Why are tubular tires the ones with out the tubes? And the ones with the tubes are not called tubulars, they are clinchers.

That and the "clips less" pedals that you clip in were the hardest things for me to figure out when I started getting into biking. I thought clipless was just another word for platforms!

Head Tube

Mate, I am sure you are intelligent enough to realize I said "Feral" bmx riders, which implies that NOT EVERY bmx rider is FERAL, I could have also said, "Feral roadies, or MTBers, or track riders, tourers, TTers, bents, folders, penny farthing, cyclo-cross etc...get the point? ;)

And by the way, I stand in awe at the skills of bmx riders.....absolutely outstanding.
So don't become what you think I am.....ignorant,
I'm sorry if you misunderstood me.

Takes too much time on some of the tires. Usually the ones with way too many tits (i.e. cheap chinese POS tires you put on your ****bike (a ****bike is a lower category of bikes, than beaters - it's the kind of bike you WISH was stolen).

I've seen the rear triangle referred to as the "rear fork", so maybe there are two on a bike.

Good one. "Hoopular tires" wouldn't really fly, now would it?

Tire beads look nothing like a bead at all.

Why are trick bikes called BMX? They have nothing to do with Bicycle motocross.

Why is a wheelie called a manual when done on a "BMX"? Neither term describes a front wheel lift very well, and how else would you perform one other than manually?

I wondered why certain components were called "campy"...so I looked up the definition:

Nah, it's a 'rear triangle' (although there are actually two, but that's another rant). There's no such thing as a 'rear fork'.

This one makes sense to me. Tubular tires perform the function of tubes, thus they are tubular. Clinchers are clinchers because that's how they mount.

I've never said the word "brifters" and don't intend to.
The clipless situation is a linguistic mess.

"Clincher" is a good example of why bicycling terminology is so confusing. The term originally referred to a tire with a thick rubber edge (and no wire bead) that "clinched" into a hooked edge on the rim (a much more pronounced hook than what you see on today's rims). Tires with a wire bead are more properly called "wire-on". As real clinchers became obsolete, use of the word "clincher" migrated to all non-"tubular" tires. Nobody but the purists make the distinction between clinchers and wire-ons anymore.

Not quite on target! Tubular tires, except for some (all?) Tufos, have tubes sewn inside them.

Road Fan

That's scandalous!

this subtlety is lost on me the way you write it - can you write the two pronunciations in a more standard notation, or at least explain the difference?

It the US we sound the first "i" as a long i as in "tie," the "y" as a short i as it "sick," and the last syllable is a swallowed vowel I think is called a "schwa."

Road Fan

Some bikes have rear forks, old Moultons for one.
http://www.answers.com/topic/moulton-bicycle for a picture

The proper pronunciation of bicycle has a ī (long i) sound in the second syllable.

jeeesuuuus H chriiiissssst! GO RIDE YOUR BICYCLES!

And on that note, here endeth this thread. :rolleyes:

Why do you use a 9-speed chain on a 27-speed bike? Shouldn't it be a 27-speed chain?

(Did anyone else see A Scanner Darkly? " Bicycle Clip)

Great marketing idea. The chain companies could sell the same chain as an "18 speed" chain and a "27 speed" chain and charge a 50% premium for the "27 speed" version because it supports the extra speeds!

At the bike shop where I work, we sell a couple of models designated as "0-speed"! They're really 1-speed, of course, but someone didn't quite think it through... :D

dumbest term ever and most ingenious modern cycling innovation at the same time......but yeah, they are SHIFters....

No, they're brifters, since they're both brakes and shifters. Nothing wrong at all with that term - it's in fact one of the most clever I've seen.

This is a SHIFTer lever:
http://frontofthepack.com/catalog/im...da10_shift.jpg

This is a BRAKE lever:
http://www.bmxultra.com/reviews/pict...ektrotalon.jpg

This is a BRIFTER:
http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/37...rge/LD0610.jpg

Quite simple, really!

Chainstay.

Never understood why we call it that. The chain stays off to the side of the bike. Not part of the rear triangle.

They are a result of the manufacturing process and are actually a good thing.

If you want to get rid of them, ride your bike.

I thought scandium was just an element the Russians starting adding to aluminium in fighters? Isn't it just another alloy? What does 100% Scandium mean?