First Ride: Formula's New Josh Bryceland Edition Selva Fork
Josh Bryceland with his signature fork. Photo: Formula.
It's no secret that professional mountain bikers often have something a little different going on with their suspension, the benefits of having access to unreleased parts or a suspension technician that can build a custom shim stack to meet their specific needs. With the new Josh Bryceland-edition Selva fork, Formula is trying to give the general public a taste of that customization.
Each fork comes with a Compression Tuning System (CTS) valve that was created specifically for Bryceland, who asked Formula's engineers for something with good grip at the beginning of the stroke and then plenty of ramp up for bigger hits.
Each fork comes with a Compression Tuning System (CTS) valve that was created specifically for Bryceland, who asked Formula's engineers for something with good grip at the beginning of the stroke and then plenty of ramp up for bigger hits.
Bryceland Selva Details
• Travel: 170mm
• Wheel size: 29"
• 43mm offset
• A2C: 585mm
• 35mm stanchions
• Custom Compression Tuning System valve
• Includes pump, tools, travel spacers, 2 additional CTS valves
• Weight: 2020 grams
• Price: 1514 EUR, 1279 GBP, 1750 CAN
• rideformula.com
• Travel: 170mm
• Wheel size: 29"
• 43mm offset
• A2C: 585mm
• 35mm stanchions
• Custom Compression Tuning System valve
• Includes pump, tools, travel spacers, 2 additional CTS valves
• Weight: 2020 grams
• Price: 1514 EUR, 1279 GBP, 1750 CAN
• rideformula.com
The CTS system is novel in that it only takes a few minutes to swap a valve – if a rider ends up purchasing this limited edition fork (only 100 are being produced) and then realizes that they don't ride like Josh, it's a quick procedure to install one of the two standard CTS valves that are also included.
The Bryceland-edition Selva is available with 170mm of travel for 29” wheels, and is priced at 1514 EUR. My test fork with the thru-axle installed weighed in at 2020 grams. The Selva is covered by a 2-year transferable warranty, as well as Formula's 10 year support promise, which says that every product they make will have parts, spares, and support available for 10 years.
The fork has custom Rat King stickers, and a laser etched signature on the crown
Fork Details
Along with the custom CTS valve, the air-sprung Selva has a new larger volume positive air chamber that's intended to give the fork a more linear spring curve. This version of the Selva uses a three-stage coil negative spring underneath the positive air chamber, where the springs get stiffer towards full extension in order to prevent any noticeable topout. Formula's CTS valves and Neopos volume spacers are the two ingredients that ensure the fork doesn't bottom out harshly.
The Selva air spring and three stage negative spring.
For those who aren't familiar, Neopos are volume spacers made of foam rather than that hard plastic that's typically used. That foam compresses as the air pressure inside the positive chamber increases, which creates a more gradual end stroke ramp. It still acts like a volume spacer, though, so removing it may still be necessary to achieve full travel depending on the fork setup.
The rebound knob is located in the typical location, on the underside of the right leg, and there are 18 clicks of adjustment. The tool-free quick-release lever on the thru-axle is removable; once it's taken off the axle can be tightened or loosened with a 5mm Allen wrench.
The blue dial adjusts the compression, and the gold lever is a lockout. The lockout force is adjustable at the knob to the left of the lever. .
Formula's Neopos foam volume spacer.
It's the number of ports in each valve that differentiates them from one another – the amount of oil flow as the fork compresses is what alters the damping curve.
This chart shows the different curves that each CTS valve creates.
Josh Bryceland putting his fork to work. Photo: Formula
Ride Impressions
I started off with the Bryceland CTS valve installed and the fork inflated to 65 psi as per Formula's recommendation. I headed out on one of my usual test loops, a ride that includes a good mix of jumps, drops, berms, and some steeper, more natural trails. In other words, a mountain bike ride.
Not that I had any doubts before, but that ride reinforced the fact that no, I'm not Josh Bryceland. Formula definitely achieved the goal of having a soft, supple initial stroke and then tons of support after that, but the extreme ramp up meant that I was only using around 140 millimeters of travel, and that was on a ride with plenty of hard drops and G-outs that would have used almost full travel on my typical setup. The softer initial part of the travel meant that I wasn't getting bounced around, but the ramp-up deeper in the travel was very, very noticeable – it was like running into a padded wall, and no matter how hard I pushed I couldn't get through it.
