A big week

First, I apologize to my non USA readers for the following rant... but maybe you can learn something from it as well. I'll keep it brief.

I procrastinated quite a bit on this weeks post... mainly because I've had a nasty sinus infection since returning from the beach, but it played into the election perfectly. Now this certainly isn't a political posting, and I definitely would never suggest taking political advice from anyone as uninformed as I am... but I will say one thing that has dominated my thoughts for the last few hours from looking at my Facebook and Twitter. (along with every forum known to man)

At the end of the day... treat other people well man. Shit. What I've found from the last couple hours is that I know a lot of assholes. If you were a Trump supporter, be gracious... you won. No need to post "Welcome to Canada" pictures on your wall. If somebody feels like they need to move, it's their choice, thankfully. If you were a Hillary supporter, the train has stopped. You aren't changing anyone's mind now, and even if you did, they can't do sh*t about it. It's like the Soprano's... IT'S OVER. I've seen tons of people threatening "if you didn't vote for X we aren't friends any more." Look... if that's what it takes to end a friendship... we weren't friends to start with, and the reason is probably because... you are an asshole. So all I can say is... let's move on, fly your American Flag the same way you did yesterday. Keep taking dumb selfies about you being patriotic. Try to be a good person... that's what we need way more than one office chair filled.

'Merica!

End rant!

The other, probably more exciting thing that happened this week was... I turned 33. Man, how time moves on... another year in the books. I actually had a very good birthday (thanks for asking!) which is pretty uncommon for me historically. I went to work, had dinner with my lovely wife and best friends, and had some pricey scotch. All in all I'd call that a win. I've also kind of went on a buying spree... so many awesome bits of kit I couldn't help but pick up.

White looks pretty good actually

These are the Aerocoach align pads. They released them in a very timely manner... I was just complaining that I was afraid of my arms coming off the pads at Dick Lane not a month ago, and then there were these. I am confident that that is no longer a concern! I was kind of thrown off that they only came in white, but after actually installing them I think they match my P3 quite well. I think Xavier and the guys at Aerocoach are doing great work on a lot of different products, and would suggest having a look at their site.

with computer mount very awkwardly placed!

These Nitto's were more of a splurge. I've had that old LOOK Ergostem for a couple of years now and not had anything to use with it (it's the design without a removable faceplate, so no aerobars will work, and it's 26.0 so most road bars won't either) so when I caught a slick deal on these on ebay I went for it and snagged them. The SOYO grips look great and have an insane amount of grip to them, but holy crap are they a pain in the butt to get on. I should have used an air hose (like a golf club grip) to get them on, but foolishly went for the windex / boiling method. My palms were ripped to shreds but I did finally get them seated. Imagine... the keirin racers use rubber cement on them! Of course I'm not going to be twist/sprinting them with quite the same force most likely.

put down the pitchforks! I know what I'm doing...

Finally there was this guy. Yes, it's a Chinese no-name Mavic io clone. Yes, I know the horror stories about Chinese wheels. I know it might not be aerodynamic. I know it might disintegrate.
That said, this wheel actually blew me away in it's quality. The rim is pretty narrow (20 1/2") and the blades are actual air foils and not just flat carbon. Does that mean it's a fast wheel? No. Certainly not. But it does give me a little hope that it's a little closer to the "stolen design" side and farther from the "make it look like this" side. I plan to put it through some tests when I get the tire glued on... I'm very, very interested to see if it is at all a slick wheel. I figured if not, there would be plenty of hipsters who would love to have it on their whip.


Thanks so much for reading. I really appreciate it! Treat everyone how you'd like to be treated and we'll all do just fine!

- Christopher Morelock