bell

→ Fiji Hindi: belo

→ Japanese: ベル (beru)

→ Korean: 벨 (bel)

From Middle English belle, from Old English belle (“bell”), from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ. Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel, Dutch bel, Low German Belle, Bel, Danish bjelde, Swedish bjällra, Norwegian bjelle, Icelandic bjalla.

(nautical) Any of a series of strokes on a bell (or similar), struck every half hour to indicate the time (within a four hour watch)

glas

nautical: any of a series of strokes struck to indicate time


fork

Sranan Tongo: forku

→ Dutch: fork

→ Japanese: フォーク (fōku)

→ Kannada: ಫೋರ್ಕ್ (phōrk)

→ Korean: 포크 (pokeu)

→ Maori: paoka

→ Tamil: போர்க் (pōrk)

→ Telugu: ఫోర్క్ (phōrk)

From Middle English forke (“digging fork”), from Old English force, forca (“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *furkō (“fork”), from Latin furca (“pitchfork, forked stake; gallows, beam, stake, support post, yoke”), of uncertain origin. The Middle English word was later reinforced by Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French forque (= Old French forche whence French fourche), also from the Latin. Cognate also with North Frisian forck (“fork”), Dutch vork (“fork”), Danish fork (“fork”), German Forke (“pitchfork”). Displaced native gafol, ġeafel, ġeafle (“fork”), from Old English.
In its primary sense of “fork”, Latin furca appears to be derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)-, *ǵʰerg(ʷ)- (“fork”), although the development of the -c- is difficult to explain. In other senses this derivation is unlikely. For these, perhaps it is connected to Proto-Germanic *furkaz, *firkalaz (“stake, stick, pole, post”), from Proto-Indo-European *perg- (“pole, post”). If so, this would relate the word to Old English forclas pl (“bolt”), Old Saxon ferkal (“lock, bolt, bar”), Old Norse forkr (“pole, staff, stick”), Norwegian fork (“stick, bat”), Swedish fork (“pole”).

tienhaara

figurative: point in time of making a decision

afsplitsing

computer science: splitting of a process

odnož

computer science: copying and separately developing a project

bifurcació

computer science: a separately developed project based upon a copy of an existing project

a three-prong spear somewhat resembling a pitchfork

The fork can be equipped with a suspension on mountain bikes.

(cycling, motorcycling, by abstraction from a pronged tool's shape) In a bicycle or motorcycle, the portion of the frameset holding the front wheel, allowing the rider to steer and balance, also called front fork.


rack

From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekken.

Do I have to do this now? Like, I really need to get some rack.

2009 December 18, 1:00:07 from the start, in Avatar, spoken by Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), 20th Century Fox:

(nautical, by extension, slang, uncountable) Sleep.


gyro

/ˈd͡ʒaɪ.ɹəʊ/

/ˈd͡ʒaɪ.ɹoʊ/


chainring

/ˈt͡ʃeɪnɹɪŋ/

Holonym: crankset

The large forward ring on a bicycle that a chain attaches to, in order to transfer energy to a wheel. It consists of one or more sprockets that are driven by the cranks and pedals of the bicycle.


derailleur

/ˌdəˈɹeɪ.lɚ/

Borrowed from French dérailleur. Doublet of derailer.

The common rear derailleur designs all operate on the same principle. A moveable cage receives the chain returning from the chainwheel and directs it onto one sprocket of the cluster.

1993, John Forester, “Adjusting Derailleurs”, in Effective Cycling, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 14:

The mechanism on a bicycle used to move the chain from one sprocket (gear) to another.


pedal

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pedal (noun, verb).wav

Borrowed from French pédale, Latin pedāl(is). By surface analysis, ped- + -al.

A small organ commonly has only one or two ranks on the pedal.

(music) The ranks of pipes played from the pedal-board of an organ.


cassette

(cycling) A set of sprockets mounted onto a splined shaft on the freehub.


saddle

→ Japanese: サドル (sadoru)

Homer Tunnel
Milford Sound
Oxford English Dictionary

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”.
cognates
* Danish sadel
* Dutch zadel
* German Sattel
* Icelandic söðull
* Low German Sadel
* Russian седло́ (sedló)
* Saterland Frisian Soadel
* Scots sadil
* Swedish sadel
* West Frisian seal

saal

seat for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal

satula

something resembling a saddle in appearance or shape

satula

depression located along the axial trend of an anticline

Something resembling a saddle (sense 1) in appearance or shape.

