caveling07
New Member
I picked up a Santa Cruz Vala at a steal. Loving it so far. A different ride than my Heckler MX.
New Bike day
- Thread starter caveling07
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Actually curious to hear your comparison. I've just put money down on a Heckler MX. Honestly that is mostly about the fact it's runout pricing and a LOT cheaper. But I'm also really curious to try the VPP on the Heckler, hoping that will make a poppy and fun bike, I don't think I've had a full fat ebike I'd describe like that before.
On Tue 12th May'26 I collected my new bike from Big Bear Bikes in PIckering.
The bike was an ex-demo with only 250 miles on the clock, but was absolutely mint.
Framewrap, Bosch Kiox 400c, new chain and cassette, new grips, saddle and rear tyre. Tubeless set up and ready to ride. The latest Bosch update 2.0 was already installed. I had also ordered the Bosch PowerMore 250 range extender and a 250mm cable.
This is my first Bosch powered bike, so I had some basic instruction from Alistair. Suspension and tyre pressures adjusted and I was ready to go.
Then off to Dalby Forest, just 15 minutes away. My mate and I did the red trail 24 miles. I had decided not to use the range extender, which proved to be a slight mistake. The motor settings were either too much (EMTB+ and Turbo) or not enough (Tour and Eco). I didn't want to stop and dick about with settings because I wasn't sure what I was doing and I had a mate with me. I was using too much battery on EMTB+ so I had to drop back to Tour and occasionally Eco on the flat bits. I ended the day with less than 4 miles range. I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with the motor settings. I was having too much fun on the trail to take many pictures, but I did take this one. Dalby Red is a lot of fun.
I love a new bike, so much to learn!
Excited!
The bike was an ex-demo with only 250 miles on the clock, but was absolutely mint.
Framewrap, Bosch Kiox 400c, new chain and cassette, new grips, saddle and rear tyre. Tubeless set up and ready to ride. The latest Bosch update 2.0 was already installed. I had also ordered the Bosch PowerMore 250 range extender and a 250mm cable.
This is my first Bosch powered bike, so I had some basic instruction from Alistair. Suspension and tyre pressures adjusted and I was ready to go.
Then off to Dalby Forest, just 15 minutes away. My mate and I did the red trail 24 miles. I had decided not to use the range extender, which proved to be a slight mistake. The motor settings were either too much (EMTB+ and Turbo) or not enough (Tour and Eco). I didn't want to stop and dick about with settings because I wasn't sure what I was doing and I had a mate with me. I was using too much battery on EMTB+ so I had to drop back to Tour and occasionally Eco on the flat bits. I ended the day with less than 4 miles range. I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with the motor settings. I was having too much fun on the trail to take many pictures, but I did take this one. Dalby Red is a lot of fun.
I love a new bike, so much to learn!
Excited!
Last edited:
Tubby G
❤️🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️🔥
Congrats on your new bike Steve, the Vala is a lovely machine. I bought one tooOn Tue 12th May'26 I collected my new bike from Big Bear Bikes in PIckering.
View attachment 184463
The bike was an ex-demo with only 250 miles on the clock, but was absolutely mint.
Framewrap, Bosch Kiox 400c, new chain and cassette, new grips, saddle and rear tyre. Tubeless set up and ready to ride. The latest Bosch update 2.0 was already installed. I had also ordered the Bosch PowerMore 250 range extender and a 25mm cable.
This is my first Bosch powered bike, so I had some basic instruction from Alistair. Suspension and tyre pressures adjusted and I was ready to go.
Then off to Dalby Forest, just 15 minutes away. My mate and I did the red trail 24 miles. I had decided not to use the range extender, which proved to be a slight mistake. The motor settings were either too much (EMTB+ and Turbo) or not enough (Tour and Eco). I didn't want to stop and dick about with settings because I wasn't sure what I was doing and I had a mate with me. I was using too much battery on EMTB+ so I had to drop back to Tour and occasionally Eco on the flat bits. I ended the day with less than 4 miles range. I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with the motor settings. I was having too much fun on the trail to take many pictures, but I did take this one. Dalby Red is a lot of fun.
View attachment 184465
I love a new bike, so much to learn!
Excited!
I haven't even had a ride yet though, my partner immediately adopted it as her new bike
I got rid of eco and installed 'auto' instead. Dropped the assistance and dynamics to around -2, max torque to 90nm, max power to 600w
With those settings she can ascend 4000+ ft easily.
I've set turbo & emtb+ to full 120nm and 750W on +5 for both assistance and dynamics but she rarely uses those modes, just auto
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