Santa Cruz Vala

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Forth week in. Was a roadie until 2018. Have not ridden since until last June when a heart condition cleared up. The motor is a game changer getting me back out and riding off road. Got the R and upgraded to X01 AXS, CK headset, etc. Waiting on wireless dropper. This day I rode 4 miles on the street to get to these trails in Alpharetta, GA hence the headlight and radar. Those come off to off-road.

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On earlier post about the squeak I had that plus the elusive knock sound. I discussed this with my LBS who is a great SC dealer and avid MTB'r and he advised me to re-torqued the CX motor mounting bolts (2 of them) to 30nm. (BTW the 30mn is listed in the 'Setup and Support' section of the Vala in the exploded diagrams tab).
Mine were NOT that tight. Squeak and that knock both went away. So far haven't seen any bushing issues. I've ridden many miles on some punishing single track since in the last 2 weeks and the sound has not come back. Someone said earlier about oiling the seal on the port side which I did to no avail but the torquing silenced it that squeak.
 
USCGchief said:
On earlier post about the squeak I had that plus the elusive knock sound. I discussed this with my LBS who is a great SC dealer and avid MTB'r and he advised me to re-torqued the CX motor mounting bolts (2 of them) to 30nm. (BTW the 30mn is listed in the 'Setup and Support' section of the Vala in the exploded diagrams tab).
Mine were NOT that tight. Squeak and that knock both went away. So far haven't seen any bushing issues. I've ridden many miles on some punishing single track since in the last 2 weeks and the sound has not come back. Someone said earlier about oiling the seal on the port side which I did to no avail but the torquing silenced it that squeak.
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I was getting a very loud squeal when back pedaling or just stop pedal to level pedals and it turned out to be the e13 crank boot on the drive side. Grease helped this and eventually I’ve replaced the cranks to 145mm PINND altogether which do not have a rubber protector over the lockring. While I was at it I torqued down the lockring to 50nm. Bike sounds great now
 
Gd3fit said:
I was getting a very loud squeal when back pedaling or just stop pedal to level pedals and it turned out to be the e13 crank boot on the drive side. Grease helped this and eventually I’ve replaced the cranks to 145mm PINND altogether which do not have a rubber protector over the lockring. While I was at it I torqued down the lockring to 50nm. Bike sounds great now
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I have the exact same problem, when I stop pedalling or back pedal the bike squeaks, quite loud.
 
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Just sold the Bronson for a Vala, they overlapped in the garage for a day!

Very different riding style but the Vala is just so much more capable. It also loses none of the playful character, even more so with the MX set up. Back wheel can get real lose but never loses control, then you're back up to do it all again in no time at all.

The Bronson danced around on top of the rough, which was great but this sits in and let's the suspension really do its job creating waaaay more grip and predictability.

In love!
 
lwvlane said:
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Just sold the Bronson for a Vala, they overlapped in the garage for a day!

Very different riding style but the Vala is just so much more capable. It also loses none of the playful character, even more so with the MX set up. Back wheel can get real lose but never loses control, then you're back up to do it all again in no time at all.

The Bronson danced around on top of the rough, which was great but this sits in and let's the suspension really do its job creating waaaay more grip and predictability.

In love!
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Did you consider the HecklerSL? I'm jumping from a Bronson too. Narrowed down to Vala and Heckler SL. Fazua only real thing that was holding me back from HecklerSL.
 
subaruski said:
Did you consider the HecklerSL? I'm jumping from a Bronson too. Narrowed down to Vala and Heckler SL. Fazua only real thing that was holding me back from HecklerSL.
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Hey, yeah I did a lot of whittling down on options but in the end decided to strike out anything with the Fauza due to the endless issues reported with it. I was more in the market for a lighter weight eBike but decided that even if I did get something lighter like a Whyte ELyte or Orbea Rise, I'd probably have to use a range extender and be back about the weight of the Vala!

Have had some amazing rides on this thing straight off the bat. My local riding area is now reachable from my door without putting the bike in the car and I'm hitting 6-8 decents in the time I'd previously only get 3-4. Awesome for a dad with 2 kids and limited riding time!
 
