Santa Cruz Vala

royboy said:
After a strip down of the rear hub its clear that the end caps and associated seals are the main issue. Having fully stripped the rear its clear from the assembly and components that it is nothing more than a very basic novatec hub as the process and parts are the same
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See above of my findings
 
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royboy said:
Vala owners with the e13 hubs... how are the bearings lasting? Im 310km into ownership and have had to replace the fronts already and they are already rough again after only a few more rides. The rear is also starting to rumble and grumble. Im riding uk winter and do understand that bearings can only hold up so long in wet conditions but this amount of time seems very unreasonable. The endcaps on the hubs seem to have very limited sealing properties. I have never had bearings fail so soon even with super cheap and basic entry level hubs that I have run on my winter hardtail hack
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Honestly that sounds like my experience with anything e*13 - basically name brand OEM filler junk. I bought a factory demo bike that came with e*13 wheels a few years back and took those things off as soon as I could afford a real set of wheels - they were SO draggy.
 
Anyone riding a new Gildcore Factory 36 on their Vala? Fox say nearly as stiff at the 38 but saves loads of weight. As I'm building from the frame up I thought I might go this route as dont ride mega janky stuff. I'm 90kg kitted
 
Question for those with XO AXS- is the derailleur hardwired wired to the motor battery?
And if not, what kind of derailleur battery life are you seeing?
Thanks, from a wanna be Vala rider:cool:
 
Noclutch said:
Question for those with XO AXS- is the derailleur hardwired wired to the motor battery?
And if not, what kind of derailleur battery life are you seeing?
Thanks, from a wanna be Vala rider:cool:
Click to expand...
Nope, regular Battery. couple of months of battery.

you just have to be careful not to accidentally change gears without changing gears.. hmm. pressing the pod button.
Will make the micro gears permanently try to engage and drain the battery.
 
kneesliding said:
Nope, regular Battery. couple of months of battery.

you just have to be careful not to accidentally change gears without changing gears.. hmm. pressing the pod button.
Will make the micro gears permanently try to engage and drain the battery.
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That's interesting. So if one were to click for a shift while say loading up or storing it, and didn't spin the crank and wheel to initiate a cog change, it'll begin to drain? Seems that Sram would have put a time limit on how long it would try to shift and "time out".
But yea, most manufacturers aren't doing the hardwire thing either. My buddies Levo 4 XO AXS wire was dangling after the last race :ROFLMAO:
 
Noclutch said:
Question for those with XO AXS- is the derailleur hardwired wired to the motor battery?
And if not, what kind of derailleur battery life are you seeing?
Thanks, from a wanna be Vala rider:cool:
Click to expand...
About 2 months per derailleur battery charge sounds right to me, or about 200 miles. The one tip I've always heard is that if you have to drive a long ways with the bike on a rack, remove the AXS batter and install the plastic blank so that the car's vibrations don't keep the AXS system awake. I do that for road trips, but not for short drives to ride.
 
Did anyone have to take their Vala back to the shop for the range extender to work? Some sort of Bosch technician only update?
 
cykelk said:
Mine just worked, no shop needed.
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We were able to get it to work with an update to the extender.

How is it supposed to display in the flow app? Bike is current at 60% and when I plug in the extender( not fully charged) it shows one percentage of 49%. No indication of separate batteries?
 
if you have the 400c display, one of the screens will show the two batteries. Side by side. The percentage you see is 49% of 850 watt hours: 419 watt hours. Main battery alone is 60% of 600 watt hours: 360 watt hours
 
TheBob said:
if you have the 400c display, one of the screens will show the two batteries. Side by side. The percentage you see is 49% of 850 watt hours: 419 watt hours. Main battery alone is 60% of 600 watt hours: 360 watt hours
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Oh duh! That makes perfect sense. Thanks.
 
Also from what I found in the Bosch documentation, it will deplete the highest % charge battery until it matches the other, then draw from them both evenly. But the range extender cord can only supply to provide roughly 80% power so if you drain the main battery first then add it, you'll have reduced power available from the motor.
 
royboy said:
Anyone here happen to know the headset bearing specs/sizes for both top and bottom?
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Vala 1 MY25

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Integrated (IS41/52)
 
Regarding headsets, and I know this will be weird idea, does anyone know of an angle headset in which I could steepen things by a degree? This whole lax HTA thing is catching me off guard...
 
