Is the Ti metal tough enough to at least make this a long and grueling job?
Yeah, it's tough and really annoying to cut with a hacksaw, actually.
I tend to go by the idea that NO lock is totaly theft proof.
Yeah, and it's sure not a claim we want to be the first to make! Part of the reason we're looking for funding is to have the lock certified by a third party so we can say objectively how much of a theft deterrent it is. On the whole, the TiGr is extremely annoying to cut and outright defeats most other methods. John is actually working on some video footage right now of his own attacks on the lock to demonstrate. I'll be adding it to the video when he completes the shoots.
But then I have not had a bicycle stolen from me. If I had then I strongly suspect that at $150 or so that I'd think this was a great deal provided it does the job of not being beaten by easy methods.
The lock is designed for people with much more expensive bikes than mine — riders who are counting grams but want to make sure their bike is still there when they get out of work or when they stop off for a beer at the end of their group ride.
The price is because it's a carefully designed object made of necessarily expensive materials.