What is the "cockpit"?
 

I've heard this term used a few times in reference to bikes but I don't know the definition in relation to cycling. I get the cockpit of an airplane or a race car, but not sure what it means in the cycling context. Can someone explain? And what parts are and are not within the "cockpit"?

It's a really cheezy bar in Aukland, New Zealand, where bike riders get free drinks, and a lot of attention from people of dubious morals who possibly practice a very ancient profession will pay a lot of attention to your comfort .... wear a helmet, if yo get my meaning.

You will probably get a lot of opinions on this, but I am of the camp that believes that the saddle, seatpost, stem, and handlebar/tape/grips comprise the cockpit of a bicycle. I am on the fence about pedals; some classify them as a drive train component and some put them into the cockpit group.
John

No truer words...

But I consider it more or less the handlebars and anything attached to them.

Handlebar and everything attached. Not the seat or post, or crank or pedals.

Cockpit only relates to cyclists who have way too much electronic crap strapped to their handlebars and their bikes and on themselves.

OK, so as I take your description, it's basically a triangle that extends from the farthest back portion of the seat forward to either and across the hoods. Sound about right?

So according to your definition, what parts of the cyclist fall within the "cockpit"?

False.

I'd say that it's the contact points & associated appurtenances.
John

Hmm…I’ve never understood that the saddle was included. The context I’ve always heard has been handlebars and anything attached.

Alright, fair enough. Maybe to put it a little more precisely, it would be the furthest back point in which the rider's bum hits the seat to the outer most, and forward most, portion of whatever hand rest the bike accommodates. Am I close?

This gives us a little more complex geometry, depending on the configuration. For instance, it would produce a more diamond shape in the case of a TT bike (or road bike on which aero bars have been fitted) where the brake levers are positioned at the outer most of bull horn type bars, but aero bars with shifters protrude notably farther forward. Fair?

What I am gathering, and a definition that makes sense to me, is the points of the bicycle in which any part of the cyclist not directly associated with power production rests. So, I'm leaning towards anything "butt and up". Of course, you could then argue about including the seat when standing up and mashing, but that's not exactly normal cycling position.

Cockpit on a plane is the most common use of the term and refers to where the crew directs where an airplane is headed. Stands to reason using that same term on a bike refers to where the cyclist directs where the bicycle is headed. Handle bar in other words,

The cockpit on an airplane doesn’t just refer to the controls.

It's not a standardized, official, or regulated term, so it can mean whatever you want it to mean.

It can also be referred to as a "box office"
(all inclusive)

The only time I've heard "cockpit" used in a bicycle context is the advice to "protect your cockpit", which means to protect your bars from getting bumped or hooked when riding in close quarters with other riders.

In that context, cockpit = handlebars.

I don't think "cockpit" had been formally defined, but I consider it stem, bars, brake levers, everything clamped onto the stem and grips/bar tape. Like everything in front of a pilot's seat. Yes, the aircraft and race car folk consider the cockpit to be the full enclosure between the firewall behind and the windshield, but hey, we're cyclists and what do they know? :)

I have a bike with two cockpits. All of that including the brake cables and housings. (It's a fix gear so no shift cables.) I can loosen a couple of nuts and swap cockpits in 5 minutes, turning it into an entirely different bike.

Cockpit is a relatively new term in bicycling. I had to travel to an airport or the race track in Limerock, Conn. to find a cockpit in my racing days. (Formula race cars. An uncle of mine used to race them.)

I worked 50 years in theater. The box office was never referred to as the cockpit.

I think of saddle (maybe post) stem, bars, and all the stuff on the bars you interact with.

Not the pedals for whatever reason.

Maybe cockpit is more of an MTB thing? I’ve heard/read people refer to a cockpit feeling roomy or cramped when describing saddle to bar distance, thus the inclusion of the saddle.

But like someone else said, its not a well-defined or ubiquitous term.

It’s not a formal term. I always took it to be a reference to the stem, bars, levers and grips on a mountain bike.

+1 In my day, the vets coached us on how to protect our handlebars. Anytime in riding in company, elbows out and arm muscles firm but not tight. Beside someone? Constantly adjust your speed so that the tops of your handlebars line up. Then, if your bar heights are relatively close, bumps cannot lock your neighbor's bars. (If they are not close and you bars might go over or under that neighbor's, consider this a dangerous place to be and stay on full alert. My coaches would tell me to pick a better neighbor.) Best part of the even handlebars positioning - there will be times when you need to get around an obstacle and the best way is to have that neighbor move and give you the space. Well, with even handlebars, you can lean on that neighbor and he/she will move over every time as long as neither of you panic. We were taught bumping and moving people. And most of our local competition got the same lessons. Made for very safe racing. Thank you, John Allis, guru of Boston racing in the 1970s.

It’s one of those dopey cyclist terms like “brifter” which should be stricken from the lexicon.

It is a term that I abhor when applied to bicycles. It refers to the relationship between the bicycle saddle and handlebars along with their position above the pedals. I hate it. Fighter airplanes have an actual cockpit. It is an enclosed space where the pilot situates themself in order to fly the aircraft. Using this term to talk about fitting a bicycle to its user seems absurd to me

That's what she said.