Time to swap the CTS valve for something better suited to a mere mortal. I tried both the orange and gold valves, eventually settling on the gold valve with no spacers as my preferred all-round setup. As it turns out, Formula says that valve is what 75% of their customers prefer. If I was on an e-bike, or knocking out high-speed bike park laps I could see going with the orange valve, due to the extra mid- and end-stroke support it provides. With the gold valve, the fork had excellent grip off the top, and the support built nicely throughout the travel.
Formula's CTS system makes it easy to experiment with different setups, and it's a clever way to give riders a wide range of noticeably different fork configurations. With the Bryceland Selva, I can't help but wonder if this the final push for this model before something new is released. Don't get me wrong, it works very well; other than the fairly loud rebound noise I don't have any complaints about its performance, it's just partially overshadowed by the newest offerings from Fox and RockShox.
The Selva's stanchions still measure 35mm, and while the chassis was certainly stiff enough for my 160 lb weight, I could see bigger riders gravitating towards the burlier 38mm options out there. The flip side is that the Selva weighs around 300 grams less than a Zeb or 38, which is a significant weight savings - something to keep in mind for riders who are tired of their enduro bike weighing as much as a downhill bike.
Bleeder valves would be a nice touch, and I also don't think the lockout lever is necessary on a long travel fork. I wouldn't consider any of those deal breakers, though, and for riders interested in trying something a little different the Selva is worth considering.
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So that's pretty much everyone then...
It's not going to be for everyone, as Kaz found, but it's more usable than you'd expect.
Personally, I have tried the red CTS valve in my fork and did not like it (but that’s the good thing with CTS, it’s so quick to change it again). Yes I could drop the pressure and gain a lot of sensitivity at the beginning of the stroke. However, then, at least to me, the fork felt not as supportive in mid-stroke and did not sit as high in it’s travel, as I would have been comfortable with, especially in steeper terrain. While the ramp up at the end of travel was still so high that I felt like I could drop from a building without bottoming out the fork. But that might also differ with rider weight (I’m rather light) and other variables.
With all that said I would guess that the number of riders who can fully appreciate the advantages of the Rat’s setting will be very small. But they will get the other valves along with the cool stickers, so not much risk there ;-)
Perfect, my riding style closely matches Josh's - said no-one ever
So for 3k euros i got whole Formula set, packed with Syntace hubs and wheels, XT/Slx group.
And i was like fu*k it... if bike turns s*it im just gonna sell it, and now almost 2 years into it,
all i can say that the bike feels amazing, it's heavy as fu*k and s*it for climbing... But for enduro/bike park tracks it's just amazingly fast and stable, and very fun to ride once you get used to it's 17kg's ( with pedals )
RE: Ghost, haha! This is basically my story also. Broke my Ventana, and needed a bike STAT. Went to REI and bought Ghost SL-AMR, sorta by default. Wanted to hate it, but ended up liking it quite a bit. It was the only stock full bike I've ever bought from a store. The experience was not unpleasant. For a 'park-ish' bike, it climbs really nice!
Yeah i have enduro version, pinkbike reviewed trail version. And it just sucks for climbing, which is actually fine because im 80% of the time in cable car.
The ramp up deeper in the travel is a combination of the air spring curve, and the fact that shaft speeds are usually higher if you're reaching that middle- to end of the travel. Higher shaft speeds means more high speed compression damping, and that makes the fork feel much firmer in that portion of the travel.
Our forks are also unique in that they can be set up to be spring or hydraulics biased. Other brands decided that for you but we give you the option to find out which you prefer.
Take a look at the CTS Valve Behaviour graph in the story and you'll see there are two distinct groups of valves. Some start low and ramp up, while others start higher and maintain a more consistent level of compression.
Riders that prefer a spring-biased setup, one that uses light compression damping and a stiffer spring, will want to fit the silver, red or blue valves.
Riders that prefer a hydraulic-biased setup, one that uses more compression damping and a lighter spring, will want to fit purple, gold, orange or green valves.
Not sure which you prefer? Experiment! If you go deep into the settings and find yourself somewhere you don't like, it's a two-minute job to pop back in the valve you were using before.
If you need any spares for your ThirtyThree forks email us at service@rideformula.com, if we can help keep your forks working we will.
The fact we can ‘mortalize’ it too in literally two minutes means it’s the best of all worlds.
I’ll be checking it out.