A friend of mine sent this link to me. (I/we have no affiliation with the maker or the kickstarter account.) I thought it looked kind of interesting...

TiGr Titanium lock.

 

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Ha! I was just coming here to post this! 

 

I think it's a neat idea. Wrapping my head around how it works and whether or not it could secure your bike to a parking meter is taking some doing, though. The designers promised an attack video showing someone attempting to lift the bike, lock and all, over the top of a parking meter, so I'm curious to see that. 

Not into based on just the cost of the raw materials and the fact it does not look that easy to use.
If -- and this is the big "if" -- it is secure, it would be great to have an alternative to the heavy u-lock.  Or, given its low weight it might make a nice secondary lock for the wheels, with a bonus of locking the frame, for current u-lock users.
Wait till you see what it ends up costing.  Ti is wicked expensive and the tooling to machine it is as well.  I just don't see it as cost effective.  Also with the proper disc and blade speed it will still cut wicked quick.
Ti is stupid expensive and surprisingly fragile/impractical for many applications. (How often do you see a titanium fork? There's a reason for that.) I like the idea but doubt this would hold up in Chicago.

I've heard of Ti frames being damaged where the rubber in the tires rubbed against the chainstays.  The damage in some cases was serious enough to make the frame unsafe.  An angle grinder probably would cut through the Ti strips without much problems.


notoriousDUG said:

Wait till you see what it ends up costing.  Ti is wicked expensive and the tooling to machine it is as well.  I just don't see it as cost effective.  Also with the proper disc and blade speed it will still cut wicked quick.
I like the idea of it, but I noticed in the "destruction" video that they didn't use an angle grinder on the lock. I do think it would be great for touring and as the article description reads "moderate threat" areas- so I doubt it would be good for everyday City of Chicago locking without an additional U-lock.  For most suburban riders and those that tour a lot through small towns and such, I think it would be really nice to have as it seems lightweight and easily carried on the frame.
I agree it would be nice for touring and low crime areas but not much more than that.  I doubt too many people would  pay close to $100 for a lighter lock that doesn't function as well as a u-lock.
For those of you talking about a grinder attack, looks like they did make a video going after a U lock and one of their locks with a grinder. http://tigrlock.com/pages/2011/04/the-best-kind-of-boring/
I didn't get that far into the video and missed the grinder portion the first time I watched. After viewing the video, it is still extremely vulnerable to grinder attack, although it takes a bit longer to cut through. Since I carry two U-locks anyway I could see the usefulness of this particular item depending on its price. Then I could dispense with one of the U-Locks I carry at least. Again, I think they state it best in their own description- "Moderate Threat" areas- so perfect for touring and low crime areas, but I doubt you would want this as your primary lock in the City.

Matt Munley said:
For those of you talking about a grinder attack, looks like they did make a video going after a U lock and one of their locks with a grinder. http://tigrlock.com/pages/2011/04/the-best-kind-of-boring/
As soon as the power tools come out your lock is doomed, regardless of which model.  At that point it is a matter of buying a few more seconds.
They've been hyping this design for a couple of weeks now on a variety of sites. I get the impression it's being promoted more from the design angle as opposed to the security angle. I applaud the effort to develop a prototype which represents a significant departure from the existing options, with all of their existing limitations. I will reserve final judgment on the TiGr, but at this point, I expect it to be a vanity item for weight weenies which offers little more security than a cable lock at 8+ times the cost.

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