Sir_Name 

Alloy = Aluminum. Steel(s) is(are) also an alloy...

thumpism 

The one that got me was the fellow who wanted his tires to be fluffed up.

bbattle

Only on the BF have I seen standard bicycle framed bicycles referred to as "wedgie bikes".

[h=2]Recumbent[/h](1 Viewing)
What IS that thing?! Recumbents may be odd looking, but they have many advantages over a "wedgie" bicycle. Discuss the in's and out's recumbent lifestyle in the recumbent forum.

Even on the Recumbent forum, "normal" bicycles are referred to as DF, or diamond frames.

noglider 

Are you sure he wasn't messing with you?

I had a bike shop boss who said, "Put some wind in those tires," but I knew he was joking.

thumpism 

I have a few years on you, a late-model cassette's worth of years.

One of our rival shops at the time had a red ink stamp they used on many of the sales receipts of those big-framed bikes: "Frame size not recommended." Smart, given the potential for litigation.

Judging by the guy's manner and deportment (not that there's anything wrong with that) he was serious about the fluffing.

desconhecido 

Sort of a mixture, but a lot of English. Read something recently which asserted that it was the Japanese copying of English standards that resulted in the mess that now exists. Had the Japanese gone full metal metric, probably the rest of the industry (except, maybe the Italians and Raleigh) would have as well.

For an example of how an industry can really scrrew up units, look at aviation. Lapse rate (for example) is spoken of as degrees C/1000 feet.

desconhecido 

And 27 and a half is smaller than 27.

desconhecido 

I worked with a French guy who would ask me about English language/vocabulary/usage because he know that I wouldn't screw with him and give him bad words to say. One day he asked me if there was an English word for acting in a sloppy or rude manner. I don't recall exactly how he asked but it was clear that the word he was looking for was gauche. I told him so. He thought I was putting him on. Sometimes things can be confusing as with the word "eventually". In French, the word means possibly or maybe. In English, of course, it means at some time in the indefinite future. So, if your boss is French and asks if you're going to do something, it's best to not say "eventually", even if that's what you mean.

jonwvara 

A neighbor of mine once referred to my down tube shifters as "reach-down switchers." I loved that.

nlerner

If an expression is not a misnomer, is it a nomer?

Zoku620

Jawn, or Jimmy Jawn more specifically.

Eric S.

Back in the last days of Winning magazine, one of the articles on the back page mentioned some kid coming into a shop asking for a "27 dot 2" seat post. This was as Internet speak was coming into society.

I'm glad that the dot thing didn't catch on with bike parts.

dedhed

I've always been told that an axle is shaft that rotates and transmits torque, although there is also fixed axles that items rotate around, but generally moving object related. Spindles on the other hand, are normally a shaft fixed on one end that something rotates around such as a sheave or wheel.

Lascauxcaveman 

I once had a bicycle called a Ross SUPER Grand Tour Professional.

The only one of those terms that was truly accurate in this case was "Ross."

Rcrxjlb

Is it a skewer or a quick release hub?
Is it a stem or a gooseneck?
Is it a index shifter or a ratchet action?
Is it a cog or a gear?
Is it cadence or RPM?
Is it carbon fiber or unobtainium?

OldsCOOL

It's 5:30am and I'm cracking up reading this. Like so many Ausssie words it's fun to say it.

jimmuller 

10-speed, 12-speed, 8-speed, 9-speed, 12-speed?

Given that speed is continuous there are an infinite number of possible speeds. But are my 2x6 gear setups 12-speeds or merely 6? 12 sounds better!

12-ratio would be more meaningful. Or 6-cog. Or 2x6.

rhm

Thinking about cable stops (again) it bothers me that we use the same term to distinguish a bolt that anchors the inner cable end and the thing, often bolted or brazed to the frame, that anchors the outer cable (cable housing). In certain circumstances we call the latter a "cable hanger," but that, too, lacks specificity. With this in mind, it would not be bad to use "fulcrum" for all of the latter, whether on the chain stay, a bridge across the seat stays, or even on one arm of a side pull brake.

photogravity

And let's not forget those ratios that are so close as to be effectively the same. Your 12-ratio drive system may be something more like an 8- or 9-ratio system. That's one issue you'll not encounter with a pure IGH setup.

