Inside the Josh Bryceland Edition Selva
We asked Josh what his ideal fork would feel like. He told us that he wanted lots of traction and comfort at the beginning of the stroke, then to ramp up hard to soak up the hits. We had ideas how to achieve this, so we met up with Josh to do some testing on his home trails in the north of England.
The Selva S has a wide range of adjustments, so before making any big changes we experimented with small changes to air pressure and clicks of compression and rebound. Then we moved on to changing Compression Tuning System (CTS) valves and Neopos options. These are all changes any Selva S owner can make quickly and easily.
In back-to-back testing Josh found the red CTS valve worked best for him, giving the supple initial travel he was looking for with a ramp up in compression at the end of the stroke for stability. We thought we could improve things further.
We built him a custom CTS valve. An evolution of the red CTS valve, this new valve maintains comfort and traction at the start of the stroke, then ramps up even more at the end. We also fitted our updated low-progression air spring.
Using the same hardware as our well-proven single air spring, this air assembly has a larger positive chamber to give a less progressive spring curve, making it easier to use all the travel. Combined with the custom CTS, Josh had a fork that gave him initial sensitivity for feel and grip, while retaining stability.
Compression Tuning System
Formula’s Compression Tuning System (CTS) are easily changeable valves that alter the suspension’s compression damping characteristics. While you can do a lot in the workshop (or even the car park), out on the trail you only have to think about simple rebound and compression dials.
CTS gives riders a quick, simple and reversible way of finding the right compression tune for the way they ride. Eight CTS valves are available as standard for Formula forks.
Our CTS valves come in two distinct groups based on how they affect the fork’s behavior. Some start low and ramp up, while others start higher and maintain a more consistent level of compression. This allows riders to alter the compression tune based on whether they prefer a spring or damping-biased setup.
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.
Josh’s special CTS valve is based on the standard red CTS valve but ramps up more under high-speed compression. This is done by adding a second shim to the stack.
For those who aren’t sure which setup they prefer, CTS allows them to find out. CTS is a custom tune with guard rails. It gives the benefit of Formula’s suspension tuning expertise without the risk of an unrideable setting. 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.
Low-Progression Air Spring
Our well-proven triple coil negative spring is reliable, sensitive and works across a wide range of rider weights. This low-progression air spring has a larger volume positive air chamber than the current Selva S to make the spring curve more linear.
A more linear spring curve makes it easier to use full travel and gives greater tuning potential.
Instead of relying primarily on the air spring for mid and end-stroke control, Neopos and CTS are used to control the fork throughout its travel.
The low-progression air spring allows Josh to use a lower air pressure for more initial sensitivity and grip. The Neopos gives support in the mid stroke and his custom CTS, with its extreme ramp up under high-speed compression, gives end-stroke control. It is this balance of air spring and hydraulic that gives Josh the feel he is looking for.
Travel can be adjusted in our Selva S forks with simple spacers that you can pop in at home to suit your needs. If you want to run your fork at 160mm like Josh, you simply need to clip in a 10mm spacer. In fact, the Selva can be reduced down to 120mm travel in 10mm increments to help it suit a wide range of bikes.
Neopos
Neopos are sponge-like tokens that are used in the positive air chamber to give a more linear spring curve. They are easy to install and available for all air-sprung Formula suspension products.
Neopos give the mid-stroke support of a traditional volume spacer but without the abrupt ramp-up in the final part of the compression curve, allowing full use of the travel.
Multiple Neopos can be used at the same time for a more pronounced effect.
Josh’s Settings
Josh is 78kg and his initial fork settings were 75 psi, a green CTS valve and three Neopos to give a firm feel, normal for someone who rides as hard and fast as he does.
After testing he settled on 70 psi, his custom CTS valve and one Neopos in the low-progression air assembly. Dialed, as the man says.
