The linguistics used in cycling are eurocentric. The introduction to cycling for most of us came by way of a "10 speed" european race bike. Made in England, France or Italy, these were the major bicycle manufacturing countries before the shift to asia. Terminology therefore originated from these countries. And since England and the U.S. share a common language the words we use discussing cycling are often derived from UK english. Seat/saddle, tires/tyres, sew-ups/ tubulars, racing wheels/sprints, jersey/jumper.
Terms from france ..Criterium, derailleur, echelon, peloton, souplesse, groupon garanti.
I used Super Champion Arc en ciel rims in my racing days. It was years later that I found out it meant... arch in sky...rainbow. As in world champion colors. And a sticker on the rim was a rainbow and I never realised the tanslation...duh
One of the odd ones that I find interesting is the french rapiere/rapier chainstay taper. Somewhere in translation it became rapid taper chainstays.
And as far as Itslian all you need to know is Campagnolo.
Last edited by big chainring; 11-19-23 at 07:55 AM.