Author Topic: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you  (Read 29555 times)

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« on: 25 June, 2017, 09:07:24 pm »
"Pushbike".  Probably the worst of the lot, this implies that (a) cycling is extremely hard and outdated compared to a motorbike and (b) you are supposed to lunge at the pedals like  someone doing a gym leg press, not spin them smoothly.  Only ever used by non-cyclists.

"Road bike".  An unhelpful term which originated around the time of the MTB boom in the 1990s.  It almost always means "road racing bike" but you never quite know if the speaker is referring to anything with smooth tyres.

"Crossbar".  Doesn't cross anything, really.  Almost always found on a "pushbike".

"10 speed" (or, for that matter, anything from "7 speed" upwards).  Until the 1980s, bikes were described in terms of the total number of gear combinations, i.e. 5-speed meant 1 x 5, 10 speed meant 2 x 5 and 12 speed meant 2 x 6.  Then that extra sprocket appeared and suddenly everyone forgot about the number of chainrings.  OK when referring to a cassette, but my 9-speed touring bike actually has 27 combinations and a 9-speed racing bike probably has 18.  To confuse matters further, a 1980s European-made road racer is almost always called a "ten speed" in the USA to this day, preserving the original convention.

"Dynamo".  No, it's not.  The Americans have this sorted, and call it a generator, neatly ducking the issue.

"Wheel" used to refer to a tyre.

"Suicide levers".  A melodramatic term which I think originated from Richard's Bicycle Book, a truly depressing tome of bicycle myth and legend (read it and you'll probably never leave the house on two wheels again).  They did have a lot of travel but in most cases they would never hit the bars (they swung up just in front of them) and  they were better than nothing if you got caught on the hop while riding on the tops.  It's worth remembering that brake levers of that era were also shite when applied from the hoods, until Shimano moved the pivot point in the late 1980s.

Any more?
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #1 on: 25 June, 2017, 09:43:14 pm »
"Fixed gear" to mean fixed wheel, "fixed gear" is one gear ratio!

Quote
"Road bike".  An unhelpful term which originated around the time of the MTB boom in the 1990s.  It almost always means "road racing bike" but you never quite know if the speaker is referring to anything with smooth tyres.

I'm not sure about that, I would have thought it pre-dates mountain bikes to mean a bike for road racing as opposed to track racing.

"Suicide levers" is definitely a US import, presumably originating from the 70s US bike boom.

"Cyclo cross bike" to mean any road bike with bigger tyres and clearances, actual cyclo cross bikes are used for cyclo crosses and are carried over the shoulder for half the time.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #2 on: 25 June, 2017, 09:47:07 pm »
To be fair, fixed wheel is hard to justify in any etymological sense since it implies the wheel can't be removed, or can't rotate.  Fixed gear could include singlespeed, and singlespeed could include fixed gear!  It's a bit of a mess.

I know some people get very precious about track ends being referred to as "dropouts".

Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Chris N

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #3 on: 25 June, 2017, 09:55:08 pm »
Bidon
Chapeau
Rig
Fixie
Brifter
 :sick:

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #4 on: 25 June, 2017, 09:55:47 pm »
Cockpit

(Yes, I know, it's one of Roger's threads, <holds head in hands>)

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #5 on: 25 June, 2017, 09:57:15 pm »

Brifter


This. An thousand times this.
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #6 on: 25 June, 2017, 10:04:13 pm »
Wtf a brifter?

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #7 on: 25 June, 2017, 10:08:13 pm »
Wtf a brifter?
An ugly portmanteau word, the use of which may induce vomiting or leave a bad taste in the mouth.

(It's that thing on your handle bars which works the brakes and shits the gears)
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #8 on: 25 June, 2017, 10:08:56 pm »
Ah hah! Love your Freudian slip too!!

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #9 on: 25 June, 2017, 10:10:27 pm »
Wtf a brifter?
Americanism.

Brake lever / Shifter -> Brifter

Depreciated.
No longer used anywhere, even in the US amongst any of the cyclists I've ridden with.

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #10 on: 25 June, 2017, 10:31:38 pm »
Bidon
Chapeau

You missed musette.

Fixie makes me squirm.

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #11 on: 25 June, 2017, 10:34:07 pm »
Shifter=changer in proper English.

"Wheelset" annoys me (for no good reason).

