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I wonder if something like Graphene would have any applications for bicycle locks? I would love a lock made from this Graphene paper, which is allegedly 10 times stronger than steel:

http://inhabitat.com/new-graphene-super-paper-is-10x-stronge...

New materials are giving us great opportunities to re-think old problems, which is why I regularly enjoy browsing http://www.inventables.com/

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With bike locks, you're not looking for tensile strength, you need to resist shearing & shock loads.

Carbon fiber, for example, may be considered to be almost as strong as steel, but it breaks pretty easily when subjected to shear and shock forces, i.e. a bolt cutter.

Quickly skimming the article, graphene is only twice as strong as steel in this regard. Although this is still great, you have to be careful.

It will, once we have a process that can produce it at an industrial scale which appears to be forthcoming [1].

[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119111057.ht...

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