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John Loughlin and his TIGR Bike Lock: Changing up the Cable Lock

TiGr Titanium Band Bicycle Lock
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TiGr Titanium Band Bicycle Lock

Mr. Loughlin is a cyclist who has a major affinity for locks.  He has taken it upon himself to reinvent the bike lock into something that should yield good protection and look great while doing it.  His TiGr lock consists of a titanium bow and a highly pick resistant lock cylinder.  The long titanium bow will come in either a .75″ or 1.25 inch thick version.  The 1.25″ version will stand up to a 48″ bolt cutter, and is VERY hard to saw through since it won’t stay still when cutting.  And, since the bow is long, it should fit through both the front and rear wheel, allowing you to lock both wheels and the frame to a structure without any disassembly.  For transportation, the bow can be wrapped around the head tube and seat tube.

For now, this is still a proof of concept.  But if you are like me and want to see this thing in production, hit up John’s Kickstarter page for all the details.

Source: Wired’s Gadget Lab

 

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Mr Myers
Mr Myers
13 years ago

Channel locks and a hacksaw. < 1 minute.

joseph grimes
joseph grimes
13 years ago

bebops really?

Xris
Xris
13 years ago

I like the design, but really? “VERY hard to saw through since it won’t stay still when cutting”. I call bull, and want to see destruction tests done on a video of this so called hacksaw!

call420
call420
13 years ago

isn’t this what sheetmetal snips are made to cut through? like a scissors through paper.
well-meaning person I’m sure, but this is simply not well thought through. looking great isn’t a requisite for a lock. weight, ease of use, ease of transport, security, cost: those are the criteria.
looking good is nice, but no lock looks good when its on the sidewalk in pieces and your bikes gone.

call420
call420
13 years ago

also not helpful if you lock to parking meters. can be lifted off.

This thing would be cool if it was scrolled up like a tape measure, and the locking mechanism locked the feed of the sheet. It wouldn’t be secure, but it might be worthy of making a “proof of concept” model.
that one’s free Mr. Loughlin

FN
FN
13 years ago

Building that thing from titanium is quite a smart idea.
Ever tried cutting a small rod (1/4″) of Ti?
A common hacksaw might have a pretty hard time, cutting it. The cause is, when Titanium gets hot by the friction of the cutting blade, it produces Oxides and Ti-nitride, those are nastily hard. (Titanium nitride is that golden stuff, you’ve got on those hardened drill bits.)
Either using loads of cooling or cutting very slowly with lot’s of pressure are the only was to cut Ti with conventional tools. And no thief has loads of cooling-stuff or lots of time on hand.

Yet that locking cylinder looks a little flimsy to me.

John Loughlin
13 years ago

Hey Guys-

Just came acoss this. Thank you for your interest in the TiGr lock. We’ve put up some attack videos including hacksaw with tungston carbide blade, cut off wheel and 40″ bolt cutter attacks on http://www.tigrlock.com. Shearing and torsional attacks will be up soon.

Thanks-John

Joshua A.C. Newman
13 years ago

Hey, Rumorologists, the TiGr Kickstarter project ends this week! It’s at almost $100,000!

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