Noclutch said:
Regarding headsets, and I know this will be weird idea, does anyone know of an angle headset in which I could steepen things by a degree? This whole lax HTA thing is catching me off guard...
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I don't think the Vala frame can support that. I'm willing to bet you will get used to it. Compared to my Bullit the Vala feels very quick and nimble. But, I'm not sure if Florida has the trails the bike was designed for.
 
pursuitofnow said:
Agreed, very ugly. Also seems like changes to the stack. Maybe not the right bike?
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Quick and nimble are relative terms. My current analog Pivot 429 120/130 67 HTA is very much just that, but it does handle the most challenging sections with aplomb, albeit somewhat nervously and bumpily. Proper line selection is a must without a motor for me. My previous CC race Niner RDO was even more nimble, and the pucker factor was much higher for sure.
My current Levo 2 in 29er has a 66 HTA and rides well up and down the limestone quarry rough stuff and without drama, but it's kind of a tank. But pull the trigger and it does it reliably.
All of the mullet 150/160 demos I've ridden have all been 64 +/- HTAs and have very good as well, especially the Levo 4 Pro which was fantastic, albeit heavy (and expensive). When they make it also 29er compatible this year(rumor has it), it's HTA will go up a degree or two I'd guess, so there is market for that as well- Specialized ain't stupid, usually.
So, the Vala should just be a less heavy pig with same geometry, just no 29er option.
I guess we'll see :)
 
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Does anyone have a pick of the location of the speed sensor magnet on the rear wheel of a Vala?
On the rotor bolt or rim valve stem?
Just trying to get ahead of what/where I'll need to move when I switch the wheelset out.
I don't have mine yet, but it's enroute.
I see on page 3 of this thread that it is a valve mounted rubberized brick, presumably with flexible legs to accommodate different rim shapes. But do they come either way? :unsure:
 
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Noclutch said:
On the rotor bolt or rim valve stem?
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On my Vala X0 kit there is a rim magnet installed. As far as I remember from what I have seen in the store all the Valas come with rim magnets.

The rim magnet is a standard Bosch part with a plastic housing and four flexible flaps to accommodate different rim shapes. On the photo from my Reserve carbon wheel you see a non-standard valve. I had the dealer install the new Schwalbe Clik Valve type instead of the provided Fillmore valves. I bought them in 60 mm length, but the 40 mm version would probably fit as well.

1767286149887.jpeg
 
Have a Vala C 70 on order. Subbing for notifications on new posts. Can't wait to get the bike.

Ben
 
Shark58 said:
On my Vala X0 kit there is a rim magnet installed. As far as I remember from what I have seen in the store all the Valas come with rim magnets.

The rim magnet is a standard Bosch part with a plastic housing and four flexible flaps to accommodate different rim shapes. On the photo from my Reserve carbon wheel you see a non-standard valve. I had the dealer install the new Schwalbe Clik Valve type instead of the provided Fillmore valves. I bought them in 60 mm length, but the 40 mm version would probably fit as well.

View attachment 173447
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I picked up the DT Swiss magnet, goes inside the rim/tyre.

Hate the look of the regular standard magnet.

Screenshot_20260113_063145_Facebook.jpg
 
Finally took delivery of my Vala C 70 this weekend. Took it for a ride on a local, easy trail system I know pretty well. Did 19 miles in eMTB+ mode, 1,276 ft of elevation gain, and at the end had 14% battery. This mode was probably way more power and assist than I really need for this trail because I didn't even use all the cassette. Suspension felt stiffer than I'm used to, so may need to do some tuning there, but managed to use most of the travel at some point in the ride.

Overall, very happy with the purchase. My first eMTB and now I know why everyone loves them.

One issue I had was the saddle kept moving, rocking back in the clamp. No matter how much I tightened it with my trail multi-tool it kept moving. Got it home and torqued it properly with a torque wrench and did some testing in front of the house. Hopefully that solves that problem.

ben
 
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