Doohickie

That's the style I referred to upthread as what I thought of as a "mag wheel" when I was a kid.

Walfredo

Me too in my stuffiest brithish accent of course with my chin protruded as far as possible.

noglider 

Most complete and plausible answer. I thought it was just a dumb folklore bit, but now I see it has its reasons.

Road Fan

I started haunting bike shops late 1967, and I know I heard it back then.

Road Fan

Good point!

Mr IGH

what are track ends and what do they have to do with track dropouts?

https://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-...DROP-REAR.html

OLDYELLR

Okay, that really has nothing to do with the present topic, other than people describing something somewhat incorrectly. "Dropouts" implies fork ends that open somewhat downwards so that the wheel will drop out when loosened. So, strictly speaking track ends should not be called dropouts.

What irks me is people calling dropouts "drops". That should be reserved for the lower ends of drop handlebars.

Mr IGH

What's a spanner and what does it have to do with a wrench?

noglider 

Spanner is the British word for wrench.

That's why it bugs me when I hear Americans say "spanner wrench"!

FlatTop

But Tom, a "spanner wrench" is a real and rather specific tool. You've seen those bungs etc. with equidistant round holes in them? The spanner has pins to engage those holes to tighten or loosen the whatsis.

clasher

6061 and 7005 aluminum are actually alloys, they contain small amounts of magnesium and silicon for 6061 and zinc in 7005 (I think). But steel is also an alloy so it's kind of a silly distinction to make. I agree it was mostly done for shorter marketing slogans. Stainless is also an alloy so you can tell people you have an entirely alloy wheel, unless it's all carbon.

Mr IGH

All carbon is pencil lead, you're thinking of a composite matrix (epoxy and carbon fiber). What is a graphite fibre and how is it related to carbon fiber?

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

They use graphite in pencils as well....so ya gotta figure its also a good choice to make a bike with

Mr IGH

I grill meat with carbon, not really proper for a bike.

What is a boot and what does it have to do with a trunk?

noglider 

If you aren't pulling my leg at this point, you ought to read an English-American dictionary. Boot means trunk of a car, in British English. And bonnet means hood. And tappet means valve lifter or something like that.

Mr IGH

What's a lift and what does it have to do with an elevator? Que/line, Telly/TV...alloy/aluminum alloy, twit/pedantic....

BigPolishJimmy

The roads in England must be horrible, I hear people talking about their flats there all the time.

RobbieTunes

And you wouldn't give your wife a fanny pack for her birthday. Nor would you enter a shag contest (common in the U.S. South).

Mr IGH

They think warm ale is the dog's bollocks, I think they like it because that's all there is since the icebox is made by Lucas, Prince of Darkness

bbattle

Back in the late '30's, America decided to change to aluminum. There used to be actual foil made of tin when it would've been way too expensive to use aluminum.

The British also say Hoovering to mean vacuuming just as we say xeroxing to mean copying.

bbattle

It's so horrible, nobody drives on the pavement; people walk on it.

What is even sillier is that we drive on the parkway and park on the driveway.

And why does fat chance mean the same thing as slim chance.

Got to go now; I'm fixing to eat lunch.

bbattle

You left out F-A-G = cigarette.

fas2c

I certainly would think about it though

jimmuller 

No, they drink cool beer because they keep it in the cellar and have Lucas heaters.
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If one needs a spanner but does not have the proper size one can use a Crescent wrench. Unless it is a French bike, in which case one uses a croissant wrench.
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Respectfully yours and the owner of two British cars, ages 30yrs and 40yrs...

clasher

Most pencil lead is graphite, which is a form of carbon. Carbon fiber is also called graphite fiber too. The thin fibers that make up CF are mostly carbon atoms, just like graphite. Diamonds are also carbon atoms arranged in a different way. In the context of cycling, most of the audience would realise that a "carbon" bike/wheel/component was comprised mostly of carbon fiber in an epoxy resin but it become tedious to type that and instead we can just say "carbon frame" and most readers aren't expecting a solid chunk of graphite in the shape of a bike frame. To say otherwise is just silly.

Oh, and your charcoal isn't pure carbon either, briquettes contain all sorts of other things and even good hardwood charcoal has bits of other things in it. But there's no need to be pedantic, language changes and evolves and we are all generally aware of what people are talking about when they mention "alloy rims", which is what matters to most people.