Good luck with that "alloy" thing, guys. People have been using it as shorthand for "aluminum alloy" for at least 50 years, by my reckoning. :)

After that, you can rub out "groupset."

I'll be waiting here to applaud, or "applo."

Fun fact. You need a liquid to run hydraulic brakes. Water might not work as well as mineral oil but it would work.

In the 90s, a friend of mine filled his Magura rim brakes with Windex. No, I don't know why.

They stopped fine. Im not sure how long he left them like that. It certainly isn't ideal but it worked because of the moving of fluids. Fluids are Hydraulic.

Had he filled his brake lines with carrots and a few pages of Steinbeck, the bike wouldn't have stopped. Books and Carrots are not hydraulic.

You sound like a lawyer using meaningless verbiage to obfuscate the simple truth. Why don't you refer to steel framed bicycles as "alloy"? The purpose of an adjective is to describe or limit. Using the word "alloy" in this sense does the opposite.

"Groupset" at least is progress. I cringe when people use the term "Groupo" It's not so bad when they use Italian slang to refer to Campy components.

Because the 'alloy' of iron and carbon is known as "steel", or carbon steel.

when we start adding other elements it becomes known as alloy steel. Which is typically called by name. chromoly, stainless, Reynolds, etc....

Universal language, walk into any American car dealership and ask for car with alloy wheels, and it will be aluminum wheels. (unless they ride bicycles, then who knows what you'll get!! )

which is why I asked about hydraulics being called "Hydro" here. Hydraulic isn't typically referred to as hydro outside of the bicycle consumerism.

Consider also the origin of hydraulic bicycle (disk) brakes; it's an MTB technology; Downhill racing in particular, an adaptation/evolution of motocross/'dirt-bike' tech.
Owing to the MTB origin, there is a 'Dude' factor in the name to refer to them, as opposed to rim brakes, or even mechanical disk brakes.
As in: "Dude, sweet Hydros!"

You just want to argue then.


PS: They don't brake from the drops either.

Two reasons to call aluminum "alloy": first, technically, there is no such thing as an aluminum bike that isn't an alloy, and aluminum alloy is an awful lot of syllables while steel alloy is redundant. Second, "alloy" almost sounds like it's short for aluminum.

Seriously, is anyone actually getting confused by the uses of hydro and alloy?I

I'm much more annoyed by the use of the word "resin" instead of "plastic" . That's a pretty clear marketing euphemism.

Talk about meaningless verbiage.
Language is never changing and fluid(some may say its 'hydro'). As such, terms used to describe an object or idea may be different than what that term has historically meant. Also, a word used in common language may mean something different than that same word used by healthcare professionals or engineers.

Steel means frames made of metal alloy that a magnet sticks to and has been a frame material since the 19th century.

Alloy means frames made of aluminum alloy.


It's really quite simple to understand, and demanding everyone change just because it isnt correct from an engineer's perspective is quite arrogant and annoying. Everyone I know that has an aluminum bike knows it's an aluminum bike. There is no confusion if I refer to their frame as alloy. Also, there is no confusion when I refer to all my frames as steel.
No confusion exists because we all accept the terms being used in a different way than an engineer at work.
It's a simple way to designate one frame material from another.


Keep tilting at those windmills.

I just googles both "resin" and "plastic" I don't think the words are synonyms but I honestly really don't know. The most interesting thing I found is there are 7 different types of plastic of which one is "other".

But the bigger question is-----------why use the complication of hydraulic brakes?

There is a difference between “resin” and ”plastic”. While both are polymeric organic compounds, their properties are generally different. Thermoplastics...which is what most people refer to as “plastic”...are polymers that can be reheated and reformed endlessly. Thermosetting plastics...resins...are polymers that are heated to form them but once formed they can’t be remelted and reformed. Heating them usually causes them to become more densely crosslinked. They also tend to decompose when heated.

Thermoplastics are things like polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, PTFE, etc. Thermosets are things like phenol/formaldehyde resins (Bakelite), many elastomers like rubber, epoxy resins.

what is complicated about them?

I have a set of cheap Tektro hydraulic (hydros apparently) on my 2013 hardtail. I use the bike for year round riding, and for unfavorable conditions. Like when it is 10 below, with bar mitts. muddy, extreme dusty gravel rides, rain, salt, slush,

I have never bled them, the only time I had to mess with them other than changing pads was when I swapped from a 160 to a 180 rotor. because I ride in the winter grime, they get contaminated and I usually swap pads once a year.

So 6 years no adjustments, no malfunctions, they just work.

all it takes to swap pads, is one bolt. it's a 5 min job to do both the front and rear.

Well, technically, your post identifies both as types of plastics, and while common usage would never identify tire rubber as a plastic, I think virtually everyone would call Bakelite a plastic.

The usages of "resins" that have annoyed me in particular have been for pedals and fenders.

Many disciplines have their own variations in terminology.

Rubber and elastomers are certainly plastics. They can be formed and molded. The problem with “common usage” is that it is often wrong. As chemists we differentiate between thermoplastic and thermoset plastic because they have different properties. They seem the same but there are major differences.

I’ve never heard anyone refer to fenders as being made from “resins”. You are correct to say that it is wrong to say that pedals are resinous. All of the plastic pedals I’ve seen are made of thermoplastics, probably polyethylene as are most fenders.

mtb originated in Cali, definitely a "bro" and "dude" factor

https://www.amazon.ca/Material-Unive.../dp/B07XMGYJCJ

https://www.amazon.com/Avenir-67-27-.../dp/B002BVXZ5I

The hydraulic brakes feel really nice but I still like the simplicity of cable brakes and I can fix cable brakes when I’m out in the woods or in the middle of nowhere. Not so easy with hydraulic. I also don’t care much for electronic shifting ether!

Is it February already?

I take it your car has cable brakes?

And "gruppo" for Asian-made parts.

I take it your bike brakes have to stop a 1200 pound vehicle going 40 mph?

Really not a good comparison. My bikes don't have catalytic converters, either.