General Cycling Discussion - Bicycle names

The other night my girlfriend referred to my bike as "Rick". I am not quite sure why she did this. I will be calling the institutions tonight. So, I guess my bike now has a name. Has anyone else taken the time to name their ride?

Can't say that I have done this but plan on going out tonight to buy a baby name book for reference :D

My bikes share one common name:

Go Damnit Go!
Sprint Damnit Sprint!
Little Chain Ring Damnit!
:p

An ex-girlfriend once named one of my saxophones Buster, but I haven't named the new ride yet. I wonder if I still have her number...

Orange one
Other Orange One
Green one
Other Green One
Black one
The Clown Bike

"Paramour"

Most of my friends call my mt. bike "My Obsession". I guess I need therapy...:D

I call my Giant Iguana "the Iguana" and my old Nishiki Century "the Nishiki."

I feel pretty unimaginative after seeing the lovely lively names above.

On the other hand, my bikes have enough ideas of their own, without getting more of them by having names.

I have named my Trek 2200..."My Baby!" and my Kona Pohoehoe..just that "The Pohoehoe"

I call my old Fisher Marlin my Fish.
I haven't named my new Trek yet. I'm tempted to stencil a name on it if I paint it. Trek 6700fx sounds like a droid from star wars or something. I do sometimes call my Trek an alumnum can.

Let's See. I haven't really ever named my bikes before, but if I did they would all have to be feminine and as a default should all have Mistress as a surname since if I'm not with my wife I'm with one of them.

To start with, my Cannondale Hardtail with the the blue to white fade and the red stripes, I'd call her Mistress Betsy, for Betsy Ross obviously!

The Specialized P.3 Centerfold, she matte black with Red Decals and Red components. I'd call her Mistress Brenda, the Bad Bi*ch! I should call her Lisa who is an old girlfriend and is a bi*ch. But I still like to ride Brenda and not Lisa.

My Haro Track-Trail 2.2 24" BMX Cruiser, I can't think of a name yet because I just got her. I'm thinking of ball-buster, or nut-cracker or the like due to practice last night. Ouch!! She's also black frame with red/white decals. Maybe I should call her Bad Betty, but that has conotations of Gary Fisher's Level Betty so I think not! Any suggestions?

What else? My GT-BMX Speed Series 20" doesn't have a name either. She's rough and tough, but always takes care of me.

My road bike. It's in pieces right now, so I wouldn't want to name that bike. Someone might suggest naming her after my wife since I have so many bikes (mistresses) they might get the idea my marriage is in pieces as well. Although not the case. If it were, she would be having extra-marital affairs with three bikes of her own. I wonder if she names hers after men? Hmmm.

Later Gator
Boomer:D

I mostly favor horse names.

Bikes I have now:

Bridgestone RB-T - alternately known as Gertie and Rocinante

Bianchi Alfana - Shadowfax

(unpainted) Litespeed Classic - still unnamed. "Silver", as in the Lone Ranger, just doesn't get it.

Bikes I no longer have:

Brown Schwinn Continental - retroactively named Sheldon...

Trek 400 Elance' - Bucephalus

Naming my bikes is an ordeal. Usually the name comes to me during a too-long summer ride when I'm semi-delirious with heat and dehydration.

Originally posted by roadbuzz
Bridgestone RB-T - alternately known as Gertie and Rocinante


I like the "Rocinante" name (noticed it in one of your posts the other day). It reminds me I need to read Don Quixote. I downloaded it in English but always have this feeling I ought to read it in Spanish--which would probably take me about 120 years. :(

My Trek hybrid is called Rainbike, since that's what it does, and my purplish Trek roadbike is named l'aubergine... because Purple People Eater would be too insincerely americaine for me to get away with. Perhaps not the best names, but descriptive, at the least.

I did once own a Lambretta 150 named Beatrice, or "Triza," after my cousine, of whom I had an adolescent crush (the girl, not the scooter.)

I find it difficult to bond with vehicles that have not been named, and the many nameless bikes & motos of my past just fade away...

I call my Pinarello Bike, "Honey", sometimes my wife really gets upset

The IF is called "Dreamcycle"(rhymes with "Popsicle").

My Terry Flora is "Little Pony" cuz she is my little (14") steed.

Servus!

Been waiting for this thread as what (if) you name your bike, it really says something special.

My newest ride is called "Siren", as her song calls to me from great distances to lure me into the woods and dance with her.

My Schwinn Traveler from may years ago was named "Amanda" after a special girlfriend of many years.

