Formula Selva V
Travel Options: 160, 170, & 180 mm
Wheel Size: 29’’
Offset: 43 mm
Stanchion Diameter: 35 mm
Spring: Air
Axle: 15 x 110 mm Boost
Stated Weight: 2,030 g (w/o fender or axle quick release lever)
Blister’s Measured Weight: 2,067 g
MSRP: €1,250
Intro
When the current crop of burly long-travel single crown forks (Fox 38, RockShox ZEB, etc.) first started showing up, they were marketed as an option for folks who wanted a beefier, stiffer chassis than options like the Fox 36 and RockShox Lyrik, and were willing to take a weight penalty for it. But in the years since, a lot of those lighter, smaller-stanchioned models have dropped the option for 170+ mm-travel configurations, leaving their bigger, burlier siblings as the only game in town.
Formula has taken a different approach, offering the dual-crown Enduro-oriented Belva for folks who want a stiffer chassis, and continuing to support long-travel setups in their 35mm-stanchioned Selva single crown.
Now there’s a new version of the Selva — the Selva V — and while Formula says it gets a stiffer chassis than the prior-generation Selva, the new one still has 35 mm stanchions, and comes in under 2,100 grams — 200-300+ grams lighter than the big 38 mm stanchioned options from other manufacturers (and about 300 g lighter than the Belva).
The Selva V also gets a new air spring and some other updated features compared to the prior generation version, and we’ve started spending time on the Selva V to see how it stacks up. BLISTER+ Members and folks with our Digital Access Pass can check out our Flash Review for our early impressions; here, we’ll dive into the design and details of the Selva V.
Design & Features
The Selva V gets a new chassis and spring, paired with the same damper that they’ve been using in their Trail / Enduro forks (including the Selva and Belva) for a while now.
The Selva V sticks with the 35 mm stanchions of its predecessor, but gets new lowers with a 180 mm brake mount and a 15 x 110 mm Boost axle. It’s offered for 29’’ wheels only, and gets a new bolt-on fender as well.
Formula calls the Selva V an “All-Mountain / Enduro” fork and offers it in 160, 170, and 180 mm travel versions. A lot of other fork manufacturers have stopped offering 170+ mm travel forks with sub-38 mm stanchions, but Formula’s take is that stiffer isn’t always better, and by using smaller stanchions and a less beefy chassis, they’re able to make a lighter fork that’s less fatiguing on bigger days out — both due to the weight itself, and by reducing feedback compared to a stiffer chassis.
That said, the new lowers offer more bushing overlap than the prior version, and Formula says that the Selva V is stiffer for it. The Selva’s axle-to-crown height has also been increased by 8 mm (to 583 mm at 170 mm travel), which puts it in line with most other long-travel single crowns; the prior-generation chassis was notably short.
Formula’s forks have long featured floating pistons and sealheads in the spring and damper to help mitigate any friction / binding that arises from misalignment as the fork flexes. To use the spring side as an example, the air piston can rock slightly on its connection to the air shaft, so that the two don’t need to stay perfectly aligned, and the air shaft can move in the negative spring seal head as well. That continues in the Selva V.
Formula offered three different spring versions in the prior-generation Selva — the coil-sprung Selva C and two air-sprung variants, the Selva S and Selva R. The Selva S used an air positive spring with a coil negative one; the Selva R got independently adjustable air positive and negative springs.
The Selva V uses an air spring with a self-equalizing negative chamber, but that pressure equalization happens differently from most other modern forks. Rather than using a dimple on the inside of the stanchion to bypass the air piston, a spring-loaded valve opens at the topout position, allowing air to pass between the positive and negative chambers. Formula’s take is that a dimple-based design requires a beefier seal to avoid wear as it passes back and forth over the dimple; with this design, Formula can use a lower friction seal without taking a hit to long-term durability.
Like most modern air-sprung forks, the Selva V uses volume spacers to alter the progression in the spring. There’s a twist, though: Formula’s “NeoPos” volume spacers are made from foam and are compressible, unlike more common rigid plastic ones. Formula has been using the NeoPos design for a while now, and the idea is to make for a more consistent, linear spring curve than you get with more typical volume spacers.
Rigid volume spacers mostly act on the very end part of the stroke, increasing bottom-out resistance but doing little to add support earlier in the travel. Because the NeoPos spacers are compressible, they can be quite large — so that progression starts to build earlier in the stroke — but compress as pressure in the fork increases deeper in the travel, so the end stroke ramp up isn’t as aggressive.
The damper in the Selva V carries over from the other Selva variants (and the Belva dual-crown Enduro fork) unchanged.
The biggest thing that sets it apart is Formula’s “Compression Tuning System” (CTS) — a set of swappable valves that allow you to change the compression tune in just a few minutes, without taking the fork apart. The CTS valve is housed underneath the low-speed compression knob; to swap the valves you remove the knob (secured with a set screw), unthread the valve (using a supplied pin spanner), and then reverse the process with the new one.
The CTS valves are color-coded for identification, and Formula breaks them into two distinct categories: the “Support Series” and “Traction Series.” The two series offer distinctly different-shaped compression-damping curves, with multiple options for how much damping they generate overall within a given series.
In short, the Traction Series valves (bronze, blue, and red, plus the special Josh Bryceland edition) offer a progressive compression damping curve with comparatively light low-speed damping that ramps up into much firmer damping at higher shaft speeds. The Support Series valves (purple, gold, orange, green, and titanium) all offer more low-speed compression damping than the Traction Series versions, but build damping force much more slowly as the shaft speeds increase. The lighter Support Series valves (e.g., purple) have a notably digressive compression damping curve; as you work your way firmer in the range, the curves get more linear.
[A linear damping curve means that the amount of damping increases in proportion to the speed at which the damper is compressing (e.g., twice as much damping at 2 m/s than at 1 m/s, and twice as much again at 4 m/s). A digressive curve still builds more damping force at higher shaft speeds, but does so more slowly than a linear one; a progressive one ramps up more quickly at higher shaft speeds.]
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) First and foremost, how does the Selva V perform? Its damper is familiar, but a lot has changed between the new spring and chassis.
(2) A lot of other brands have moved to bigger, heavier chassis for their long-travel single-crown forks. Does the Selva V feel directly comparable to that class of 38 mm stanchioned options, or does its smaller, lighter chassis feel substantially different?
(3) On that note, could the Selva V be the answer for folks who find those burlier single crowns to be too heavy and too stiff, but still want something with over 160 mm of travel? There are increasingly few options in that category, so it’s promising to see a new one pop up.
Bottom Line (For Now)
The Formula Selva V stands out from most other long-travel single-crown forks on the market in a bunch of ways, from its lighter, smaller-stanchioned chassis to Formula’s novel CTS damper. The addition of a self-equalizing air negative spring looks like a promising update, too, and we’ve started spending time on the Selva V to see how it all comes together. Check out our Flash Review for our impressions so far, and stay tuned for a Full Review to follow once we’ve got more time on the Selva V.
Flash Review: Our Initial On-Trail Impressions
BLISTER+ members and those who purchase our Digital Access Pass can check out the Flash Review below to read our initial on-trail impressions. Get our Digital Access Pass to view all our Flash Reviews and Deep Dives, or become a BLISTER+ member today to get access to that and a LOT more, including the best worldwide Outdoor Injury Insurance, exclusive deals and discounts on skis, personalized gear recommendations from us, and much more.
Flash Review: Formula Selva V
The new Formula Selva V stands out from the market for being lightweight and highly tunable via Formula’s CTS valve system, but how does its performance stack up next to other long-travel single-crown forks? We’ve got some early thoughts.
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