"Might the chains be some form of theft protection? They would rattle as you try to grab a book. Not sure how effective it would be, but of course a library generally is pretty quiet."

"May I just add that the spring lock type washers mentioned here, along with all other spring type washers are not part of the DIN norms anymore because of low to zero proven effectiveness. There are however multiple other locking type washers (including the nordlocks mentioned)."

"Havind build a red and blue chair, I can tell you it is relativily comfortable, were it not that the dimensions are optimal for the shorter length of people back then. I used to sit for hours in the thing, without any padding. And dont forget, Rietveld used to say "sitting is a verb", meaning he never intended the chair (or any of his other furniture) to be very comfortable."

""-anyone not in a race would never use.""

"@RobYes, these bikes are customized exactly to the riders dimensions and preferences. It would however be possible that the mechanic adjusted the bike to her setting. A not perfect setting could be left undetected by her in the heat of the race.However, its very unlikely that her friend would have the exact same bike for several reasons. The first is that a lot of the frames used in professional riding are custom build with different dimensions compared to standard sizes. But even if she rode an off the rack frame, it would be a coincidence that the frame size was the same.In addition to that, all of the components used on her bike are top of the line. This is a very expensive bike fitted with racing components which are chosen for weight savings and in-race reliability as compared to expense and durability. These are bikes outfitted in a way which anyone not in a race (even the pro's train on "lesser" bikes). The third is graphics, which is the main reason I don't believe this story. Pro bikes used in races often have special graphics and at the very least a name and number. This is something you are required to have while racing and is something you don't have while you are not racing."

"That Specialized Alibi is funny. Boast about no maintenance chain and tires, still use a derailleur and rim brakes. Anyway, I would mostly fear lateral stiffness on these wheels, as the springy part is quite large."

"I don't get it. I have been using Mitutoyo analog and digital calipers my whole life and have never had any problem reading from them. These guys are just talking BS, just take a look at the different "iterations" of the dial faces, almost all of them are ridiculous and unusable (why does one look like a compass dial?!?) and none of them are any improvement over the thousands of existing dial caliper faces that are already on market."