My Gitane was named "Lisa" after another special woman in my life because she was racy and fast and sleek. Just like the real thing. ;)

My Trek 7000 never earned a name. Something about that bike just never spoke to me. I am in the process of converting it into my city bike, so maybe then the magic will arise.

Alas, my highly modified Giant Cypress does not yet have a name. Wait! I just thought of one! I have always thought if I bought a boat, I would name it "Infinite Jest", so my bike is officially - Yorick! Tadaaa! Thanks guys and gals for for making me focus on this and name him. I truly have been trying to think of one, but these things require the proper inspiration. So, as someone said in another thread, you are my inspiration.
Regards,
Raymond

Originally posted by RainmanP
[...] my bike is officially - Yorick!
Great name, Raymond--though it would be better if, instead of a big city, you rode around in a tiny hamlet....:rolleyes:

I haven't named my bike yet, but I'm working on it!!!

JonR, JonR.

Rainman's soliloquy, gazing at his flatted tire: "Alas, poor Yorick..."

and later, commuting in the rush hour traffic, "whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows..."

Originally posted by orguasch
I call my Pinarello Bike, "Honey", sometimes my wife really gets upset
Oscar, you have got guts, man!

Originally posted by roadbuzz
(unpainted) Litespeed Classic - still unnamed.


Yesterday, it got named. Hyperion.

Originally posted by Pete Clark

Oscar, you have got guts, man!
Pete, You can say that again, I might beleive in you that I have the guts,

At long last my steed has a name: Zoom! :D

One of my office mates said, whenever I take off on the bike it reminds her of the Zoom, Zoom, Zoom commercial.

Oooooo K :p

I don't own the bike yet, but when I get my Raleigh R500, I'm going to name her GLORY.

My hybrid doesn't have a name. I've been thinking about it since this thread was originally posted, and I just can't think of a decent name.

Originally posted by A F Baker
I don't own the bike yet, but when I get my Raleigh R500, I'm going to name her GLORY.

As a Southerner, I like it... Old Glory! :p

One of my older bikes is called the "Yang Mobile" and actually has the name stickered on it.

Ya, it sounds funny, but it is not named so because I use that bike to troll for chicks. That is the bike which I lend to my Chinese friend Mr. Yang when he is in town.

Originally posted by mike
One of my older bikes is called the "Yang Mobile" ...but it is not named so because I use that bike to troll for chicks.

Yeah, sure Mike...;) ...We believe ya! :D

I don't know if any of you checked out longscycle.com, the really cheap source for cycling apparel, etc., but they also offer one-off custom decals so you can put your bike's name on it. I may get a pair for Yorick. Unfortunately, they are something like $12.95 each so I may have to think about it for a while.

This thread has got me thinking what I will name my Bianchi when I get her (Yorick is obviously a masculine bike, beefy, sturdy, utilitarian, and funny-looking. A Bianchi in celeste just has to be feminine.) It would have to be Italian, obviously. Hmm. Maybe Dolce.

I now have a name for my recently reacquired MTB/cruiser....I am proud to introduce Olga. My girlfriend came up with this one, too, just as she did with Rick the MTB. Olga seems to be the perfect name due to the bikes burly, yet feminine nature.

My old bike that got stolen was named AXL, he was a good ride, I hope whoever has him now takes good care of him and has many joyful hours riding. My new bike, a CCM cruiser does'nt yet have a name, but since I got her last month I have logged many hours and Km's on her, but she just aint speaking to me yet. The time wil come soon and I'll let you know the outcome.

Glad y'all asked! :D My bike has a name...it's "Luke", as in "Luke Skywalker". Its sidekick (okay, my car) is "Han" as in "Han Solo". I talk to it when I get home sometimes, and tell him that I'm sorry I didn't take him out for a spin. Although, he hasn't been complaining lately it seems... ;)

Those are some really neat-o names, btw!

I just call her "My Little Giant" . . . because, well, she's a Giant TCR-2R, and she's kinda little (I think the smallest one they make). -- I have made up for the lack of an original name by giving her her own room (the guest bedroom), taking her out for her run just about every day, . . . oh, and most important, throwing myself between her and the pavement when she skidded on the sand, so that she didn't get scratched when we went down.;)

I call my bike "buddy". It's been quite a friend to me (especially as I don't have any other friends :p )

Chris

Originally posted by Chris L
I call my bike "buddy". It's been quite a friend to me (especially as I don't have any other friends :p )

Chris
ChristL, I am sorry to hear that, at least here at BFC, you can call us your friends

My early 90s Trek 700 is also "aubergine" colored, but I tend to call it just "my Trek". My very first bike as a kid was Ross. But, then, it was a Ross. My second was a red, white, and blue, Sears Ted Williams 10-speed with 24" wheels. I called it Ted a couple of times as a joke.

