it probably is very good of a bike but, without a vpp, it looks like a generic frame; if you remove the SC sticker and write ZangJuang on it, no one would bat an eye.
@@JoeBernard10 it is a made up name;(hopefully , there's no ZangJuang out there)but, if you believe that generic frames made in china cannot go and do 95-99% of what this bike is doing, you haven't been paying attention to this channel very much.
The only thing really wrong with this bike is that you’re gonna ask Santa Cruz money for the same bike you can buy for 25 to 30% cheaper from 12 other bike companies.
It gets interesting when you compare the bike with the new Rise LT. The Santa, as a mullet setup with an air shock and carbon wheels, weighs over 1kg more compared to a full 29er bike with a coil shock and (slightly) even more battery capacity. Good job, Orbea!
Sry Santa, but I am very happy now, to have bought a Heckler with EP801 last year. ^^ The Vala (good looking) looks like a complete random MTB without the VPP Design. Could be a Trek, TR, Focus, CUBE...
I would much prefer what you bought👍. Shimano motor I have I dont even have a slight desire to have anything else. I ride my GFs e bike with a bosche gen 4 and I dont feel it is any better what so ever.
Yeah, I'm not paying Santa Cruz money for a generic 4 bar bike. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY happy with my Cube Stereo Hybrid 160, and even happier that I could probably buy 2 of them for the price of a Santa Cruz...
Great video. I like santacruz. I had a few in the years gone by . the last one i owned was a 2020/21 tallboy. A lot of comments with regards to the suspension , other brands use vpp not just sc the biggest disappointment about this is the 600 battery, 10k for a ride that can only do 3hrs ? 1kg of a difference in weight if they had put an 800 battery in ? Seriously? It's a Great looking ride, but there is no chance iam buying this , there is better rides out there , lighter , faster with bigger batteries and the same new bosch motor in the frame. But each to their own.
Good looking bike and the geo and spec looks great. Perhaps moving away from the VPP on their emtb's is a good idea for Santa Cruz and it looks like it makes sense from a design/performance perspective.
People love complaining, Bosch managed to improve an already pretty good motor and making it even better and enjoyable. Also 85nm is more than enough for 99% of people. Also you can get Bosch cx at 3000€ vs DJI starting 7000€
HECK YEAH, finally the Bosh downhill noise is gone. It's SO loud when riding on my Strive:ON. Eventhough you get used to it, not having that constant clonking is such a W.
Really nice looking bike , personally it needs at least a 720 watt hour battery, and I still think manufacturers haven’t learnt why they have been selling off bikes with lots of discounts, the thing is over priced
I can see the attraction of a quite set up but can easily handle the audio of my cyclone and CYC mid drives, no bell needed,, also the silent motors seem to be what people complain about, huge kw seem less of an issue
thanks for the edit. In essence, they cant use their signature "best in class" suspension due to seatpost and motor constrains. Looks so random to me now
Too expensive as always and nothing really ground breaking, there are far better bikes for a lot less out there, great review as always Rob. You can tell they ride in dry conditions what a stupid place to put the charge port, that will cause problems in less than a month in a UK winter.
lack of VPP is a big big problem here... they abandoned what is their markup... the good thing is they switched to Bosch (ep8 sucks really) and replaced reverb dropper with one up! hopefully they ll make something with vpp once SC realise that '4bar' was a mistake. It looks like any other bike on the market ... if i were to buy not vpp why not canyon for half of the price
Super sweet Bike. I will definitely consider it for my next bike, although technology is evolving so fast. I hope they offer a build kit with the Zeb and Vivid Air. Also, I’ve seen that the Liverpool force on the maven’s is really high, so I wouldn’t be down with that. Bigger manufacturers really need to allow you to pick your parts. Otherwise you’re wasting a ton of time and money.
Indeed. I also love my Giant Reign E+ 1 PRO, only thing I'd like to is a bigger battery, 600/625 would be great instead of the 500 one. Although, I only once managed to discharge it to 0%.
All bikes can be expensive. The Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup LTD xc bike is £12.5k and doesn't have a motor. People don't have to buy the most expensive bike every time...
Unfortunately, Santa Cruz always seems to lag behind current trends with their e-bikes, typically being one generation behind. The first major misstep was their choice to go with Shimano a few years ago. While the new Bosch system isn’t bad, it’s not exactly mind-blowing either. At this point, there are several more advanced options on the market, such as Pinion, for example. That said, when considering price-to-performance, Santa Cruz is still not in balance. I’m excited to see Danny showing off with it soon, though!
