Santa Cruz Vala review: the best bike I've ever tested

Santa Cruz’s Vala ditches the brand’s long-standing Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) suspension design in favour of the more common Horst-link, making this mid-weight full-power eMTB the new benchmark performer in the 150mm-travel category.

Despite its more generic looks, the Horst-link Vala has plenty of secret spice to help it topple Specialized’s Turbo Levo as my all-time favourite bike.

Its suspension is smooth and fluttery with ramp-up that’s got an insatiable appetite for big hits.

Balanced geometry bolsters its rear-end performance and the powerful, but the natural-feeling Bosch Performance Line CX motor propels you up hills with ease and control.

A 21.51kg (size large), the weight is impressively light given the onboard 600Wh battery, and helps justify the rather juicy £9,999 / $11,499 asking price.

Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV frame, suspension and motor

Made from the brand’s legendary carbon fibre CC frame construction, the Vala and its bearings have a lifetime warranty.

Cables are routed internally via ports on the side of the down tube, there’s chunky chain-slap protection and a nifty mudguard to prevent the main pivot getting covered in muck.

Inside the front triangle are two sets of bottle bosses; the down tube’s are for bottles and the top tube’s for accessories. Given SRAM’s Transmission is fitted, it’s Universal Derailleur Hanger compatible.

The Vala is a mixed wheel-size bike, running a 29in hoop up front and a 27.5in at the rear.

Suspension

The all-new (to Santa-Cruz) Horst-link suspension design has 150mm of travel and a two-position flip chip to switch progression between the high and low settings.

Progression figures are quite close; the high position is roughly 30 per cent progressive, while the low position is around 27 per cent.

Anti-squat sits around 100 per cent at sag, which means the bike should resist bobbing well.

Anti-rise, however, is low. Starting at 65 per cent and rising to 75 per cent during compression, the rear end should remain supple on the brakes.

Motor and battery

Bosch’s newest Performance Line CX motor – boasting 600W and 85Nm of peak power and torque – is powered by an internal 600Wh battery.

The latest iteration of the Bosch power unit drops 100g from the old one, while the onboard battery – that isn’t removable – is claimed to weigh only 3kg.

It uses the wireless bar-mounted mini remote and discreet top-tube System Controller. It’s also compatible with the 250Wh PowerMore range extender, upping total battery capacity to a potential 850Wh.

Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV geometry

The Vala’s geometry isn’t groundbreaking enough to stick the cat among the pigeons, but it’s progressive and adjustable between the high and low settings thanks to a flip chip in the seatstay and rocker-link pivot.

In its five-size range (S to XXL), reach figures start at 432mm and rise to 522mm in the low position.

Depending on the flip chip setting, the head angle is 64.2 or 63.9 degrees and the bottom bracket sits 344 or 340mm above the ground.

Chainstays are size-specific, growing from 439mm (S) up to 450mm for the XXL.

The seat tube angle is steep at 77.2 degrees (low setting) across the sizes, while stack heights are generous, starting at 625mm (S) and lifting to 670mm (XXL), also in the low position.

While nothing groundbreaking, the Vala’s figures represent a melting pot of perfection, which should translate to premium performance on the trails.

Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV specifications

Sitting one down from the top-spec model, this Vala is decked out in SRAM’s second-tier X0 Transmission, Maven Silver Stealth brakes, and Reserve's HD30 rims built to DT 350 hubs.

These are wrapped in Schwalbe’s latest Magic Mary Radial tyres, with an Ultra Soft up front and a Soft at the rear.

Elsewhere, Fox Factory-level dampers are fitted. Up-front is a 38 with GRIP X2 damper, matched with a Float X rear shock.

There’s a long-travel (210mm, large) OneUp V3 dropper post, and the bar and grips are also from the PON stable.

Without pedals, my size-large test bike weighs a meagre 21.51kg – impressive given the spec and full-power motor.

Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV ride impressions

I tested the Vala in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, during an initially cold, then wet and warm Autumn into early winter. Conditions ranged from freeze-dried dust to axle-deep slop and everything in between.

