Silver Springs

[Brian Morris]

I don't understand why the old German super soft springs can't be copied? Is there some sort of patent that won't let Dan reproduce them? I tried the yellow springs a while ago, and just couldn't get into them as a front truck. Any chance to see a lighter spring than the yellows?

Regards,
"Brain"

[William Tway]

<b>Confessions of an Abuse Rater</b>

Yes TK it was I that gave you an abuse rating for selling your silver springs for $50. It's hard to believe they are that valuable...but they are. They are nearly impossible to find nowadays. I have 2 sets. One was given to me from JG and I believe I purchased the last set from Dan about a year ago. Dan's few remaining sets are stashed in his infamous vault. I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between the new Yellow and the old Silver ones but it seems they are coiled a bit different and are
made from a different source of material. Anyways, whomever got the springs from TK scored. I recently started riding my old Seismics wedged front and back on my little Bottle Rocket with gray Avalons and this set-up works great. Sill no chance of beating Vlad but I have a better chance of hanging with all my friends in the middle of the pack.

Cheers,

Tway

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: william tway on 2002-12-22 16:07 ]</font>

[Glenn S]

I was able to ride Adam Trahan's Roe at WLAC for quite a few runs.

Adam T’s Roe is set up with a complete original "110mm Silver Spring German Seismic" up front that Adam told me he got from Dan back around 1994, and was sold at the time as a high-end truck for around $100 each. This truck felt and looked noticeably superior to my “current batch” Seismic 110mm. I beleive that Adam mentioned that there were only about 100 of these trucks ever made(Dan, how many of these trucks and springs were made?).


I have the feeling that if one wants the Silver Springs it would serve them best to get the complete original truck if they could for its overall quality. For I think that the craftsmanship and tolerances in original German Seismic are superior, or at least it felt and looked that way, to the current batch of Seismics. Which I’ve been told are now made in China.

I did some checking recently to find out what was the reason people keep talking about the “infamous” Silver Spring German Seismic, and this is what I found.

The Silver Springs were made as “Progressive Rate” springs. The current batch of springs are “Linear Rate”.

I emailed Dan because someone said that he might have a few still. Dan got back to me and said that the springs that will be made for the newer trucks that will be out in Febuary or March, with be made using the same “Progressive Rate” as the infamous Silver Springs.

To quote Dan from his email to me:

“Trucks from the new Seismic factory use springs that are coiled with
German-made wire. For the sake of efficiency (two applications), the first
batch of the yellow Extra-Light springs were manufactured with a linear
instead of a progressive rate. Some people don't like that, others do, most
can't tell the difference. Nonetheless, the linear-rate yellow springs are
very similar in overall strength to the silver progressive-rate springs from
the old German factory. In any case, all future batches of the yellow
Extra-Light springs will be made with a progressive rate spec identical to
the one used by the original German spring coiler.
As for the original silver Extra-Light springs made in Germany in the
mid-1990s, unfortunately I have so few sets left that they've all been placed
in the historical archive.

At present, the yellow Extra-Lights are our softest springs. However, we do
plan on producing softer ones.”

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: glenn on 2003-04-10 19:54 ]</font>

[David Price]

i have some silver colored springs on a old-set of 135mm G-trucks, are these the same as the silver german made ones?

[Daniel Gesmer]

No, the silver-colored springs in your old G-Trucks are not the same as the silver-colored springs installed in Seismic-brand trucks made at our German factory in the early 1990s...
For several years in the mid and late 1990s, Elfgen Sportprodukts manufactured the G-Truck for sale in Germany under license from Seismic. Elfgen used our original tooling to mold the body parts, but the similarities ended there.
Elfgen removed important components, like the bushings in the hanger and baseplate. He also used lower-grade plastic and springs, a cheap stock kingpin, cheap hardware for the spring adjustment system, and non-through axles. For these reasons, the G-Truck was weaker, noisier, less durable and not as safe compared to genuine Seismics.
I always regretted this licensing deal, which we struck during the days when no one seemed to care about carving-oriented skateboard gear. We ended it in the summer of 2000.
Seismic offers a substantially better product, under the brand of the company that developed - and is dedicated to evolving - the technology.