Home > Clothing-Gear-Tools

Lite-Spring Offers Titanium Springs at Obtanium Prices

8 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More
Lite-spring titanium spring top view
Lite-Spring is producing stock or custom titanium springs that are light on your bike and your wallet.

There are few upgrades that can shave more weight (and add more curb appeal) than replacing your rear shock’s steel spring with a titanium one. That said, the most likely factor preventing the mass popularity of titanium springs is the considerable cost. Titanium is simply not a cheap metal to work with, but somehow Ryan Melnick has found a way to produce ti springs that won’t bounce your checkbook (pun totally intended).

Melnick’s company Lite-Spring, out of North Bay Ontario, offers a wide selection of Grade 5 titanium springs in 25lb increments that may have even price-conscious riders thinking seriously about upgrading their stock springs…

Lite-Spring titanium rear shock spring
With options for every length and spring weight, Lite-Spring makes the titanium upgrade very tempting.

In order to keep costs low, Lite-Spring’s ti springs are made to order, one at a time and sold consumer direct from the company’s website. To keep the quality high, Canadian racers Dean Tennant and Rob Fraser (both multi-time national DH team members) have been enlisted by Melnick to help test and develop the product.

Lite-Spring produces three stock inner diameters for compatibility with a host of various brands- The most popular inner diameter is 36.5mm/1.43” which accommodates Fox, Marzocchi, Manitou, X-Fusion, BOS, Cane Creek, 5th Element, Elka/MRP, and DSP products. A second diameter of 38mm/1.5” fits Rock Shox Vivid, Avalanche and Romic shocks, and the third option of 46mm/1.8” inner diameter covers Foes and Curnutt shocks. Springs are available for shock stroke lengths of 2.75”, 3”, 3.25”, and 3.5”, with 25lb. spring weight increments for each covering a huge range from 200- 650lbs.

Custom lengths and spring weights are available also, just contact Lite-Spring and tell them what you need. The company points out that custom springs take no longer to make than standard orders so the only additional cost of going custom is any additional materials, if they’re even required.

Lite-Spring advises buyers that their titanium springs are sand-blasted with steel, and as a result any tiny steel bits left on the outside of the springs may show rust. According to Lite-Spring this surface rust will just wipe away with a rag. Alternately, the shock can be treated by placing it in glass of salt water overnight, wiped clean and re-installed.

Lite-spring rear shock bushings Lite-spring rear shock eyelet bushings Lite-Spring rear shock spring shims

Lite Spring also sells a selection of shims, shock bushings and reducers for several popular brands and will ship their goods anywhere in the world. Now the best part – Lite-Spring’s prices range from just $160 to $220 CDN (roughly $125 – $175 as of this post) for their stock spring sizes. Now you can make that mortgage payment and put some new bounce on your bike.

Besides weight savings, which they say are 25% to 40% off the steel springs they replace, titanium springs reportedly work better over small bumps, helping keep the tire on the ground over the chatter, especially at speed. Good looks, better performance and light weight…just what we want, and even better when it’s affordable.

Lite-Spring.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

8 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jo-slow
Jo-slow
9 years ago

“titanium springs reportedly work better over small bumps, helping keep the tire on the ground over the chatter” Theoretically, that is correct because the spring mass partly contributes to the “non suspended” weight. But I seriously doubt that a rider could tell the difference in a blind test.

Sevo
Sevo
9 years ago

Jo-Slow its’ not the weight loss but the material’s properties in general that will cause them to work better on small bumps that a steel spring.

Ploutre
Ploutre
9 years ago

Again, no precision on how precise they are .. I’m kind of tired seeing companies selling cheap TI springs, but in the end the quality is horrible. Spring rates way out of chart, spring shrinking after a few hours only, …

ryan melnyck
9 years ago

Ploutre,

there is some points missed here in this quick write up.
– we have a +/- 10lbs. on our springs , other in the industry have a 5% tolerence.
– we offer a 1 year warranty against defects.

we also agree that there is some limitations to the grade 5 , so we have some “special titanium” springs that are much lighter and seem to hold shape much longer than current titanium we are using. Unfortunatley the “special titanium” will also cost more.

jon
jon
9 years ago

Ploutre,
This spring shrinking you speak of…..does it mainly happen in the cold?

JasonK
JasonK
9 years ago

Sevo, Jo-slow is completely right; material properties have nothing to do with this. Titanium isn’t as stiff as steel, so Ti springs must be formed from larger diameter wire than steel springs for equivalent spring stiffness (spring geometry is often different, too). But there’s nothing magic about titanium that makes it respond better to small bumps.

Jo-slow was referring to the tiny reduction in unsprung mass you’d get with these springs. He’s completely right that the tiny theoretical improvement is orders of magnitude below the threshold of rider perception. And for what it’s worth, I’m a mechanical engineer.

Randall
Randall
9 years ago

@JasonK Engineers FTW! If one wants to know why they “feel so much better,” it’s probably better to ask a psychologist!

Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
9 years ago

Irregardless of small bump performance, the difference in weight between steel and titanium means you get something objectively measurable, unlike those infamous audiophile cables which are pure “magic beans”.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.