(nautical) A block of wood with concave depressions at the top and bottom, usually fastened to one spar and shaped to receive the end of another.


sprocket

Unknown. First attested in the 16th century.

Suppose we have a widget factory that produces 100 widgets per year, and a sprocket factory that produces 200 sprockets per year.

A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product.


mech

en-noun

mech (countable and uncountable, plural mechs)

front/rear mech

To fit a braze-on front mech without breaking the chain, remove the nut and bolt from the chain cage, as shown.

2011, Fred Milson, Complete Bike Maintenance, MVP Books, →ISBN, page 88:

Campagnolo made one more giant step forward when the company developed the first parallelogram rear mechanism—the Gran Sport—in 1951. Its parallelogram action and double jockey wheels are how all rear mechanisms (or rear mechs for short) operate today.

2015, Chris Boardman, The Biography of the Modern Bike: The Ultimate History of Bike Design, Hachette, →ISBN, page 54:

(cycling) Clipping of (derailleur) mechanism.


handlebar

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-handlebar.wav

(chiefly in the plural) The bar used to steer a bicycle, motorbike, or similar vehicle using the hands.


headset

(cycling) On a bicycle, the system of bearings that connects the fork to the frame.

balhoofd

on a bicycle, the system of bearings that connects the fork to the frame


banana seat

An elongated seat, on a lowrider bicycle, that curves upward at the rear.


brake shoe

(cycling) A brake lining unit in a coaster brake on a bike.


chaincase

A guard which fits around the chain of a bicycle to protect it from dirt and other environmental hazards, and to protect operators from dirt and danger of trapping.


drivetrain

If you wait until later, your drivetrain is liable to misshift under the hard pedaling load.

1990, Joe Kita, Bicycling Magazine's New Bike Owner's Guide, page 28:

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering) The mechanical parts of the powertrain, the gears and shafts, that connect the engine to the wheels in a vehicle.


derailer

From derail + -er. Doublet of derailleur.

Very few bicycles are of a different color or employ more gears with derailer sprockets and hand brakes.

2009, Louis G. Perez, “Society in the Twenty-First Century”, in The History of Japan (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations), 2nd edition, Westport, Conn., London: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 202:

Through sheer ingenuity and resourcefulness, these men handproduced parts such as derailers, stands, seat posts, cranks, fenders, and all manner of elements used in the production of a functional bicycle.

2009, Christine Elliott, David Jablonka, “Cycles Alex Singer”, in Custom Bicycles: A Passionate Pursuit, Images Publishing, →ISBN, page 72, column 2:

Inside, two bearded men are working on a busted fuel pump, and another is repairing a bicycle derailer.

2016, Erik Reece, Utopia Drive: A Road Trip Through America’s Most Radical Idea, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 170:

Recent American attempts to further Anglicize the word to “derailer” have met with little success. In any case, no rails are involved.

[2016, Tony Hadland, Hans-Erhard Lessing, Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 246:

(cycling, uncommon) Alternative form of derailleur.


down tube

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-down tube.wav

(cycling) A tube in the bicycle frame that connects the bottom bracket shell to the head tube.


chain guard

A compartment that encloses the chain and sprocket assemblies of a bicycle


URT

URT (countable and uncountable, plural URTs)

unified rear triangle
unified rear triangle#English

(cycling) Initialism of unified rear triangle.


crankset

Holonym: drivetrain

Meronyms: sprocket, chainring, crank

Coordinate term: bottom bracket

Crucial to the crankset is the bottom bracket. Of all the bearings on a bike, the bottom bracket is the one that has to bear the heaviest load. Not only does the bottom bracket have to spin while you pedal, but it takes the force of all the twisting and turning that occurs during pedaling.

2009, Dennis Bailey, Keith Gates, Bike Repair and Maintenance For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

Their owners lounge at the outdoor tables, kibitzing about cranksets, aero bars, local races or, when they can help it, anything other than cycling.