"Roadie" when referring to a bike rather than its rider.

Kinds of bike:-
Roadster  -  often now termed 'Dutch'.
Road  -  for club runs and racing.
Cross  -  CX.
Touring  -  Your road bike with mudguards, a saddle-bag and a lower gear.
Tester  -  your road bike with an even bigger gear (except, see 'medium gear').

Add your own...

Karla

  • car(e) free
    • Lost Byway - around the world by bike
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #12 on: 25 June, 2017, 11:02:07 pm »
I love the word 'brifter', it's such an easy means to wind up people like you lot  :smug:

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #13 on: 25 June, 2017, 11:14:21 pm »
Bidon, definitely.
It is simpler than it looks.

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #14 on: 25 June, 2017, 11:23:44 pm »
'Palmares' - WTF language is that from?
'Peloton' - What's wrong with 'main group' or 'bunch'

And - most especially when misused by Sean 'Yiss, Well...' Kelly - 'classement'

Speak English, FFS!
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #15 on: 25 June, 2017, 11:51:20 pm »
Peddle.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #16 on: 25 June, 2017, 11:55:42 pm »
'Recumbent', when used as if it were a functional class like 'touring bike'.  Bonus points for not specifying the number of wheels in contexts where it matters.

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #17 on: 26 June, 2017, 12:20:10 am »
'Recumbent', when used as if it were a functional class like 'touring bike'.  Bonus points for not specifying the number of wheels in contexts where it matters.

How come this is annoying ?  Thats what it is isn't it ?

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #18 on: 26 June, 2017, 12:34:58 am »
'Recumbent', when used as if it were a functional class like 'touring bike'.  Bonus points for not specifying the number of wheels in contexts where it matters.

How come this is annoying ?  Thats what it is isn't it ?
Substitute 'upright' and see where it gets you...

"Is the off-road section going to be okay on my upright bike, or should I bring an upright bike with knobbly tyres?"

"Uprights are crap at riding on the flat, aren't they?"

etc.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #19 on: 26 June, 2017, 02:27:52 am »
Of all the foul neologisms - and there are too many to count - for which USAnia can take the blame, a strong candidate for the absolute nadir is "Campy".  Get in the cannon.

As a Darksider of many years standing lying down I'll also nominate "'bent", which makes me boak rich, brown vomit long into the night :sick:
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #20 on: 26 June, 2017, 05:50:37 am »
Bonne route.

What's wrong with 'Have a nice day's FFS?

It makes me so Angry >:(


Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #21 on: 26 June, 2017, 06:47:57 am »
'Recumbent', when used as if it were a functional class like 'touring bike'.  Bonus points for not specifying the number of wheels in contexts where it matters.
As a tricyclist of 50 years experience I get very frustrated when people write as if trike means recumbent or recumbent means trike.  Outside of recumbent forum areas please add "recumbent".
As a Darksider of many years standing lying down I'll also nominate "'bent", which makes me boak rich, brown vomit long into the night
So you might understand my feelings expressed above.
"Wheelset" annoys me (for no good reason).
Me too.  I suppose it came due to buying fancy factory built wheels.  I put it in the category of "newspeak" whose speakers sometimes confuse themselves by using the same word to mean a single wheel (front or rear, not unicycle)

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #22 on: 26 June, 2017, 06:55:43 am »
I think we have Rapha and Rouleur magazine to thank for some of the French affectations like bidon.

Since peddle has already been mentioned, axel also pops up quite often.  A front axle could be Axel F.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #23 on: 26 June, 2017, 07:02:24 am »
Velocipede.  Are we riding a cross between an insect and a dinosaur?
Move Faster and Bake Things

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Cycling words and phrases that annoy you
« Reply #24 on: 26 June, 2017, 07:36:51 am »
I shall have to watch my language in the unlikely event that I revisit the UK.  When I say bidon it's not an affectation, it's the word I learnt. I'll try hard (but not very) to call it a bottle if you insist.  BTW, it's also an adjective.

I don't see anything wrong with crossbar: that's what it always was before Americans started calling it the top tube.  To me the Top Tube inhabits the White House.

Upwrong: that one does irritate me, but then it's intended to. ;D

I agree re Campy, but cut the originators a little slack. It's not their fault they can't get their heads around an Italian gn digraph.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight