Rwc5830

Hello everyone,

I've been on BF since May of this year and mainly read/post to the fifty+ forum. What I was wondering is there any central forum or sticky for acronyms that are often used in messages?

I often see ones like this:

BF - Bikeforums
OP - Original Poster (creator of a thread)
HTFU - OK I looked that one up
The 41 - I think it refers to the road cycling forum?
YMMV - Looked up also
FRED - ??
CF - carbon fiber
Ti - titanium

and I see many more.

So has anyone compiled a semi-complete list? I'm an engineer by trade so can spit out technical acronyms with the best of me but I think some posters assume everyone understands.

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a contest to see what the longest comprehensive post could be with the use of acronyms?

What does everyone think? I can imagine some of the replies I'll get to this thread; so be kind And don't tell me to HTFU I'm working on it....

Thanks,
Richard

caloso

A Fred is a rider who doesn't care about cycling fashion sense and usually rides for utility and transportation.

umazuki

Alternatively, a Fred is someone who purchases a bicycle and kit far outstripping his/her ability.

bigbadwullf

Still don't know what "the 41" is. DIC?

cplager

The road forum is forum number 41 (each forum has a number). For whatever reason, they are the only forum that uses that number for identification purposes.

bigbadwullf

And it's the 28th one down the forum list....go figure

LarDasse74

I always thought a Fred was someone who sets himself up to look like a performance cylist but gets it totally and hilariously wrong - like wearing a complete European pro team outfit along with a black pleather fanny pack, a $9.99 X-mart helmet, and a $79.99 full suspension bike with underinflated tires. Or wearing spandex shorts, a backwards painters cap, and carrying a pack of cigarettes under the sleeve of the too-tight T-shirt while riding a carbon road bike with a kickstand.

Many utility and commuter cyclists, however, seem to have claimed the title 'Fred' as a badge of honour - they ride all the time for many reasons and intentionally try not to look like performance cyclists.

caloso

I posted the older, and I think correct, version. The second version is a misunderstanding of the term.

bigbadwullf

Fred and Hacker(golf) are one in the same...

Rwc5830

After seeing the replies...I kinda feel like a FRED. I did look it up after the replies and did find some history on it; and there are contradictory definitions. Seems like I have been a FRED with both definitions in my year and a half of riding. I can only imagine what some of more experience bike riding friends say about me

At least I have learned some things today!

caloso

I have noticed that as you go up the Roadie food chain, you see more and more Fredistic tendencies: frame pumps, fenders, saddles with the leather totally rubbed off in spots, mismatched kits, real food...

dramiscram

HTFU means Hello To Forum Users, isn't it?

LarDasse74

LBS - 'Local Bike Shop'
JRA - 'Just Riding Along' - the standard description of what was taking place before a bicycle suffers major damage, always spoken to an employee of a LBS or manufacturer by a customer trying to get warranty coverage for a bicycle that was obviously crashed into a tree or run over by a bus
PITA - Pain In The Ass (not bicycle specific)
HT - 'Hard Tail' - a bicycle with front suspension and a rigid main frame
FS - 'Full suspension' or (less commonly) 'Front Suspension'
CX - Cyclocross - a type of cross-terrain race using road bikes with slightly wider tires, races often include unrideable sections where dismounting, shouldering the bike and running, and re-mounting are important skills for staying competitive. Bikes used for cyclocross are often called 'CX bikes'
XC - Cross country - off-road cycling either on a loop, or a point-to-point trail with climbs, descents, and flat sections
DH - Downhill cycling - races and rides that start on top of a hill or mountain and end at the bottom. Often practiced at alpine ski resorts where cyclists reach the top of the hill in a chairlift
BB - 'Bottom Bracket' - the bearing system on which the crank arms rotate. Also 'ball bearing' (non bicycle specific).
BD - 'Bikes Direct' - online seller of discount bikes
HR - 'Heart Rate', also HRM - 'Heart Rate Monitor', terms used when discussing training
BSO - 'Bike Shaped Object' - the ultra cheap bicycles sold at box stores, often sold unassembled or poorly assembled, which leads to mechanical breakdowns and to a reputation of extremely low quality and fragility

A few others that don't get used as often on BF:

IMBA - International Mountain Bike Association - advocacy and educational group for increasing access to off road trails for cycling
MBA - 'Mountain Bike Action' - an advertising-heavy cycling magazine where any product who's manufacturer buys enough ad space will get a good review (Also known as 'Mountain Bike Advertising')
PB - 'Personal Best' or (non cycling specific) 'Peanut Butter' Ex. "If you want to acheive your PB, eat a high protein meal including lots of PB."

caloso

FTP: functional threshold power

LesterOfPuppets

DFL = dead freaking last

DNF, OTB, JAM, NTTATWWT

LarDasse74

It would be helpful to include definitions with them.

LesterOfPuppets

I only did the first one to get past the ALL CAPS censor Wasn't in the mood for typing earlier.

Did Not Finish
Off The Back (sometimes Over The Bars, watch the context)
JackAss Motorist
Not that there's anything wrong with that.

umazuki

Some more acronyms and jargon:

MUP: Multi-use path. Paths intended for bicycles, pedestrians, runners, rollerbladers, possibly equestrians.

muppet: someone misusing a multi-use path. Can be be used by snobbish road cyclists referring to all cyclists who use MUPs instead of the roads, or to refer someone simply being inconsiderate (wearing headphones, talking on the phone, weaving in and out of the lane(s), riding/walking on the wrong side of the path)

salmon: someone who travels against the flow of traffic (in the US, on the left side of the road). While you may have been taught to ride against traffic, and you should travel against traffic while on foot, it is not very wise to do so on a bike.

fear from the rear: the feeling that you're going to be rear ended if you travel with traffic, leading to salmoning. The fear will go away with experience.

endo: going over the front bars

As for the definition of Fred: That's the wonderful thing about the English language- words can have multiple definitions, depending on context!

Machka 

url

Machka 

Here's a thread started last year on this very topic ...

Cycling Terminology ... especially for the plethora of newbies

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ora-of-newbies

LesterOfPuppets

Is that URL + question mark? As in URL for "the list" ?
If so, then https://www.bikeforums.net/forum.php

Machka 

No, that's the address of each subforum. Look at the url.

General Cycling is 7
Long Distance is 231
Road is 41

See ... https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...ing-Discussion


(You know all this ... you've been around long enough.)

LesterOfPuppets

Yes, I knew that. I'd just guessed that you were wondering where the other poster was getting the "28th down on the list" bit from...

Rwc5830

Everyone, thanks for the replies, the links to previous threads and the info. So my next question is why is there not an official sticky for this that someone keeps up to date?

Just wondering, maybe there is one out there, but I know other newbies would appreciate it.

Richard

bigbadwullf

The 7