I always liked how Tuner Bikes looked! But.... #1 - "They model the suspension to feel like SC" So... we don't need VPP to have a really nice bike? Ahahah Bosch is getting rousted by DJI... not even tear offs will clear the vision! DJI introduced a revolution in eMTB. You can have "POWA", and not weight a PIG. Replacing my current emtb, I won't go old bikes!
so much overpriced AND overhyped. they went in full clueless, with 5k instead of 8k you get a YT decoy core 3 MX wich have 700 wh, MX wheels, last shimano motor and 170/165 front/rear travel.... Santa failer hard on this one
Guy Kesteven has said the designer of current Santa Cruz bikes doesn't like VPP. So this could be an early indication of what the 2026 pedal bikes will look like. It'd be easy to develop a 120,140,160,180mm version of this suspension platform.
Nice looking bike. SC have done the same as Yeti because the motor wont allow them to improve the current suspension kinematics. It makes sense to me. Hopefully, it rides just as well as the VPP if not better.
Superb quality and remarkably balanced, as usual. I ride an XL Bullit and I can have one of those at the same spec for 21.3kg…. And when I did a ride almost identical to the one you did at Dalby in the dry I got the same height and 46km, similar average pace and a shorter journey time (mix of trail, eco and boost) and that was the old 800 EP8, the new one has the 801. It’s battery is 630 Whr, so only a little but more. So, which would you choose…? The Bullit XL I ride with more rise on the bars doesn’t have any of the problems you described with the front end. Anyway, I’ll not be buying this, but the next Bullit and let’s just hope they let you take the battery out as they do now….
New SC... interesting, but not groundbreaking. What I want to know is, which bike to you prefer from your two recent builds, the Nicolai you bought yourself or the Amflow? When are the reviews coming Rob?
So lets get this straight. It looks like a Vitus, only provides enough range for a 3 hr ride, the power that you've paid for tapers on a 1000' climb and it costs £10k.... Maybe not for me after all.
not a santa cruz customer never had one it might not look stunning but it looks great to me, love the green and gold color it's trunnion which isn't soft on shocks but better than yoke according to the 50 videos I watched about the subject last week I didn't know what VPP was and wouldn't want it not a fan of the shock being that down and exposed
As that famous saying goes.. “it looks like a Rail!!” Looks like they’ve raided the Rail spec sheet Rob. Although, using the 600 battery is a good move as it keeps the down tube and therefore reach at sensible proportions.
I actually like this a lot, moved away from Santa Cruz when I wanted an e-bike. I would have bought this instead of my Unno Mith which to me is a spiritual successor to a what Santa Cruz could be doing to innovate with VPP.
look really nice but in my opinion first is look like a copy of the new Trek slash and secound like always overpriced you have better option now with new Bosch GEN 5 like the new Norco
You say you have seen the heat management chart. I have been wondering how the dji avinox motor does with heat management. Would love to see some graphs or info on both motors.
I forecast a big drop in sales soon with this little increases. Why would i spend another 10k to not even loose significant weight . Ebikes had already enough power
Hm, the vala does not impress me in any way! There are cheaper, lighter, or more powerful bikes out there! And i guess the next shimano doesn't rattle either....
Looks nice and just like an Orbea Wild, probably more expensive. That said if you're in Europe, it makes sense to get a bike made in Europe, if in America it might make sense to get a US made bike.
hi Rob, So if its 250 w nominal for Epac legislation, does that mean that the motor has to drop down in wattage within a set period of time and if so how long is that time to meet Epac regulation?
The 250w is the average output within a time frame of 30 minutes, which should not be exceeded by these motors according to the law. But in reality most motors don't restrict the output noticeable, only if they overheat on a big climb, so it's more a theoretical law on paper, no one really cares
No, only by unscrewing the motor. The inbuilt battery helps santa cruz to keep down the overall weight (there's also an exploded drawing on their website where you can see, that there is no opening)
Nearly everyone wants value for money, but some brands with their view of bikes as "luxury items" are still there, waiting for big money, until they will start begging for our money or bankrupt.
@@TCK71 Still perfectly reasonable to buy a cheaper one from a different brand .. I'd go Cube, Canyon or specifically the newest Orbea rise but as soon as you pay out amflow money theres just no point getting anything else..
The new CX is overall better than DJI, keep in mind the DJI starts at 7000€ and has zero Dealers/longevity data. People love complaining, Bosch managed to improve an already pretty good motor and making it even better and enjoyable. Also 85nm is more than enough for 99% of people. Also you can get Bosch cx at 3000€ vs DJI starting 7000€
Nice review once again Rob looks like you rode barking dog, possibly dog leash? I must’ve just missed you guys. I was riding there on last Tuesday afternoon.
@@jaydub308according to Copilot The new DJI electric mountain bike, the AMFIow PL series, is expected to be available in the United States by late 2024 1 2 There are two models: the AMFlow PL Carbon and the AMFlow PL Carbon Pro 1
