor is one of the benchmark E-Bike systems with an excellent reputation for reliability, but also one that has been largely unchanged for a few years, so the brand new version used on the Vala represents a significant update with some big changes. Still delivering 85 Nm torque and 600W peak power, it’s both lighter at 2.8kg and smaller than the previous Cx motor allowing it to fit better with a variety of suspension designs. Quiet under torque and completely silent when descending, it also now sees the controller, top tube display and speed sensor all go wireless to help eliminate both faff when changing components and wet weather failure points all in one go. As you’d expect from a modern motor, all four of the power modes are fully tuneable via a user app.

The Cx motor is combined on the Vala with a 600W integrated battery. A bigger 800W battery does exist but Santa Cruz deliberately went with the 600W version not just to keep bike weight within their targets (the 800W is 1kg more) but also to keep the battery weight lower in the frame and and maintain a low centre of mass on the Vala for the best possible handling. The integrated setup reduces frame weight without compromising stiffness or strength and should also help to keep water and mud outside the frame, which might not matter everywhere but is a real consideration in Scotland! For any riders looking to take on truly enormous rides, a 250W range extender is also available, boosting capacity to a massive 850W total.

Likely the biggest news of all for the Vala however is the move away from the iconic VPP suspension linkage to a four-bar design for the first time. If you’ve been following recent Santa Cruz bike launches, you’ll know by now that they are working to reduce anti squat and anti-rise across their whole bike range to create bikes with a more neutral and active suspension feel ( a change we really liked during our test of the new Bronson V5). The pivot positions forced by the Bosch motor made those changes very hard to implement using VPP however, so rather than compromise, they kept the suspension design goals and re-designed the entire linkage. 

Compared to the Heckler 9, the Vala sees Anti-Squat significantly reduced from almost 140% to around 100% at sag, which will translate to a much more active rear suspension while climbing, with the bike more able to track the ground and keep the rear wheel in traction. At the same time, Anti-Rise,(the measure of how much rear brake force works to compress to the shock) is also reduced at the start of the travel, helping the bike to remain higher in the travel and more active over smaller chatter under braking than previously. Leverage rates are not greatly different, keeping the good balance between support, plushness and bottom out resistance we’ve come to expect, but the Vala does now use a longer 60mm shock, allowing the damping to work better, especially over longer descents. 

Another side benefit to the move to four-bar design is the creation of extra space for dropper post insertion where the shock tunnel would previously have been. That extra room has been put to immediate use, with Medium and Large bikes now coming with longer 180mm and 210mm droppers.

The Vala also features more adjustment than we’ve seen on Santa Cruz bikes previously with geometry adjustable via a flip chip at the rear of the rocker, while the lower shock mount has two separate positions to independently adjust progression between 26% and 29% in order to suit either different rider preferences or shock types.  Elsewhere, the frame retains the normal hallmarks of quality we’ve come to expect from Santa Cruz. The main rocker is produced from a sturdy single piece to maintain stiffness and all bearings around the bike are a decent size keeping durability prioritised over marginal weight gains. 

There are two colours, the striking Midnight Green or the subtler Gloss Grey and a range of build kits, starting from the £6699 R-Kit, with the GX and Fox Performance based S version going for £7599. Above that, the Fox Performance Elite and Factory suspended GX AXS and CC XO models make up the higher end core of the range at £8599 and £9999 respectively, both using SRAM T-type drivertrains and Maven brakes. All versions now also use the excellent and lifetime warrantied Reserve rims.

We’ve all sizes of Vala incoming across a mix of the build kits, along with demo bikes so get in touch and we’ll get you on yours. 

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📧 shop@tweedvalleybikes.co.uk