2012 August 9, Liz Robbins, “Where Cyclists Fuel Up on Carbs”, in The New York Times:

The component of a bicycle drivetrain that converts the reciprocating motion of the rider's legs into rotational motion used to drive the chain, which in turn drives the rear wheel.


headtube

The front tube of the frame of a bicycle.


chainstay

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chainstay.wav

(cycling) Alternative spelling of chain stay.


groupset

The debate about the pros and cons of the groupset has simmered among cyclists since. The argument in favour is that components are manufactured to work efficiently together, while providing a unitary look to a bicycle.

2011, Robert Penn, It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 104:

The makeup of the groupset is another important factor in building a road bike. Groupset is a term for most of the other bits that make up your bicycle—the brakes, shifters, dérailleurs, rear cassette, bottom bracket, chain, cranks and possibly the headset, seatpost and hubs. These components are all lumped together because bicycle manufacturers buy them as a group from one supplier to ease their process of building your bike.

2013, Gavin Wright, Ben Williams, Cycling For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

(cycling) A complete set of matching bicycle drive control components, including brake calipers, cranks, chainrings, bottom bracket, etc.


detangler

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-detangler.wav

(cycling) A device used with a freestyle BMX bicycle to allow the handlebars to turn 360° without tangling of the brake cables.


coaster brake

Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said "anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?"

1973, Bruce Springsteen (lyrics and music), “Spirit in the Night”:

The coaster brake is one of the three types of braking mechanism developed to slow down and stop a bike safely and efficiently. This mechanism quickly gained in popularity in the USA, Germany and the Netherlands in the 1890s and is still used for upright and children's bicycles.

2017, Suze Clemitson, A History of Cycling in 100 Objects, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 54:

A special rear hub for a bicycle that functions as a brake when the user pedals backwards, and which allows the bicycle to roll without forcing the pedals to turn.


toeclip

A clip attached to the front cage of a bicycle pedal, shaped like the toe of a shoe, designed to prevent the cyclist's foot from slipping off the pedal during the forward pedalling motion.


bottom bracket

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bottom bracket.wav

Holonyms: spindle, bearing

(cycling) A bicycle part that connects the crankset (chainset) to the frame and allows the crankset to rotate freely.


groupo

From group + -o, probably adapted from Italian gruppo, name of the first Campagnolo groupsets.

These new groupos advance Campy's battle for market share with Japanese component manufacturers […]

Most roadies go for Shimano or Campagnolo groupos.

2006, Marla Streb, Bicycling Magazine's Century Training Program:

(cycling, colloquial) Synonym of groupset


head tube

(cycling) The part of a tubular bicycle's frame in which the front fork steerer tube is mounted.


cogset

If there's no spline, the cassette is an older design requiring two use spline-interfaces to fit cogsets onto their freehub bodies, they are not compatible.

2010, Todd Downs, The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair:

In a bicycle, the set of multiple sprockets that attaches to the hub on the rear wheel.


brake block

(on a bicycle) One of two small blocks fitted to a brake caliper, which rub on the wheel rim when the brake is applied.


seat post

A metal tube that connects a bicycle saddle, usually by means of a saddle clamp, to a frame.


bike lock

A device, fitted with a lock, that is used to immobilise a bicycle when not in use.


back pedal brake

back pedal brake (plural back pedal brakes)


seat tube

The near vertical tube of the frame of a bicycle that supports the seat.


chain stay

(cycling) One of the two frame tubes that run horizontally from the bottom bracket shell back to the rear dropouts.


seat stay

Possibly borrowed from sailing jargon where "stay" refers to a rope, wire, or rod which runs fore-and-aft along the centerline of a sailing ship from mast to deck, or to another mast, and serves to stabilize the mast.

The bike was not safe to ride as it had a bend in the seat stay

One of the two bicycle frame tubes running diagonally downward from the top of the seat tube to the rear dropouts.


crank arm

(cycling) One of the two lever components that attach the bottom bracket spindle to a pedal.


unified rear triangle

unified rear triangle (countable and uncountable, plural unified rear triangles)

(cycling) A bicycle rear suspension design where the bottom bracket and rear axle are directly connected at all times.


drop handlebar

(cycling, chiefly in the plural) A type of curved handlebar typically used on racing bicycles.


skirt guard

A device fitted over the rear wheel of a bicycle to prevent loose garments from snagging.