Santa Cruz isn’t a brand that does cheap, but its newest e-bike could have us rethinking that idea because it starts from just £4,899. Called the Vala AL, it’s an alloy version of the carbon bike we reviewed last year, but this time built up to hit that all-important £5k pricepoint brands like Amflow and Whyte are owning right now.

The new Vala AL comes in two builds, one with Deore for 4,899 and one with Eagle 70 at £5,599, meaning both e-bikes are half the price of the top end carbon builds. And while £5k definitely isn’t cheap, these bikes are by far the cheapest e-bikes on the Santa Cruz books right now, making them a great option for riders after that premium badge.

The new Vala AL gets the same geometry, suspension design, motor and travel as the carbon version

Santa Cruz Vala AL need to know

• Alloy version of the carbon Santa Cruz Vala, with 150mm travel and a 160mm fork
• Same four-bar suspension design and mullet wheel setup
• Bosch CX motor with 600Wh battery and optional 250Wh Powermore pack
• Geometry is similar to the carbon Vala, but without the flip chips, and no XXL bike
• Two models, the Deore at £4,899 and 70 for £5,599
• At 24kg it’s a heavy bike, even with its small 600Wh battery

The new bike obviously uses a different frame to the Santa Cruz Vala we reviewed last year, but the suspension design is identical and the geometry very close indeed.

Once again there’s no VPP here because there’s just not space for it alongside the Bosch CX motor

That means the Vala AL uses a four-bar design just like the carbon bike and the latest Santa Cruz Bullit AXS RSV 2025. You’ll probably remember that the brand ditched its VPP suspension design for the new full-power e-bikes last year, the first time it’d gone without the fancy through shock design in years.

Travel sticks at 150mm in the rear and 160mm up front. It’s also a mullet bike just like the 2025 Vala and Bullit, with 29in up front and 27.5in on the back.

Geometry is fixed, but that’s probably no bad thing as the head angle is a decently slack 64degrees

What’s changed though is that there’s no flip chip or compression adjustment chip on the new Vala AL. That means you can’t change the head angle and you can’t alter the height of the BB, that’s something Santa Cruz has decided for us on this bike.

Every new Santa Cruz before the Vala used VPP and used geo adjust, including the Hightower here

Again that’s something we’ve not seen excluded from a modern Santa Cruz in years, the the Gen 4 Santa Cruz Hightower and the latest Bronson both had it, as did its other e-bikes.

That said, the carbon Vala only let you change the head angle by 0.3º from 64.2º (Hi) to 63.9º (Lo), with the seat tube going from 77.5º to 77.2º effective, so I doubt anyone is really going to miss it. Besides, Santa Cruz has set the geometry right down the middle, at 64.0º – I reckon that’ll do most of us just fine.

The alloy frame is definitely a step down from the carbon Vala in terms of attention to detail though. Instead of true proportional geometry you now get two different chainstay lengths, and the biggest XXL size is missing: If you want reach longer than 498mm you need to look elsewhere.

Putting the Bosch Performance CX motor on a pedestal

Powering the Vala AL is the latest Bosch CX gen 5 motor, and the firmware update to boost power to 750w peak power should already have been done for you when you pick up the bike.

Inside is a 600Wh battery, which I personally think is a little undergunned, so you might want to look at an optional 250Wh Powermore range extender if you want to get close to 1,400m vertical on your rides.

Santa Cruz Vala AL range, spec, weight and prices

Santa Cruz Vala AL Deore

Santa Cruz Vala AL Deore £4,899

These two new bikes are not light, the Deore here is 24.09kg. It gets a RockShox deluxe Select shock and a RockShox Psylo Gold RC fork, both of which are solid performers. The Psylo is only a slimmer 35mm stanchioned fork to the usual 38mm Zebs we’re used to seeing on e-bikes, so the Deore might be the pick if you’re buying it for trail riding rather than enduro.

The drivetrain is of course Deore, but it’s cable operated rather than the new Shimano Deore M6200 Di2 we saw last month. You also get an SDG Tellis dropper post, Shimano Deore brakes, WTB ST Tough wheels and the brilliant Maxxis Assegai and Minion DHRII combination you just want need to change.

Santa Cruz Vala AL 70

Santa Cruz Vala AL 70 £5,599

Pay £700 more and you get a bike with SRAM Eagle 70 drivetrain, which is a better option thanks to its precise and reliable shifting. You also then have the option to go wireless with the SRAM GX AXS Transmission Upgrade Kit if you fancy it at a later date.

The bike is almost the same weight, at a claimed 24.35kg, and that’s probably down to the weightier fork – in this case a burlier RockShox Zeb base. The shock is also an upgrade, to a Super Deluxe Base. It’s the same Trellis dropper from the Deore model, but the brakes switch to SRAM DB8s. Tyres are the same, but they’re mounted to SRAM 30 HD AL rims and a SRAM hub.

Both models come in either Gloss Stormbringer Purple or Gloss Lunar Gray.

The competition

How does the new Vala AL stack up against hte competition then? For £5,600 you could alternatively by the Whyte Kado RS with a bigger 800Wh battery, or the Amflow PL Carbon at £5,999.

I tested the top end Whyte Kado RSX here, but the RS version is some pretty hot competition for the new Vala AL

What you wouldn’t get with the Amflow is the Santa Cruz warranty and support. All Santa Cruz frames, pivot bearings, and Reserve carbon rims come with a lifetime warranty.

Santa Cruz says it’s looking for three different riders with the Vala AL: “core converts… from a reliable manufacturer”, value-conscious riders who might already own a Santa Cruz, and new riders to mountain biking.