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The TiGr titanium bike lock up on Kickstarter

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The TiGr titanium bike lock up on Kickstarter

Old 05-03-11, 08:54 AM
  #1  
Joshua A.C. New
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The TiGr titanium bike lock up on Kickstarter

I don't know why I didn't think to post this in Road Cycling before.

My friend John Loughlin and I have designed a titanium bike lock we're calling TiGr and have it up on Kickstarter to get early adopters.

There are a couple of configurations of the lock, but the lightest configuration (20mm titanium bow, titanium Abloy lock) weighs in at a mere 406 g — the weight of Time ATAC carbon pedals. It can lock a bike with both of its wheels to a parking meter while preventing a thief from lifting the bike over the top and walking away with it. You could also use one to go through a bunch of rear wheels on your group ride and another through the front wheels for when you stop off for a beer at the end.

I've just put up two videos about it on tigrlock.com, one of me storing and using the lock on my bike, and another of John, the inventor and engineer, putting it up against a D lock with the common thief's tools of hacksaw, angle grinder, and bolt cutters. The 40mm version of the lock lasts twice as long as the hardened steel D-lock.

TiGr is the kind of thing that I, as a designer, love to be able to work on. It's elegant and efficient and I'm doing everything in my power to make sure we're treating it like any other part on the elegant, efficient machine that is a bicycle.
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Old 05-10-11, 01:10 PM
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Awesome!
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Old 05-10-11, 01:16 PM
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Very cool!
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Old 05-10-11, 02:26 PM
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Wow, it looks like you guys have put some serious thought into the webpage and the Kickstarter page, good information on there.

Seems like a great product, I hope it catches on and becomes widely available. As a fellow engineer, it looks like you guys have addressed most of the issues with current locks while also making it even safer.

By the way, why TiGr? where'd the Gr come from?
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Old 05-10-11, 03:13 PM
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Joshua,
I 1st saw this on BikeSnobNYC of all places and it looked interesting. Will there eventually be a provision for those people already owning Abloy locks? I bought mine (house locks) through your supplier (SecuritySnobs) and it would be awesome if I could use the same key. This would of course involve me sending in my lock card to SecuritySnobs.

How does the bar metal react to extreme cold (freon spray and a hammer, etc.)?
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Old 05-27-11, 08:25 AM
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Hey, guys, sorry I faded out there. The TiGr project has had some amazing success — over 600 backers and almost $90,000! — and I've been running around like crazy trying to keep up.

Greg, that's an interesting idea. You should ask John on the Kickstarter page. I don't know much about that.

Awesomejack, the "Gr" was originally short for "Grade"; we were talking about using Titanium Grade 2, then shifted around to a bunch of different alloys until John found the best one. In the process, we dropped the number because the particular grade of titanium isn't really interesting to anyone but metallurgists, smiths, and engineers, but wanted to keep the periodic table Ti. The Gr is just to match. It's how a lot of brands evolve, frankly. What's a Sony, anyway, other than short for "sonic"?
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Old 05-31-11, 12:22 PM
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The project is almost complete! It ends this Friday, June 3rd. If you're into the project, lease help us reach $100,000 by tweeting, blogging, and posting on Facebook!
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Old 05-31-11, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Greg_R
Joshua,
I 1st saw this on BikeSnobNYC of all places and it looked interesting. Will there eventually be a provision for those people already owning Abloy locks? I bought mine (house locks) through your supplier (SecuritySnobs) and it would be awesome if I could use the same key. This would of course involve me sending in my lock card to SecuritySnobs.

How does the bar metal react to extreme cold (freon spray and a hammer, etc.)?
I was thinking the same thing. I've heard of U-locks being defeated this way. The metal simply shears when hit with a hammer.
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Old 05-31-11, 03:10 PM
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An early backer asked John about that on the blog! He said,

A cryogenic attack is more something that the DOD worries about in high-security situations, but the titanium alloy we’re using is, itself, used to make cryogenic containers. So even in the unlikely event that bike thieves start carrying around a bottle of liquid nitrogen you’re cool!

Last edited by Joshua A.C. New; 05-31-11 at 03:12 PM. Reason: Adding url
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Old 05-31-11, 03:37 PM
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That looks awesome. I love the idea. Any thoughts to make a collapsible one in case people want to put it in a bag?
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Old 05-31-11, 07:12 PM
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First off, great work. The lock looks awesome and seems like it really does the job. I have 2 questions.

First - It looks like it would work really well to clamp to something thin (street sign, parking meter) but what about something a little thicker, maybe a tree or a bigger metal pole?

Second - When it's available, is there an expected retail cost ?
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Old 06-01-11, 11:39 AM
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Eippo1, we've got some ideas about future models, but we have to concentrate on getting this first one into production.

Bahamut, John says he's gotten it around 5" trees. I haven't found anything like that to try it on, myself. The retail cost will be not so dissimilar from the Kickstarter backer levels, but we really don't know. There's quite a way to go before there's any sort of retailing going on. For the immediate future, the only way to get ahold of a TiGr is by backing the project.
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Old 06-02-11, 06:37 AM
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Can't wait to receive mine. Very cool and elegant design.
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Old 06-02-11, 07:08 AM
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Please add more $100 backer packages.
I don't want a tshirt and key chain.
I would buy the $100 lock.
Thanks
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Old 06-03-11, 11:24 AM
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JGJulio, the T shirt and keychain are thank-yous. You're not paying for those. You're paying for the lock. The $100 level was a thank-you for our first 50 backers, 45 days ago. Those went pretty quickly, which is great, but we can't afford to produce them at that level.
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Old 03-05-12, 10:47 PM
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I had no idea how close these guys were from me. I was at a client today 5 minutes from their head quarters and I emailed John and he said I could come by and check out their shop and see the last two locks he had on hand (his prototypes, that are not for sale). He said an order is coming in around 40 days and my two should be in that order.

You guys should order these locks!! They are so Cool!! I wish I had one now since my new bike is coming this week

You can place an order here: https://tigrlock.bigcartel.com/

Here's a cool Video:


Sal
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Old 03-05-12, 11:22 PM
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that reviewer is a smart cookie with that selle anatomica.
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Old 03-16-12, 05:16 PM
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Got mine in the mail today!!! I'm really excited to try it out. no more fiddling with a stupid cable or taking my front wheel off.
It shipped really quickly and got here in no time, even having to go through customs to get to Vancouver!
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