"Have you ever tried to cut Kevlar fabric? It is nearly uncuttable, requiring specially beveled scissors designed to put the material into shear. That's also a lot easier to do when you're cutting single sheets of flat material, rather than a reinforced braid.I can certainly see some advanced textile being an extremely effective lock material. But I agree with everyone that the weak links will be where the (relatively thin) metal loops, and where the fabric attaches to them."

"Seems surprising that some clever furniture manufacturer hasn't commissioned separate face-grain patterned edge veneers to complete the illusion when used appropriately..."

"While I can't comment on a single pound of weight, I can imagine 17-20 lbs would be noticeable, not because of the performance, but because of the balance.One need only to mount a front low-rider rack and some panniers to see how big a difference even 5 lbs of weight at the front can make, let alone 20 lbs."