I think the use of Hydraulics on bicycle is a great thing.

I am just confused to why people shorten it to 'Hydro'. The o makes it pertain to water?

why not just shorten hydraulics to 'HYDR' ?

Enlighten me.

Hydraulics makes the use of oils, which is a fluid, much like water...but then again, I haven't really given it much thought. A bit pedantic, if I were being perfectly honest.

So, I became curious and looked it up:
" The word "hydraulics" originates from the Greek word ὑδραυλικός (hydraulikos) which in turn originates from ὕδωρ (hydor, Greek for water) and αὐλός (aulos, meaning pipe)."
According to this definition, the abbreviation is appropriate.

Some of my tech school training was in classes titled Fluid Power (x), which pertained to hydraulics and pneumatics. We were told early hydraulic "fluid" was simply water.

Edit to add:
Makes me think of the words hydroforming and hydrant. The former uses hydraulic fluid and the latter is usually a water tap of some sort. Which flips the o and a usage.

Hydr is unpronounceable, so there's that. While hydrau might be more logical, it looks and sounds funny. Hydra will set off all the Marvel fans.

Hydra definitely makes the most sense. I mean, after all, you are flaunting your superiority with these "hydraulics" you speak of.

The short answer is that they're lazy. That's what short-hand is for, to save effort and time. I've never seen "hydro" to refer to hydraulics outside of bicycle related forums. People never saw the need to short-hand before but in other applications it's usually not taken as an option but rather a given. I'll also have to politely disagree about hydraulics on bicycles and I'm not the only one.

Sounds like the weather must be too bad to be out riding instead.

You're right.

As soon as I finish getting everybody to stop using the word "alloy" as a synonym for "aluminum" I'll take up "hydro".

juice brakes. nawrly!

That's unfortunately not confined to the cycling world. The maddening part of it is that the alternative, steel, is itself an alloy.

on Deadliest Catch they use hydraulics and call them the hydros

It’s a cry for attention.

it makes riders feel more manly and the tech seem hardcore.....kinda like someone referring to their bike collection as bikes in the stable...lame

A 6061 (etc) bike frame (or bike part) is an alloy though. To be precise it is a "6061 aluminum alloy". Thus calling it alloy, or aluminum, or alloy aluminum, or 6061 aluminum, or a 6061 alloy are all correct. You don't want a pure aluminum bike frame!


the following information came from dictionary and Wikipedia. Also having worked in the industry producing 6061, 6063, 6063A, A383 etc, alloy is the correct term. Fe, Si, Cu, Mn, Mg, Cr, Zn etc.... are all parts of aluminum alloys. We mostly produced 383 for 2 huge manufactures for dye cast alloy parts.

Alloy =
al·loynounnoun: alloy; plural noun: alloys/ˈaˌloi/

1. a metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion."an alloy of nickel, bronze, and zinc"

verbverb: alloy; 3rd person present: alloys; past tense: alloyed; past participle: alloyed; gerund or present participle: alloying/ˈaˌloi,əˈloi/

1. mix (metals) to make an alloy."alloying tin with copper to make bronze"
   
   ________________________________________________________________________________
   
   The International Alloy Designation System is the most widely accepted naming scheme for wrought alloys. Each alloy is given a four-digit number, where the first digit indicates the major alloying elements, the second — if different from 0 — indicates a variation of the alloy, and the third and fourth digits identify the specific alloy in the series. For example, in alloy 3105, the number 3 indicates the alloy is in the manganese series, 1 indicates the first modification of alloy 3005, and finally 05 identifies it in the 3000 series.[7]
   
