Newspeak

[tatanab]

Heard for the first time last night from a couple of youths after a timetrial - "I had  to knocked it up a couple of gears to increase my cadence".  In old language of course he meant "I knocked it down a couple of gears to wind on some revs".  Cycling must be the only place where anybody changes up to a lower gear.

Of course I know this is a result of the manufacturers talking about changing up to a larger sprocket on the cassette, but it seems odd to hear people talking like this.  On forums I sometimes have to read posts carefully to determine whether the writer is using Newspeak or conventional English.  It can be confusing to an old git and even the writers confuse themselves.

For example - we used to have brake blocks that fitted in brake shoes.  Now we have pads that might be self contained or fit in cartridges, but Newspeakers sometimes use cartridge to mean the "pad".

Wheelset is  a very recent one.  I can imagine it comes from buying factory built wheels like Fulcrum.  So a wheelset is logically a pair of wheels; yet I often see wheelset to mean one wheel, particularly in the sales/wanted ads on forums.

Why have a generation of cyclists in the last 10 years found it necessary to change terminology that was in use and clearly understood for decades?   How much of this is the fault of magazines who I have seen trying to invent new terms? Cockpit being the most ridiculous example of this.

[giropaul]

Don't start me! I could quote hundreds, but just for starters:

Fixie - it's fixed wheel!
Campy - it's Campag (except that even Campag have started using it now )
Upgrade - you mean changing a component don't you?
Drafting - sitting on a wheel (with an American spelling!)
Custom - not, as it used to be, a made to measure frame, but just specifying a change to an "off the shelf" bike that people seem to buy instead of building their own
Hydration - do you mean drinking?
 
I'll be back with some more later I suspect!

And yes, "cockpit" has got to be one of the most ridiculous yet!

[Jaded]

Bike - it's Velocipede!   

[tatanab]

Don't start me! I could quote hundreds, but just for starters:

Oh yes.   I suppose adopting Americanisms can be partly excused, but all the others I agree with.

[mattc]

Why have a generation of cyclists in the last 10 years found it necessary to change terminology that was in use and clearly understood for decades?   How much of this is the fault of magazines who I have seen trying to invent new terms? Cockpit being the most ridiculous example of this.

If it IS a recent problem, then I blame the 'chinese whispers' nature of the internet.

You read a post where someone asks about breaks, and it infiltrates your brain! If everyone got their knowledge from proof-read books, this wouldn't happen so much.

Similary, a higher %age of what you (Tatanab) now read is rubbish written by us on the the internet - it used to be almost entirely magazines and books (and oral conversation, of course, where you can challenge any unclear statement in seconds).

('Cockpit' isn't too bad, as I don't think there was an existing word for the same concept. It does make me cringe, I admit ... )

[Gaston Lagaffe]

Bike - it's Velocipede!   

Climb down off your hobby horse 

[Cudzoziemiec]

Bike - it's Velocipede!   

That's Victorian!
url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NenV7d3Wy_Y

[hatler]

Forks replacing fork.

[Jacomus]

Heard for the first time last night from a couple of youths after a timetrial - "I had  to knocked it up a couple of gears to increase my cadence".  In old language of course he meant "I knocked it down a couple of gears to wind on some revs".  Cycling must be the only place where anybody changes up to a lower gear.

Of course I know this is a result of the manufacturers talking about changing up to a larger sprocket on the cassette, but it seems odd to hear people talking like this.  On forums I sometimes have to read posts carefully to determine whether the writer is using Newspeak or conventional English.  It can be confusing to an old git and even the writers confuse themselves.

For example - we used to have brake blocks that fitted in brake shoes.  Now we have pads that might be self contained or fit in cartridges, but Newspeakers sometimes use cartridge to mean the "pad".

Wheelset is  a very recent one.  I can imagine it comes from buying factory built wheels like Fulcrum.  So a wheelset is logically a pair of wheels; yet I often see wheelset to mean one wheel, particularly in the sales/wanted ads on forums.

Why have a generation of cyclists in the last 10 years found it necessary to change terminology that was in use and clearly understood for decades?   How much of this is the fault of magazines who I have seen trying to invent new terms? Cockpit being the most ridiculous example of this.

It isn't newspeak, it's just wrong. Saying that you are changing 'up' to a lower gear is ridiculous and simply demonstrates that they don't know anything about the principles of the machine that they are operating.

[Jaded]

You read a post where someone asks about breaks, and it infiltrates your brain! If everyone got their knowledge from proof-read books, this wouldn't happen so much.