My Fuji road bike was just "My Fuji".

I tend to just use the make, model, or color with the definite article "the" or the possessive pronoun "my". I love my bikes, but just can't quite anthropomorphize them in my mind enough to name them "Ethel" or something.

From others' posts, I notice a trend to nickname but not quite name our bikes.

Jonathan

Originally posted by bikebrat
...oh, and most important, throwing myself between her and the pavement when she skidded on the sand, so that she didn't get scratched when we went down.;)
That's the mark of a true gentleman (or gentlewoman, as the case may be.) (Gentlecyclist, anyway!) :D

Originally posted by orguasch

ChristL, I am sorry to hear that, at least here at BFC, you can call us your friends

Awww, I was just trying (without much sucess it seems) to be funny! That's all.

Chris

None of our bikes have names per se, but a couple of them have sort of nick names. My husband has two commuter bikes. You know, junky fixer-uppers best suited to being locked up at some distant train station...Anyway, one of them is a sears free spirit. I bought it for him for like $10. Even though I didn't get it at a garage sale, the nickname "the Garage Sale Special" seems to have stuck. The other commuter, more recently picked up, is a mountain bike. It's painted a deep yellow/light orange. You know, taxicab yellow. So, of course it's "the taxi bike". My trek remains just "my trek".

I have greatly enjoyed reading about everyones' bike names, as I have always named mine.

Here we go:

Touring/commuter -- Miyata triple spline, grey: named "Iggy", for iguana. On my first day of my first tour on her -- Cozumel, '89 -- I saw a grey iguana right next to the road where I stopped to admire the view of waves going undergound through limestone tunnels and shooting up as fountains over the road. The iguana seemed to like the view too.

Road bike -- early 80's Tommasinni: "Tommy". Obvious reason.

Newer mtb -- Stumpjumper Comp ceramic: "Slick", 'cos, for me, this bike is way too slick, as in fancy.

Older mtb -- late 80's Stumpjumper: "Verde", cos she's green and my first ride on her was a trip to Baja. BTW, the trip was to Catavina, which I very very highly recommend for a week trip.

Oh, and my wife's purple-ish Trek is named "Aubbie", for aubergine. Cabronne also used this one, I saw. Here's to eggplants.

Timothy Witten

Originally posted by tdwitten
I have greatly enjoyed reading about everyones' bike names, as I have always named mine.

Here we go:

Touring/commuter -- Miyata triple spline, grey: named "Iggy", for iguana.

Timothy Witten
Tim,
No offense meant, Tim,
When I read your post it touch a chord on me, My son name is Miguel, but I call him by his nickname "Iggyboy" he is a very special kid.....

Tim,
I almost forgot welcome to BFC. hope to see more of your Post,

Having acquired 2 more bikes, I've come to think about how much I identify with my bikes. I've struggled with a name for my Symmetry and HardRock. I've finally realized that my HardRock is who I am: heavy, slow, clumsy & plodding. My Flora is who I am when I ride regularly, still slow, chubby, but steady with endurance. My Symmetry is who I dream I was; light, swift and sleek. So my heart belongs to my "Little Pony", Flora; my dreams to "Fantasy" symmetry, and my mind refuses to name my HardRock because it doesn't want to recognize that part of me.

At one time, I thought about painting my V2 lime green and calling it Snot Rocket, but I came to my senses. Since my bike is black and has a 70 inch wheelbase, I am trying to come up with something related to the song about "..that long cool woman in a black dress...".

Old Yeller is not my bike nor have I ridden it, it's my clubs mascot bike carried on front of the baggage truck on Ragbrai. A badly spray painted yellow balloon tire 50 sumptin bike with baskets, theft proof cause nobody would wanna admit to stealing such a ride but frequently borrowed.
While naming a regular bike is just an option I feel any homemade bike MUST have a name, maybe thats why I can't finish my bent.
kev

Havn't got around to naming my Giant commuter, or the Trek MTB, but when I saw "Shadowfax" in L.O.T.R.,(that's in the book, it didn't make it into the movie) I had to use it for my C'dale R800.

Now if I just had the legs to do it justice!:D

My first three homebuilts were named:
1. Pink Peril (for it was perilous to ride)
2. Gearloose (named for Gearloose Goose due to it's ungainly appearance)
3. Yellerthang (for it is VERY yeller!)

The fourth is as yet un-named.

My Vision R-44 I cleverly call my "Vision".