I rode Innerleithen’s downhill tracks, Golfie’s enduro runs and the trail-centre loops of Glentress to get a handle on how well the Vala performs in the widest range of conditions and trail types.

Setup

Getting the Vala ready to ride was relatively straightforward.

I inflated the Fox 38 air spring to my preferred pressures – 98psi – and left the stock two volume reducers fitted. This gave me 37mm, or 23 per cent, sag.

At these pressures, I left the low- and high-speed external rebound adjusters fully open. Likewise, I left the low- and high-speed compression adjusters fully open. This gave the supplest and smoothest-feeling setup.

At the rear, after trying the bike in the high and low progression settings, I preferred the low position because I could use more of the bike’s travel more often, with plenty of support.

I left the stock volume-reducer spacers installed and inflated the air spring to 195psi. This gave 17mm or 28.3 per cent sag, slightly less than Santa Cruz recommends. I added two clicks of low-speed compression damping but left the rebound adjuster fully open.

While the bike felt great in the high geometry setting, it felt much better in the lower position, which is where I left it for the remainder of the test period. Measured in the low setting, the bottom bracket height is 345mm, slightly higher than claimed.

Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV climbing performance

The Vala’s seated riding position is excellently comfortable and neutral.

You naturally sit in the middle of the bike; no shuffling, repositioning, or constant weight shifting is needed to feel at ease.

With the Vala’s new suspension layout, Santa Cruz has finally cracked the code for a balanced seated climbing position.

Most – although not all – of the brand’s VPP bikes have a slack-feeling seat tube angle, positioning your hips a long way aft behind the bottom bracket.

This isn’t the case with the Vala even in the low geometry position, which slackens things out a tad.

You sit directly in the middle of the bike and your hips are over the bottom bracket, improving comfort and efficiency on all levels.

The feeling of effortless balance is the Vala’s overriding characteristic.

Shifting your weight between the front and rear wheels – to emphasise steering control or drive – is easy, requiring only small but deliberate weight shifts.

Climbing is thrilling. You can lift the front wheel in the air to sail over rocks and roots, or place it around a tight turn in technical terrain before weighting it to improve steering accuracy.

Combine its innate handling with super-fluttery, smooth suspension and the ludicrously grippy Magic Mary Radial tyre, and even the wildest, seemingly insurmountable climbs are tamed with absolute ease. Traction is rich, no matter what.

Comfort is also excellent; the rear end moves supply in and out of the first portion of its travel with nearly unrivalled responsiveness.

Rough trail centres, jagged rocks and matted roots are glossed over amazingly, surpassing the feel of rigs with much more travel.

The progression reduces excessive sag once the gradient really steepens, maintaining its all-important geometry.

With an archetypal enduro bike feel to the ride – a squat rear end and tall bars – the Vala’s performance culminates in a package that dispatches techy ascents with ease, but it’s also comfortable blasting up fire roads, and for riding all-day long.

Motor performance and battery life

Despite having one of the smaller battery capacities for a full-power electric mountain bike, I eked out 1,872m of ascent over 34.84km, using exclusively the Tour+ mode from the 600Wh battery.

Bosch is still leading the way by balancing power and range.

The new Performance Line CX – while feeling indiscernible from the previous-generation motor – is slightly quieter on the power.

But the biggest improvement is when you’re freewheeling downhill.

The annoying rattle that plagued the previous generation has been eliminated; the Performance Line CX is now totally silent.

This bolsters the bike’s premium feel. Combined with the generous chain-slap protection and SRAM’s Transmission, it’s completely hushed when riding.

Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV descending performance

Retaining the classically Santa Cruz tall front, squat rear end, the Vala feels familiar on the descents.

Maintaining this DNA – despite the move to an entirely different suspension platform – is key to the Vala’s impressive downhill performance.

Its wave-cresting feel inspires confidence; the tall front end can be pushed hard and weighted aggressively on steep terrain or through turns to drive grip and traction, with seemingly no negative repercussions.

You point, it goes.

But this isn’t to the detriment of overall balance. Your body weight is spread evenly between your hands and feet, so feeding grip into either the front or rear wheel to initiate hard, grip-rich direction changes is repeatable and predictable.

