Buyer's Guide to the Premium Gravel Experience

First things first: your Obed is awesome. In fact, it’s beyond awesome. The Obed Boundary gravel bike has become one of the most sought-after gravel bikes on the market today, thanks to its versatility, weight, and price. Whether you’re riding for fun or racing for the win, The Obed Boundary ticks pretty much all the boxes.

Almost all of ‘em.

As devil’s advocate, we throw one other consideration out there: titanium. That wonder material that some folks out there simply adore has a fervent following. And our sister brand, Litespeed Titanium, is widely regarded as the premier builder in the category. So allow us to not upsell you on titanium, but rather side-sell you. Being a completely different material, a titanium Litespeed is about as complimentary to your existing Obed ride as it gets. (Because as everyone knows, your bike quantity is always N+1.)

CONSTRUCTION

Both your Obed Boundary and Litespeed’s full range of gravel bikes are designed and engineered in America. But Litespeed has a legacy of building its bikes out of its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee using globally sourced premium materials. For many, that means something special.

WEIGHT

Litespeed isn’t called that for nothing. Litespeed titanium tubing is referred to as a wonder material, because it’s superlative in so many ways, but weight is right at the top of the list, on a magnitude comparable to carbon fiber. For an alloy, it’s remarkable in that regard.

RIDE COMFORT AND QUALITY

A carbon fiber Obed Boundary has been designed with the ability to be constructed with specific ride characteristics; stiffness at the bottom bracket for when you’re climbing, vertical compliance when riding over chattery gravel. It has a remarkable capacity to tailor the way the bike handles.

But so too does a Litespeed Titanium bike. Not only do Litespeed’s framebuilders have the ability to shape the tubes to deliver targeted ride characteristics like an Obed, titanium has a metallurgic grain structure that allows the material to be shock absorbent in a way that is unique in cycling, while remaining “lively”—a catch-all term that refers to the bike’s steering handling and pop when accelerating out of saddle. Many say it has the ride chatter attenuation and handling feel of steel—a huge selling feature of steel bikes—minus the weight of steel. A titanium ride, when well-engineered, is a thing of beauty. Especially in the late hours of a big ride or race. For many, this is the one centerpiece feature that has folks in carbon coming over to the ti side; it’s just a wonderful (some say soulful) ride feel that enhances the ride.

LIFESPAN

Titanium has a wonder that makes it alluring to the aircraft industry, jewelry industry and of course bikes. Because it doesn’t corrode, Litespeed titanium bikes won’t rust.  With repeated wet riding through creek crossings or along salt air coastal trails, ti won’t back down.

Another advantage comes with repair. Whether it’s a crash or an unfortunate interaction with your garage when forgotten on top of your car, a titanium bike can generally be repaired without affecting the strength or safety of the bike.

VALUE

Here, Obed may have the advantage on its face (An Obed Boundary and Litespeed Watia, for example, with the same component build and wheelset specification, will vary by $1,300. But when you consider the above categories (lifespan, construction), some things are just worth the price.