Santa Cruz Vala X0 review - a new approach to perfection?

The new Vala is Santa Cruz’ first attempt on a Bosch-powered emtb. Like many other brands these days, Santa Cruz has gone from Shimano to offering both brands. According to my local Santa Cruz contact, the brand will be opportunistic when choosing a motor and not locking themselves to one motor system. And that shows, now Santa Cruz is offering Fazua and Bosch in addition to Shimano motors.

Bosch Performance CX gen5​

The bike does of course get the latest CX gen5 motor. And it gets the 600 Wh battery that is fixed inside the frame. It seems more and more brands decide to fix the battery to the frame these days. If you don’t need a detachable battery, perhaps to be able to charge it, then there are advantages to a fixed battery. It saves weight, complexity and cost. We quite enjoy the new 85 Nm CX motor, it brings a new level of bike control without having to drop the motor power quite low. And it's a silent motor, both under load and while coasting, read more about it here.

The Vala rear suspension​

To me though, there are bigger news and changes on the Vala. This is a mullet bike with a smaller 27.5 rear wheel matched with 150 mm travel and 160 mm at the front. Sounds familiar? It’s the same as the Santa Cruz Heckler, a bike that has now been replaced with the Vala. Prior to the Heckler launch, I was speculating whether Santa Cruz would be able to implement their signature VPP suspension on an emtb. The lower link of the classic VPP is almost touching the bottom bracket, leaving no space for a motor.


The Heckler appeared and it did come with the VPP rear linkage. Well, almost, the lower link was moved to make room for the quite compact Shimano-motor. But Santa Cruz was happy. They had achieved their goal of making an emtb with their cherished VPP suspension and a frame that looked like the Bronson, the non-assist counterpart of the Heckler.

Fast-forwards five years and, to the surprise of many, the VPP is gone. I can’t help but think the compromise of combining VPP with a motor ended up being too big. Santa Cruz says they went with the new four-bar design so they could move the shock out of the seat tube to make room for a longer dropper post, and to free up space for the motor.


The VPP design was loved by many, and I enjoyed how the rear wheel tracked the trails. But I struggled with the anti-rise on my old 2014 Bronson, the rear would lift when braking hard, tipping me forwards and compressing the fork. Also, it couldn’t be described as a poppy rear end, it took a bit of work extending the rear shock and getting the back wheel of the ground. Looking at the kinematics graphs, the four-bar Vala looks very different to other Santa Cruz emtbs.

Santa Cruz Vala frame geometry​

Compared to previous Hecklers, the head angle is down by 1* or more. They always had relatively steep seat angles, and so does Vala at just over 77*, depending on the flip-chip position. There is a chip that will move the bottom shock attachment slightly, taking the head angle down from 64.2 to 63.9*. The seat angle too is only adjusted by 0.3*.


Chainstays are size specific, or test bike in size L has 444 mm stays, and 2 mm more in the HI position. This results in very minor changes to the wheelbase which is 1.269 mm and 1 mm more in the HI position. These are very minor changes. So, what’s the point? To me, the 4 mm lower bottom bracket was the biggest deal of selecting the LO position. As I can’t remember a single pedal strike during the testing, the 340 mm BB height made me very happy. I enjoy a slightly lower bottom bracket height when descending and cornering.

More details​

Did you notice? There are no cables going through the headset. Also, there is no headset block, restricting steering rotation. I’m not surprised Santa Cruz has omitted headset routed cables. It seems they’re being a bit conservative about some trends. When I bought a Santa Cruz Bronson in 2014, it was partly due to the threaded bottom bracket. The brand decided against using pressfit bearings.

Riding the Santa Cruz Vala X0​

On my first ride, there was a situation that said much about this bike. I was going down a long, steep and straight trail and speed was building up quickly, so I decided to brake a bit. The Maven Silvers scrub so hard. Meanwhile, the anti-rise of the rear suspension ensures the rear end doesn’t lift. That was a concern for me as when braking hard on my old 2014 Bronson, the front was diving. This time, the bike remained level, and it seemed to inch lower to grab onto the surface, like a cat. I was left impressed by how the rear end tracked to maintain grip and control.

This stellar performance left me disappointed with my choice. Why did I decide to pull the brakes? There was no need, and now I lost all my speed. The braking performance and rear wheel behavior inspires confidence. Combined with the Schwalbe Magic Mary Soft & Softer radial tyres, the grip and stability on wet autumn trails was impressive.


Riding treacherous autumn trails, it felt like leveling up riding the Vala. I just had to dare go faster to realize I wasn’t pushing the bike, to realize there was grip to be had over wet rockgardens. Sure, the tyres were losing grip. But it was happening in slow motion, the sticky tyres were letting go slowly and I had time to react.

Less steep trails​

The rear suspension and choice of tyres would continue to impress us. Sure, the radial Magic Mary Gravity rear wheel is a slow roller. Riding on asphalt, the Vala rider was lagging behind when descending. And the tyres made a rumbling noise, which was pretty much the only time this bike was audible.



I noticed I was riding seated more than I used to. I was surprised by how well the smaller bumps from the trails were dealt with. The well damped, grippy tyres helped a lot and the rear suspension remained active even while pedaling.

The heavy and supple tyres have such a positive impact on the ride. But wouldn’t that result in a slow and more sluggish steering response? No, not in this case, and I believe that’s down to the light Santa Cruz Reserve carbon wheels. Combining heavy tyres with a light rim keeps the total rotating mass down. It’s such a great combination. I fear the experience might not be the same on cheaper Vala builds with heavier wheels, but I don’t know, I might be wrong.



I always viewed the original Heckler as a fun trailbike, a light bike that is inspiring on less aggressive trails. Even though the Vala has more aggressive geometry, it’s a light bike too, weighing 22 kg including pedals. Sure, the slacker head angle and longer wheelbase changes the bike a bit. The steering does feel a bit slower in low speed, sharp turns. But that’s fine, it's not much of a sacrifice as the Vala still feels responsive and light for less agressive trail riding.

Climbing​

Riding slippery trails, the Vala was a great climber. Sure, the 444 mm chainstays aren’t long enough to make it a climbing specialist. But these are challenging conditions, a few more mm on the rear end wouldn’t have made a difference, we got up the steepest climbs thanks to rear wheel traction and motor power. This bike climbs well enough and then some, there is no way I would wish for a longer rear end and trade off other characteristics of this bike.

Conclusion​

With the Vala, the ambitions of making the bike look like its non-assist counterpart is gone. And I for one can’t see any downside. To me, the bike still looks like a Santa Cruz with the tube shapes and single-color paint job.

The new frame geometry combined with the redesigned rear suspension has transformed the 150/160 mm travel offering to a highly capable descender. It rides like a burlier bike than it actually is. And thankfully, actually being less burly makes the Vala enjoyable at lower speeds too.

As you know by now, I like the Vala a lot. But it also makes me a bit sad. I can’t see myself ever spending anywhere close to $11.499 on an emtb. And this is what PON, the owner of Santa Cruz intended. The Vala is only available with a carbon frame, Santa Cruz is targeting the high-end market. If you want a cheaper bike than the base Vala R at $7.299, PON might suggest you look at the Focus Jam2 that can only be had with an alloy frame.