Obtainium Performance Springs
Obtainium Performance Products is a small coil manufacturer based out of Bellevue, WA. Don’t let the size of the company affect your view on them, as they’ve built a strong reputation on being a “quality over quantity” company. If you take a quick look around the industry, you will notice big name riders like Sam Hill, Nathan Rennie, and Matti Lehikoinen are all riding Obtainium Springs. Just because world cup racers are running these springs doesn’t mean they are out of reach of the general public. In fact, they are now available and shipping world wide! Read on to learn more about Obtainium Performance Products.
Obtainium is a relatively new company to the biking scene. Although they are new, they have been gaining major props from cyclists around the world for their high performance precision products. The attention to detail put into each spring puts them in a class of their own. Seldom do we see this kind of emphasis on accuracy in the biking industry, in fact only a few companies come to mind when dealing with this level of quality.
Each Titanium spring is made from materials sourced within the United States. If we compare this with other spring manufacturers, we can see that they primarily use lower grade titanium found on foreign soil with inferior standards compared to that of Obtainium. For example, Obtainium marks their springs with a simple weight measurement. Now, I know what you’re thinking….so what, everyone else does that. Well, the difference is that Obtainium tests each spring in-house to ensure that the labeled spring weight is within 1% of the claimed spring weight. To put that into perspective, Obtainium has measured various competitors’ springs and contrasted the claimed spring weight with the actual measurement, and the results are shocking. A steel Fox spring with a claimed spring weight of 350 pounds measured in at a hair over 300 pounds! A variety of other competitors’ springs have been measured with tolerances that usually fall within 5-10% of what is claimed on the spring.
Rumors have been floating around the industry that when a rider uses a titanium coil, they should decrease, or increase spring rate. This is false. People might assume this because the steel springs they have been running in the past may not represent an accurate benchmark for comparison. When you buy an Obtainium spring, you get exactly what is claimed, not 50 pounds in either direction of what’s claimed.
Obtainium springs have an inner diameter (ID) of 1.5 inches (38.1mm) so they work flawlessly on the new Rock Shox Vivid shock. However, with the use of performance adapters, the same spring can be used on other shocks: Fox DHX, Cane Creek Double Barrel, Manitou Shocks, Marzocchi Rocco, Avalanche Shocks, and Progressive Suspension to name a few. The performance adapters are made from Delron, a super lightweight material with a very low coefficient of friction so the spring can move without any binding, buckling, all the while remaining as silent as a cat.
One of the coolest things about these springs is how universal they are. The spring itself is 6 inches long, allowing for 3 inches of travel, but rumor has it that Obtainium will have 3.5” travel springs available shortly for 10.5 X 3.5 frames. Since the 3 inch travel spring is shorter in length compared to that of a steel coil, the same spring can be used on shocks with a 2.5, or 2.75” travel stroke. Keep in mind that running the spring on a regular 9.5 x 3.0 shock will require the use of a 3.0 inch performance adapter, but when purchased with the spring it’s half price, and dirt cheap to begin with. For example, say you ride a Santa Cruz V10 with a fox DHX now, and want to upgrade to a Giant Glory with a Vivid 5.1 in the future, you can use the same Obtainium spring, even though the two frames have different shock lengths and stroke lengths. The same can be said for many other frames, these were just used as a quick example.
Obtainium makes their springs out of 3-8-6-4-4 Beta-C aerospace grade titanium. But what does that mean to you? The titanium alloy is made up of various other metals that act together to make the metal what it is. Each number in the series represents a percentage of a particular material that comprises an Obtainium spring. In this case, 3-8-6-4-4 Beta-C means the following:
Ti, 3Al, 8V, 6Cr, 4Mo, 4Zr (Beta C)
If you dig deeper, you can see that there are even more metals that make up this titanium compound. Here’s exactly what’s in it:
Carbon 0.05%
Molybdenum 3.50-4.50%
Aluminum 3.00-4.00%
Zirconium 3.50-4.50%
Iron 0.30%
Hydrogen 0.030%
Chromium 5.50-6.50%
Titanium 70.79-75.79%
Vanadium 7.50-8.50%
Nitrogen 0.03%
Oxygen 0.120%
Yttrium 0.005%
Other (Maximum) 0.150%
This metal was originally developed in the 1960’s, and is used when a high strength to weight ratio is needed, as well as when the high corrosion resistance of titanium is desired. This titanium is different than most other titanium springs on the market. The most commonly used titanium is known as Ti 6-4, where 6% is aluminum, and 4% is Vanadium. This particular grade titanium is usually used as an economical way to produce performance parts at an affordable price. It’s an easier metal to work with compared to other titanium compounds, that’s why you will find Ti 6-4 in many foreign/import titanium shock springs… This isn’t necessarily a good thing.
If you’re paying out the cash for a titanium coil spring, why would you buy from a company where you don’t even know what metal is in the spring? Chances are, they are made out of poor grade titanium that fails in comparison to the high performance Ti, 3Al, 8V, 6Cr, 4Mo, 4Zr (Beta C) compound. Not only does this compound yield a higher specific strength, but it weighs less than Ti 6-4, and requires less “coil wraps” in a spring to achieve the same result because of a higher density.
After comparing two 400 pound, 3.0 stroke-titanium coil springs, one being a Marzocchi Ti coil spring, apparently made by RCS, and the other being an Obtainium, it was clear that the Obtainium spring was superior. Both springs were used for the same application, yet the Obtainium spring was 90 grams lighter (including performance adapters)—this is an excellent comparison between two different grades of titanium, the Obtainium spring being the better choice. I guess the Marzocchi Ti coil spring uses a Ti 6-4 compound, making it heavier in this application.
Quality is very important to the end consumer, and Obtainium doesn’t cut corners in the manufacturing of their products. Some steel springs, or perhaps even some foreign titanium springs can actually change after being used, leaving a customer with a spring that is different than what they paid for. Obtainium springs are cycle-tested approximately 50,000 times to ensure quality to the end consumer. Most companies don’t bother doing this process, but doing so guarantees that the label on the spring is what the customer ends up with, even after years of use.
When you take a look at an Obtainium coil spring, you’ll quickly notice that it isn’t the typical ‘bright silver’ color, rather, it’s a darker silver with shades of sparkling gold. What you’re seeing is the result of various acid baths and clear coat processes to protect the coil spring from alpha case… in the long run this basically means that it reduces the chance of spring failure. Some spring manufactures do similar processes, others don’t, it’s definitely something that set’s itself apart from a basic clear-coat job. Obtainium can also make your spring match the color-scheme of your bike by changing the color of the clear coat. Some color examples are clear red, green, and blue, for more color information it is best to email Obtainium directly: jim@obtainiumperformanceproducts.com
Obtainium Performance Springs are available in spring sizes that range from 200 pounds to 650 pounds, separated in 25 pound increments. If you’re considering a Ti coil spring, Obtainium puts together an excellent package that drops considerable weight off your bike at an excellent $/gram conversion. If you take a look around the WC scene, you will see that many top athletes are rocking titanium coil spring, and of those people, the majority of them are riding Obtainium—the choice is unanimous.
For more information on Obtainium, or to order your very own Obtainium spring, please visit www.obtainiumperformanceproducts.com
Thanks for reading!