   1000 series are essentially pure aluminium with a minimum 99% aluminium content by weight and can be work hardened. 2000 series are alloyed with copper, can be precipitation hardened to strengths comparable to steel. Formerly referred to as duralumin, they were once the most common aerospace alloys, but were susceptible to stress corrosion cracking and are increasingly replaced by 7000 series in new designs. 3000 series are alloyed with manganese, and can be work hardened. 4000 series are alloyed with silicon. Variations of aluminium-silicon alloys intended for casting (and therefore not included in 4000 series) are also known as silumin. 5000 series are alloyed with magnesium, and offer superb corrosion resistance, making them suitable for marine applications. Also, 5083 alloy has the highest strength of not heat-treated alloys. Most 5000 series alloys include manganese as well. 6000 series are alloyed with magnesium and silicon. They are easy to machine, are weldable, and can be precipitation hardened, but not to the high strengths that 2000 and 7000 can reach. 6061 alloy is one of the most commonly used general-purpose aluminium alloys. 7000 series are alloyed with zinc, and can be precipitation hardened to the highest strengths of any aluminium alloy (ultimate tensile strength up to 700 MPa for the 7068 alloy). Most 7000 series alloys include magnesium and copper as well. 8000 series are alloyed with other elements which are not covered by other series. Aluminium-lithium alloys are an example.
   
   ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________

Hydr is two syllables. It reminds me of those ridiculously named Chinese cycling gear companies such as Bpbtti. How do you even pronounce that?

So, you’re confused because referring to hydraulic brakes as ‘Hydro’ might give people the impression that they’re full of water instead of oil?

In the very limited scope of a bicycle forum, when discussing brake systems, I think most people would recognize Hydro as referring to hydraulic as opposed to mechanical brakes. Is there another kind of bike brakes? Air (pneumatic) maybe?
Also, since it is a text based environment in here, “Hydro” is fewer character inputs, and less likely to trip up your autocorrect.

Or do you just want to argue?


BTW I work on hydraulic systems. Big, complex ones, in really extreme environments. No one calls them “Hydros”

We also don’t run them exclusively on oil-based fluids, we use propylene glycol for some applications, and if we need a whole lot of volume, we have the ability to pump seawater. (But not unless we really really need to)

Almost all aluminium-based metals on bikes are actually alloys, not just aluminium (it's too soft).

Yes, but steel is also an alloy (most basic steel is iron + carbon, other metals are added to achieve desired characteristics; for example, CroMo steel has chromium and molibdenum in the mix as the name suggests) , and all titanium frames ar also made from titanium alloys (typically aluminum and vanadium).

So all metal-based bike parts are actually alloys. Pure metals are mostly too soft or too brittle.

If you hate alloys, knock yourself out.

Some of it still is. Think of really, really big stuff like bridges. I'm fairly certain that Tower Bridge in London uses water to lift the road section.

So is titanium, for that matter. In fact I imagine very few of the metals we use in the real world are actually pure. Even your gold wedding ring is alloyed since pure gold is very soft.

As others have pointed out, it's mostly the way it sounds. But, if you really want to get technical about it, hydraulics...the study of fluids in closed systems...is just a subset of hydrodynamics which is the study of fluids. I'm certain that no one thought about it that way but there is that justification.

While water is a fluid so is just about everything else that "flows". "Air" or gases are fluids. It's all under the umbrella of hydrodynamics.

Isn't English a wonderfully goofy and confusing language? Or I should say isn't American English a wonderfully goofy and confusing language?


Sorry but you'll have to get in line. We have to convince people that salt isn't "just" sodium chloride, that "chemical" is a bad word (hint: everything is a "chemical"), that we call them "derailers" instead of the snooty and completely wrong "French" derailleur, that a tire is not a wheel and a wheel isn't a tire, and that a "saddle" isn't a "seat".

Frankly, people should say "alloy" instead of "aluminum". It's not pure aluminum. They should preface it with "aluminum" but it's not wrong to call it an alloy.

Because "hydro" rolls of the tongue better than other options for a pronounceable abbreviation of "hydraulic."

The reason to use "o" versus "au" mostly arises from what follows the vowel. We don't use "hydro" for "hydroelectric" and "hydrau" for "hydraulic" because one pertains to water and the other doesn't, we do it because "hydrauelectric" and "hydrolic" feel icky to read or speak in English.