Yup - true!

[Rhys W]

I road my bike yesterday, and I had to use the breaks and peddles!

[mattc]

Heard for the first time last night from a couple of youths after a timetrial - "I had  to knocked it up a couple of gears to increase my cadence".  In old language of course he meant "I knocked it down a couple of gears to wind on some revs".  Cycling must be the only place where anybody changes up to a lower gear.

It isn't newspeak, it's just wrong. Saying that you are changing 'up' to a lower gear is ridiculous and simply demonstrates that they don't know anything about the principles of the machine that they are operating.

Here here.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I road my bike yesterday, and I had to use the breaks and peddles!

I was on my weigh to a roadie-oh wear I was going to ride my hoarse, but when I got their I was arrested by the puhleeze, who fought I was pedalling drugs.

[clarion]

Messenger bag - It's Musette!

Water bottle - What's wrong with Bidon?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Messenger bag - It's Musette!

Water bottle - What's wrong with Bidon?

That's right. Keep to simple, English words, we don't want this new-fangled, complicated language. 

[Jaded]

Water bottle - What's wrong with Bidon?

It's Biden, apparently. 

[nicknack]

Messenger bag - It's Musette!

Bollocks - a musette is a bagpipe.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Messenger bag - It's Musette!

Bollocks - a musette is a bagpipe.

No, it's a restaurant. 

http://www.ronnies-restaurant.co.uk/muset

[clarion]

Messenger bag - It's Musette!

Bollocks - a musette is a bagpipe.

Well, they do sound as if someone's storing food in them.

[L CC]

Don't start me! I could quote hundreds, but just for starters:

Fixie - it's fixed wheel!
Campy - it's Campag (except that even Campag have started using it now )
Upgrade - you mean changing a component don't you?
Drafting - sitting on a wheel (with an American spelling!)
Custom - not, as it used to be, a made to measure frame, but just specifying a change to an "off the shelf" bike that people seem to buy instead of building their own
Hydration - do you mean drinking?
 
I'll be back with some more later I suspect!

And yes, "cockpit" has got to be one of the most ridiculous yet!

Fixie: for fixed gear bicycle is a nickname. That's OK. I prefer 'fixed' as in 'the fixed' as opposed to 'the fixie' but, hell, people call anything a fixed, eh Clazza?
Campy-just WRONG
Upgrade- is NOT the same as replacing a component. I'm damn sure my purse knows the difference.
Drafting- has been drafting my whole riding life. Admittedly it may have been draughting 30 years ago when my dad first explained how to sit on a wheel (usually his) but as it was never written down.. Is it draft (like a first draft?) or draught (like a breeze?) anyway?
Custom- short for customised as opposed to custom-built. Is OK. Not great, but OK
As to Cockpit, we didn't have one of those. Bars were bars, and had tape on. All that shit on them is new, STIs, computer, lights. Pah. I miss a nice clean set of bars.

[clarion]

Fixed?  It should be On t'cog!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Drafting/draughting I would have thought of as an older term than wheel sucking.

[Salvatore]

Messenger bag - It's Musette!

Bollocks - a musette is a bagpipe.

cornemuse was bagpipe when I was a lad.

Is musette newspeak for bagpipe, then?

[L CC]

Fixed?  It should be On t'cog!

Cog is an americanism. We have sprockets.

[tatanab]

Drafting/draughting I would have thought of as an older term than wheel sucking.

Possibly way back in the mists of time, but not in my living memory.  It is probably an American import possibly via triathlon.  In all my 45 years of club riding it has always been "wheel sucking" if wanting to be rude, or "sitting in" to be polite.

Fixie is a modern affectation.  It was just "the fixed".  As noted, some people have lost the distinction between fixed wheel and fixed gear.   I also recall about 8 years ago that Cycling Plus suddenly invented the term fixer for somebody riding fixed.  The Newspeakers have taken to confusing this with the machine itself.

While thinking about fixie (spit in disgust) I recalled flip-flop.  This is certainly an Americanism.  We had double sided hubs, either double fixed or gear/fixed (sometimes called gear sided).  Far more accurate than flip-flop which could mean any of several combinations but these days seems to mean a hub with threads for a fixed on one side and a single freewheel on the other.  I doubt gear/fixed hubs are available these day.

Upgrade - I can understand upgrading to a higher specification component, but upgrading in the sense of upgrading to 11 speed seems nonsensical since it could easily be a retrograde step depending on your usage.