torch511

That is such an urban legend. First off, the pen did not leak, it just would not write due to ink being GRAVITY fed. The USA started developing a pen and then abandoned when it was deemed that the development and production costs were too high. The US and Russians both used pencils in the early days Fisher developed the pen using private capitol, which was later used by both the US and Russian space programs.

I don't get what the washer was doing there in the first place, well... sort of. Some disc brakes, especially earlier ones, mounted sideways to the frame and one of the adjustment tricks with those to center the caliper was to put a washer in to get it centered. But the Tektro Draco 2 brakes on the sirrus elite mount top to bottom. Putting a spacer would raise the caliper up but would not fix the side-to-side alignment that would cause the rubbing. It wouldn't really do anything. Heck, You could probably keep it in there and get it to work fine but there's just no need for it. Unless of course that wasn't where he was putting the washer but where else to put it is beyond me. The brakes are quite simple. Glad it's fixed.

Disc brakes are not hard to set up (per se) There are two bolts holding the caliper to the mounting bracket on either the fork or the rear triangle. If a wheel is rubbing against the brake and it's not rolling correctly then simply loosen the two bolts a little to where you can wiggle the caliper around and then reposition and retighten. As easy as it sounds, it can be a bit of an art form getting it right. The caliper likes to move on you a lot. I usually start with the bolt closes to the rotor, get it in place and then try and tighten the other one down. Sometimes I get it the first try, sometimes it takes about 10 minutes of absolute frustration. Then again, it could be the hub that's the problem. Regardless, neither of these issues is rocket science and you don't have to be a spectacular mechanic to diagnose if a wheel is not rolling as it should, what the cause is and fix it (unless mechanically there is an issue, like a bearing that's toast, but on a new wheel I hardly think that would be the case.)

As I have put together, set-up and sold about 40+ sirrus models with disc brakes, and I just ordered my daughter a Vita elite disc... I can tell you that they roll quite nicely. That's a pretty nice "multi-use" bike and you should not be having issues. Bring it back to the shop and make them fix it CORRECTLY.

The cleat should initially be set so that the pedal spindle falls in the middle of the bony ends of the the 1st and 5th metatarsal. This is typically just behind the ball of the foot.. Toe in/out won't affect hotspots or foot pain, it it used to adjust float so that the knee can move naturally. Lateral placement of the cleat MAY cause a hot spots or foot pain but you will feel it on the offending side of the foot. It should be neutral and only moved in/out to help with knee movement through the pedal cycle.

smudge - the narrower bars are not really any more twitchy. Watch the TDF and look at the pros descending at 50mph while sitting basically on the top tube gripping the bar right at the stem. If anything was going to be twitchy, I would think THAT would be.

I saw 4 of those hammer flasks on the bike course during a 1/2 IM on Saturday. 1 the first lap, 3 more on the second lap. I am sure there were more that I did not see.

A note on Chamois - Its benefit is more to helping keep your "contact area" dry and friction free. It does not really do much in terms of cushioning your butt. I have bibs with thin (but contoured) pads, and some have thicker, I can't say I have a preference other than the crazy contoured pads that you find on better bibs tend to work better as the padding moves with you. My tri-suits have almost no padding, though the position is different and the weight distributed differently but we're talking 2 1/2 to 3 hours in the same position with minimal time out of saddle. My longest non-stop ride to date is 13 hours and I used no chamois crème, just a good fitting bike and a quality pair of bibs.

I give your rant a 9.2! I read that the other night - what a bunch of douche-bags. I hope that other California-based hot sauce makers, specifically Dave's Gourmet (Makers of Dave's Insanity) out in San Francisco, do not meet the same fate.

The best breasts I've ever seen belonged to one Mrs. Danielle Paquin Don't bother googling her or facebooking her - you'll never find her. She was a nobody, but had gravity defying perfect C breasts... then went and had them enlarged. What a shame. Kate Upton comes in a close second.

First computer was a pre-production (prototype) Osborne computer. My dad was an electrical engineer for the longest time for a company that made circuit boards so we tended to be ahead of the power curve tech-wise We've had just about every computer since - Timex Sinclair 100, Tandy 1000, Commodore Vic 20, 64 and Amiga, Atari 800, IBM and then generation after generation after generation of computer after that.

I used to work in a department of 2 people, the other person is a friend as well as co-worker. His 3 year old son was diagnosed with a brian tumor and underwent 2 brain surgeries. Before surgery my coworker, myself and several other of his friends and family members also shaved their head at the same time so the little guy did not feel different. It's not much of a stretch for me, I keep a military style "high and tight" but the sentiment is the same. I think it's a nice gesture. Over the last couple of years I've watched several family members lose their battles with cancer and a good friend of mine is fighting breast cancer now (she had another chemo treatment up in boston today). It's such a sucky thing to have to deal with. Sorry to hear about your friend.

The house is locked (and alarmed) when no one is home. My daughters typically lock it when I'm not home. If I am home then I don't bother locking it until bedtime. My cars however are unlocked - they are worth more stolen. So feel free to come by and steal either pieces of poo currently in the driveway. Heck, if you steal the caravan I won't even report it.

There were 3 instances I saw where Ward was aiming at a knee. I don't care if he did go up and shake gronks hand, I have little doubt that the idea was to take Gronk off the field. However, by the rulebook which these days is somewhat arbitrary and almost made up... it was a legal hit. The game left me rather ill. The Pats played like crap, the refs were even more HORRIBLE (on both sides of the ball) and that last bad pass interference call giving the pats the ball on the 1 was ridiculous. In regards to Gronk spelling doom for the Patriots - not so sure about that. I do think however that Gronk never puts on a Pats uniform again. He's been somewhat of a china doll (a by-product of being that large) and I think this puts him off the field for a while. He'll miss the first 6 games of next season as it is... at best.

The work ethic of our nation's youth is a totally separate topic. Back when I was in high school (1986-1990) most of the people I grew up with were like me and had a halfway decent work ethic and a good set of core values. I grew up in a really diverse town. On the rare occasion I hit the fast food places now (typically I take the kids there) it's STILL mostly a very young work force. The idea that immigrants will do the job "better" is ridiculous. There was a Dunkin Donuts near work where an immigrant (Cape Verde) worker hired nothing but other Cape Verde workers (mostly illegals) and I stopped going there. The service was slow, often incorrect and inconsistent. Eventually the manager was fired and the workforce replaced. Huge difference. Let's face it, Minimum wage jobs like McDonald's or working at Old Navy, The Gap or Aeropostle is not meant to be lifelong employment to support a family.