Likewise, reducing pressure on the back wheel to begin a drift is intuitive.

Choppy direction changes are inspiring and consequence-free, as are switches in your own riding rhythm; the transition between railing turns or drifting wildly is so smooth and controlled.

Riding your way

The Vala eggs you on to ride in the most creative and fun ways possible.

Turning quickly in a berm’s deep pocket is just as fun as railing a wide-radius corner or drifting your own line through fluffy loam.

The rear wheel can tuck in for snappy line changes, while the weight of the bike and its geometry can be used to soften your trajectory for high-paced racer-like smoothness.

Regardless of your riding style – whether that’s to attack or cruise – the Vala adapts and feels great doing either.

It has exceptional plasticity and a range of performance that suits any riding style – you don’t have to ride it in a certain way to make it perform.

If you like going fast, cruising, or just riding somewhere in between, it feels great.

Sublime suspension

The suspension performance is another delectable ingredient in the Vala’s impressive mix.

It’s immensely smooth off the top, reacting to the smallest bumps with obedient efficiency. The light and fluttery shock tune, along with the design’s leverage ratio, combine to deliver immense grip and comfort.

Deeper into the travel, there’s loads of damper support to help maintain its dynamic geometry and take the guesswork out of how it’s going to react when you load it up.

Finally, the end-stroke ramp-up is soft and gradual but incredibly effective. Bottom-outs are imperceptible, mimicking the performance of Yeti’s super-progressive and impressive 160E.

The Vala defies its 150mm travel figure, feeling and performing much closer to a 170mm bike when the trail intensity ramps up, without feeling wallowy and cumbersome when it’s slow and picky.

How does the Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV compare to the Specialized Turbo Levo?

The most obvious competitor to Santa Cruz’s Vala is Specialized’s Turbo Levo.

Both share travel figures (160mm front, 150mm rear), suspension design (Horst-link), adjustable geometry, and, depending on which model of Levo, many spec similarities.

While the Turbo Levo is still the bike to beat in terms of geometry adjustability, the Vala’s figures are as close to the industry’s current Goldilocks layout as you can get, negating the need for all that adjustment.

Although travel and suspension systems are identical, the Vala is more progressive than the Turbo Levo.

This boosts performance by giving it a luxurious and plush ride that doesn’t need to be run relatively hard (I set the S-Works model’s rear shock to 20 per cent sag) or ridden aggressively – the bike adapts to you, rather than the other way round.

Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor pips the Brose unit fitted to the Turbo Levo in terms of outright power and feel, but it’s very close.

In terms of range, there are no prizes for guessing the larger 700Wh Specialized battery lasts longer, but the Vala’s 600Wh unit and frugal Bosch motor are very close behind. With the PowerMore range extender fitted, it’ll exceed the Turbo Levo’s range.

Weights are close too. The S4 (large equivalent) S-Works Turbo Levo I reviewed in 2021 weighed 22.36kg without pedals, compared to the nearly top-spec Vala’s 21.51kg, which is a full 850g less with a gravity-casing rear tyre.

When you’re spending around £10,000 on a mountain bike, even small differences are a big deal, and these things shift the balance in the favour of the Vala. Even if specs and weight aren’t enough to convince you, the Vala’s ride is more rounded and adaptable than the Turbo Levo’s.

This, in my opinion, makes the Vala the better bike.

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Santa Cruz Vala CC X0 AXS RSV bottom line

Santa Cruz has done something bold with the Vala, but not because of the move away from its iconic VPP suspension to the more common Horst-link design.

It’s because it has made a true all-round performer with one of the widest performance bell curves of any bike I’ve ever tested. This stops any critics of the move to Horst-link directly in their tracks.

It’s unrivalled in the 150mm-travel ebike category.

It adapts to you rather than forcing you to ride in certain ways.

The level of performance on offer is befitting of a much longer-travel bike, and this nearly top-spec model is light in weight with an un-upgradable spec, further cementing its position as the category leader.

The Vala’s performance and feel comfortably topple the Specialized Turbo Levo as the long-standing champion.

All hail the new benchmark 150mm-travel eMTB.