Just a heads up to Vala owners - I'd recommend periodically checking the bolt tightness on the chainstay pivot (back by the axle). When I built up my bike in March, I checked all the bolts' torque. This last weekend, during a road trip, my driveside chainstay pivot bolt (& associated washers/nut) fell out somewhere on the trail, never to be seen again. The local SC dealer didn't have any spare parts for this yet, and had just sold their last floor model, so they couldn't help get me rolling again. I ended up having to cut the trip short because of this. I've never had this bolt come out on any of the other 4-bar bikes I've owned.
 
subaruski said:
Did you consider the HecklerSL? I'm jumping from a Bronson too. Narrowed down to Vala and Heckler SL. Fazua only real thing that was holding me back from HecklerSL.
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Not who you asked, but I had bought a Heckler SL frame and built it up and rode it for a month. It was a great bike, I really do like the Fazua motor and the 450w turbo boost and low cadence assist - felt pretty natural. Bike was fun. I ended up selling my build for what I bought it for, mainly because I did not have warranty support and was really terrified if something were to happen I would be SOL. Also the future of the company did not look good given they canceled the long awaited range extender. My Trek Fuel EXe has had its motor replaced twice now but I bought that new.
Anyway, if the Fazua didn't have the poor reputation that is does, then I likely would have kept it, but with the Vala available and being a "lighter" full power with similar geo, I ended up buying a demo Vala, discounted with full warranty. What is interesting is the weight difference using nearly all the same components is only 3 pounds. For whatever reason my Heckler SL was kind of a chonker at 45 pounds while my Vala sits at 48 pounds built up.
 
Andeh said:
Just a heads up to Vala owners - I'd recommend periodically checking the bolt tightness on the chainstay pivot (back by the axle). When I built up my bike in March, I checked all the bolts' torque. This last weekend, during a road trip, my driveside chainstay pivot bolt (& associated washers/nut) fell out somewhere on the trail, never to be seen again. The local SC dealer didn't have any spare parts for this yet, and had just sold their last floor model, so they couldn't help get me rolling again. I ended up having to cut the trip short because of this. I've never had this bolt come out on any of the other 4-bar bikes I've owned.
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This happened to me as well. Makes awful sounds without it so at least you won’t ride far.
 
Does anyone know if it’s possible to fully slam a 200mm AXS RockShox Reverb on a size M?
 
Did anyone have a knocking sound from the headset on their Vala?
Since I bought the bike I felt the upper headset is loose. The lbs tighten it 2 times but everytime I was still able to move the upper part of the headset. Out on the track I can sometimes here a carbon noise from the headset. Today I took the headset apart.. To find out the upper bearing is kinda floating around in the hole. Link I dont know if is possible to see on the video. I never experienced that on other bikes. I can only imagine it will be more and more worse over time. What do you think?
 
Cayuse said:
Did anyone have a knocking sound from the headset on their Vala?
Since I bought the bike I felt the upper headset is loose. The lbs tighten it 2 times but everytime I was still able to move the upper part of the headset. Out on the track I can sometimes here a carbon noise from the headset. Today I took the headset apart.. To find out the upper bearing is kinda floating around in the hole. Link I dont know if is possible to see on the video. I never experienced that on other bikes. I can only imagine it will be more and more worse over time. What do you think?
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Looks totally wrong. I can't tell if it's a bad bearing or the cup in the frame is oversized. The Chris King headset I got on mine doesn't do that. I'd take it back to the shop and ask them to dry fit another headset bearing in it. If it still moves contact Santa Cruz.
 
Andeh said:
Looks totally wrong. I can't tell if it's a bad bearing or the cup in the frame is oversized. The Chris King headset I got on mine doesn't do that. I'd take it back to the shop and ask them to dry fit another headset bearing in it. If it still moves contact Santa Cruz.
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Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your feedback. I think it looks totally wrong too but just wanted be shure it's not me who kinda hysterical. It's my first Carbon some I'm kinda nervous where metal sits on carbon
 
Hey guys, my Vala have a darker line in the top tube, looks line some kind of carbon layup or a paint defect...is this normal or i have to get this checked by SC?
Thanks

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That's normal. Mine looks like that. It's just where the 2 halves of the frame mold butted up against each other.
 
Okay, I torqued my motor bolts to 30nm and rode a couple of days knock and squeak free, then both came back. The knock came back with a vengeance and the squeak is back intermittantly. So it’s been at my LBS for the week for a possible bolt/bushing replacement under warranty. I’ll pass on what the above says about the rubber between the crank arm and body on the drive side. Will post back what SC has the LBS do.
BTW I have 132 miles since Aug 23 when I got it. So hoping this is solved quickly as an up-front glitch. I’m also going to recheck torque on all pivot point links/flip chips.
 
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