So I go into 3 or 4 bike shops today, looking for some new wheels. I was looking for a set of Mavic wheels, wanted to see and feel the different range of products they have. I go to the counter in bike shop #2, and say "What MAA-vick wheels do you have?" and one of the employees on the other side of the shop says "MAA-vee?" I'm like, wtf? And then I tried to say Ksyrium and said "Kai-seerium" like a jackass and I got looked at funny. Help a brother out: how the hell do you say these words? And are there any others people can think of? For example, I've heard "Bee-on-chee" and "Bee-on-key." Once again, wtf?

*Footnote: being a red-blooded American, I'm not down with the whole "consonants you don't actually pronounce." Silent "e"s, "gh" and "ph" combos aside, American English is pretty straight-forward.

Well I would think "Bianchi" would be pronounced similarly to "Bee-on-key" like in "chianti." As for Mavic, I've always said something like "MAA-vick" or just "Ma-vik." They should know what you're talking about and I do speak French, and am a loss for words w/ "-ic" that are pronounced "-vee." Maybe it was like "MAA-veek" like in "electronique." Just my 2 cents.

Maybe he's French. Give him the middle finger and go someplace else.

Most people say Ksyrium with a silent K. Seer-ee-um.

You could always write what you're interested in on a scrap of paper and just say "I'm looking for this" as you hand the paper to the employee. They'll probably pronounce whatever it is properly as they look at the paper then you can say it however they say it.

https://www.mappel.de/sound/

...Or just use sign language. They're no accents in sign language, right?

Here's a great Italian bike names mp3. "Bianchi, Bottecchia, Campagnolo, ..."

I'm sure the bike store hear all kinds of pronunciations. If you've only seen the name in print, how would you be sure how to say it?

Edit-- iab got there first.

I just wanted to see if there were any other bike-related words that people assume are said one way but are said ways you would never think of, like "Ma-veee." I seriously thought I would have an easier time buying wheels by being in a bike shop and looking and feeling the wheels, but unless you know what you're looking for OR have an experienced salesperson in front of you, it's pretty difficult. You have to know what you're looking for: only one out of 4 of the shops I went to had their wheel selection out on the shop floor, while the others had it in the back work area. And one of those (sun and ski sport in Champions, here in Houston) only had one guy working the bike area, who, in his one words, "didn't really know anything because he only worked on the bikes and did BMX."

Another word: Pannier. I've always said it as PAN-yay. But according to Sheldon Brown, it's pronounced PAN-yur. Opinions?

Thanks for the link.

That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about, airosen! Let's hash this stuff out before someone (aka ME) makes a fool of himself again.

Sidi - is it like "city" but with a "d" instead of a "t"?
Giro - I'm not Italian... is this like a gyroscope, a hero sandwich, or more in between the two, like a Greek gyro pita-bread sandwich? or is it "gear-o?"

I realize, these questions make me look like an idiot. But I only ask them because there may be others out there who are afraid to ask them.

SRAM - is it "Ess-Ram?"

See now THIS is a useful thread. I don't know about SRAM, but I've always said "ESS-ram"

Check the mountain forum, there was a thread there exactly like this not too long ago. And it is just plain sram. As in scram, without the "c".

What about Jamis? Since I own one, I should probably try to get it 'right'. Is it Jay-mis, or Ja-mis? (long 'A' or short 'A'?)

How do you pronounce 'Specialized?'

Specialized? Just like it's spelled. But the z is silent.

BMC is pretty simple

Bavarian Motor Coaches? Bavarian Motor Carrots? Bavarian Motor Charlotte, NC?

Eww.... I pronounce (and all other mtbers in the North Shore) it "sch"ram, as the "sch" in schwinn, I have heard sss-ram, but not too common. People who say "Ess-ram" are corrected to say "sch-ram", but not that it matters. Pronounce it how you feel like it.

Got this from the mountain thread I mentioned above, and Pete, and the SRAM FAQs:

Q.What does SRAM mean?

A.SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly translated into languages other than English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM. Just SRAM.

I heard Sidi pronounced like "seedy" by the owner of an LBS I frequent. I had always pronounced it like "cidy" (as in city).

Anyone care to chime in on Sidi?

Being the American that I am, I butcher many foreign words. Especially french and italian.

I have no shame in my ignorance and asked wrenches, sales persons, other cyclists, etc how to prononuce words like Mavic, ksyrium, chamois, etc
Heck, I trash my native language.

On this year's TDF, the announcer pronounced it "Ess" - "RAM"... Whatever works I guess.

I pronounce Mavic however my customer does !