ANVL Components Forge Saddle

While hunting for a new saddle I knew I wanted something minimalist and firm, despite the ultimate goal of comfort. Enter the ANVL Components Forge Saddle. A lack of weight is great, but not if it means you are cutting your rides short due to discomfort. Many opt for a larger, more padded saddle only to discover that the chafing experience is less than ideal. Quite simply it takes time to discover saddle preferences and for me a sleek, slim saddle with a flexible base to enable comfort is perfect.

In recent years I have been mostly been on the OEM Park N Ride Race Saddles that Transition Bikes provides. They are supportive with the minimalist profile that I like at a very reasonable price point. Comfort is great, but durability isn’t ideal. In the dry they will last forever, but depending on your local flavour of mud, the wet season will see them wear fairly quickly. While they provide more grip than many saddles in the wet, more is always better provided it doesn’t affect comfort.

ANVL Components dropped news on the Forge Saddle last year and immediately I was stoked – the Carbon model is only a few grams heavier than the ridiculous Tioga Spyder road saddle! Coupled with a profile that looked comfortable and the added durability and grip of kevlar “wings”, I was ready to get on board.

Material and Weight

The saddle range is differentiated only by the materials used in the saddle rails and the foam padding underneath the leather and kevlar cover. The following table shows the materials and weights:

Rail Material	Foam Material	Weight
Carbon	Superlight EVA Foam	158g
Titanium	Superlight EVA Foam	198g
Chromo	PU Light Foam	230g

The Forge Carbon Saddle is lighter than the SDG iFly iBeam that I ran on my 2011 Transition TR450 and doesn’t require a proprietary seatpost!

Price and Intended Use

ANVL Components have a Forge Saddle to suit all disciplines and disposable income level of mountain bikers. Available model prices and intended use are as follows:

Model	Intended Use	Price
Forge Carbon	Elite Gravity, Enduro, XC Racing	$179.99
Forge Titanium	Elite Gravity, Enduro, XC Racing	$119.99
Forge Chromoly	Trail, Enduro, DH	$49.99

Saddle Comfort and Durability

Numbers aside, I’m stoked with my Forge Titanium Saddle; the most comfortable saddle I’ve owned to date. Most importantly, I ride for a day and don’t notice being uncomfortable once!

It’s too early to comment on long term durability. I have already binned it¹ pretty hard since installing the saddle and there are no signs of damage. I’ll aim to update this review after a solid muddy Winter’s trashing and let you know how well it coped with “mud abrasion”.

If you’re on the hunt for more info, hit up the ANVL Components website at: http://www.anvlcomponents.com/

¹ “Binned it” in my world, means crashing your bike. Often spectacularly.