Italuminium

You had me at misnomenclature.

I think speeds is a stupid name for gears, even worse in Dutch: "versnellingen" (or speeder-uppers). this gives the false illusion that bikes with gears are inherently faster, which is totally dependent on conditions and not on gearing.

And god save us from tire sizing nomenclature.

Perfect thread for language pedants like me.

qcpmsame 

From my motorcycle lifetime, I always has this one associated with titanium, especially after getting several grams of said "alloy" in my spine.

Also, Why do we park in driveways, and drive on parkways?

Tom, you need to spend some time on a UK BB, or even go to England, "English" is not what usually gets spoken there, or here in the US.

Bill

pastorbobnlnh 

When it comes to servicing old freewheels, sometimes a bit of magic, incantations, and special potions are very much needed!

I've pondered this as well and have come to the conclusion that in the case of cogs on a freewheel or cassette, it does make sense to work from the outside towards the inside. Also, in most cases, the part which can be removed first is the smallest cog (which is not the case for old Regina and Atom freewheels where the largest cog can also be thread off from the inside).

dddd

My Steyr's "10-speed" drivetrain actually features seven evenly-spaced, sequential ratios if one back-shift is thrown in to break up the larger shift at the chainrings.

It's either that, or it's a six-speed without the back-shift of the right lever.

Seven-speed drivetrain:

thumpism 

I would say:

Is it a skewer or a quick release hub? The skewer is what makes a quick release hub release quickly.
Is it a stem or a gooseneck? Yo, it's a gooseneck, bro.
Is it a index shifter or a ratchet action? Depends. SunTour made both types if discussing barcons.
Is it a cog or a gear? Once again, depends. A freewheel cog would be one end of the chainring/cog combo that produces a gear ratio or "gear."
Is it cadence or RPM? Interchangeable, in my opinion.
Is it carbon fiber or unobtainium? On my budget they're the same thing, although I've always considered unobtainium to be metallic.

SJX426 

Interesting comments. I think it shows both how challenging it was to name new functional parts and how poorly we apply terms!

I am bothered by the term bottom bracket as well. I have understand how the term could be used to identify the BB shell as it does act as a bracket not only for the tubes of the frame but he bearing assembly for the cranks. We use the term head set so why don't we say crank set or BB set. Was that the way it use to be phrased but we got lazy? While I am down there, I don't' really see any yarn coming from the spindle. It is an axle after all. There is not real difference in the naming of an axle that is dependent on it being fixed or not. In either case it is dependent on your frame of reference.

I suppose the pedal "spindle" term was used for two possible reasons. First the cage or body of the pedal is like a spool of thread on a spindle. The second is the thought that spin is part of the spelling of spindle, which is what feet do around the pedal and crank.

I am with Sheldon on the saddle vs seat definition. Fixed my reference word on that one. I may start calling the seat post the saddle post just to cause people to listen and think.

Never really used the term gooseneck for the stem, but how did we get stem?

The only time I refer to hand bars is in the plural.

You guys got me using Wikipedia! - "A cog engages with another cog and motion in one will result in motion of the other. Gearwheels that engage with chains are sprockets, not cogs!" When I was young I always called them sprockets. It is only lately that I yielded to peer pressure and called them cogs! Shame on me! Front sprockets and rear sprockets.

OK, ok, ok I am totally confused now about spindles and BB. I can see that the bottom bracket holds the crankset in place so in a way it is a bracket that is made up of bearings and a spindle! Oh yeah, the crank set is not the bearing assemble but the crank assembly with the chain rings, sprockets, chain wheels, what ever!

I'm out!