If you haven’t heard of ANVL Components before, don’t worry: it’s a relatively-new company started by the guys at Transition Bikes. However, ANVL wasn’t started simply to provide Transition-branded parts for their own bikes; instead, the company was founded because they thought they could make some legit components that everyone would want to ride.
At 300 grams for the pair the ANVL Tilt Composite pedals are both lightweight and affordable, retailing for $69.99.
While the alloy tilt pedals have been around for a couple of years, new for this year is the alloy pedal body with a titanium spindle option. At 335 grams for the pair, the shave about 53 grams off of the standard alloy Tilt pedals, but they add $130 to the price tag, retailing for $259.99.
According to ANVL, their new ARC DM (standing for “direct mount”) stem is the shortest 35mm bar bore DH stem in existence, thanks to a unique bolting design. MSRP: $99.99.
In addition to other alloy bars and stems on display, ANVL also sported the new Mandrel Carbon bar, retailing for about $120.
ANVL’s wheels feature a unique asymmetrical dish, designed to increase strength and stiffness.
The Forge Carbon saddle is a real looker, and ANVL claims it’s booth super lightweight and very comfortable. Weighing in at a scant 158 grams and retailing for $179.99, it’s actually a pretty good value for a carbon saddle.
Spank
Hardly a month goes by that we don’t review a Spank component, and for good reason: they make some of the best-looking, best-performing components on the market today.
The Spank Oozy Ultralite Hollow Taper Axle pedals feature tons of additional machining to remove as much metal as possible, making these pedals ridiculously light and super sexy.
The Spank Emerald Collection, designed to match with DVO Suspension.
These new wheels feature three tiny ridges on the inside of the rim for extra tire bead security, designed to reduce/eliminate tire movement even at very low air pressures.
By far the coolest thing I spotted at the Spank booth is their new Vibrocore technology. Essentially, Spank filled a normal aluminum bar with this foam, which only adds about 20g to the overall weight of the bar. However, the foam acts as a vibration dampener, providing a ride quality very similar to a carbon bar.
As an added bonus, adding this foam to the inside of the bar exponentially increases bar strength! Spank increased the test force on their Vibrocore bars using their testing machine to 10x that of the normal breaking point of a standard aluminum bar, and they still weren’t able to get the Vibrocore bar to break. So while they don’t really know how strong one of these bars is, the answer is “absurdly strong.” If you’ve ever worried about a bar failing while riding, pick up a Vibrocore bar and never worry again!
