A Glossary of Cycling Terms

Allen bolt: A fastener with a head that requires an allen key rather than screwdriver. The heads are hexagonal shaped sunken holes. A set of keys (or tools) come in sizes ranging in whole number of millimetrers across the flats of the hexagon (some ½ mm sizes are available). These days nearly the entire bicycle can be assembled and dissasembled with allen keys. As much as one would like to beleive there is no single inventor called Allen that developed this tool. The name comes from the Allen Manufacturing Co. from Hartford Connecticut and was first produced in 1943.

Attack: During a road race or criterium, a group or an individual may partake it upon themselves to upset the peleton and break away. This is called an attack. The rider who does so may not necessarily do it to try and win but perhaps just spoil the group.

Bidon: a water bottle. A can tin or flask. But beware this french word also has other meanings. For example. Ça c'est du bidon ! - That's a load of bull! or J'ai mal au bidon - My belly hurts.

Bonk: Hitting the wall. See glycogen

Bunch: the main cluster of riders in a race. Also called the group, pack, field or peloton.

Crit: Also called criterium. A road race consisting of multiple laps of a short course. The idea being to find the best cyclist (fastest and most fit) wins.

Cadence: The rotational frequency of the cranks. The optimum level a rider tries to achieve is about 1.5 times per second or 90 revs/min. Some bike trip computers have sensors to measure this rate.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A condition in which the little finger and half of the ring finger become numb. The nerve through the junction of the palm and wrist is compressed against the handlebar or grip. There is no need for alarm but this is a condition that riders should be aware of and not to be dismissed. It can become chronic. Immediately experiment with other grips, handlebar position or handlebar style to eliminate the problem. See a sports doctor or your GP if the problem cannot be avoided.

Chase: Small group or individual who leaves the peleton to try and catch the attck group or individual. See attack

Clincher: A term given to more common bicycle tyres. The clincher has a U-shaped cross-section, which with the help of the wheel rim, encloses an inner tube to hold compressed air. Built into the edges of the tire, and invisible unless you cross-section a tyre, are thin steel cables, one on each side, to keep the tire from stretching and blowing off the rim when the tyre is inflated. These are called "beads" or "the bead."

Danseuse: (French: danser - to dance) - riding in a position with the butt off the saddle, either a little or a lot, usually in a gear higher than you would sitting down. A rocking motion from side to side for develops and hence the term "dancing on the pedals".

Dropout: on a bike frame, the slots into which the front and rear wheel axles fit.

DNF: did not finish; a cyclist who abandons a race or for some reason cannot finish.

DNS: did not start. A cyclist who did not make it to the start of his or her registered race.

Echelon: a line of riders seeking maximum drafting in a crosswind, resulting in a diagonal line across the road

Electrolyte: a substance that forms ions in an aqueous solution. In the case of cyclists (and other athletes) electrolytes are meant to be helpful chemicals that quickly absorb into the body to replace those that are rapidly lost in persperation. The chief chemicals being the primary ions of electrolytes are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, hydrogen phosphate, and hydrogen carbonate. Some come from salty substances some come from sugary. It is a good idea to keep up the electrolytes by drinking them in from a prepared water drink especially on long rides.

Embrocation: This word literally means "The act or process of moistening and rubbing a part of the body with a liniment or lotion" or "the liniment or lotion" itself. This cream or process is chiefly used in the area where the greatest force, where the weight of the cyclist is in contact with his or her saddle. Movement and weight in this area is sometimes a cause of pain through increased friction which the application of embrocation can bring relief. There are many creams and ointments available to cyclists through various outlets. For a new cyclist this treatment should not be dismissed.

Ergogenic: any substance or method used by a rider to enhance his or her athletic ability. Not all performance enhancement is legal. There are many substances which are illegal to buy and consume. For more information on banned substances see this web site.

Fixed-gear bike: is a bicycle that cannot coast as it has no freewheel and therefore the pedals are always in motion when the bicycle is moving. The sprocket is screwed directly onto the hub. This allows a cyclist to stop or slow without using a brake (in fact track bikes for use on a velodrome do not have breaks to save on weight). The rider can control the rotation of the cranks to slow the bike and also to ride in reverse if he or she so desired.

Frame set: The frame and forks of a bike. This term is would be often seen in the sale of the same. Cycle enthusiasts often buy the frame alone and purchase the other group sets and wheels seperatley to completely customize their bike.

Ghost Shift: The gears shift spontaneoulsy when riding. This is an indication that something in the drive system is not right eg chain too loose, cables not correctly indexed or cassette worn and needs replacing.

Glycogen: Glycogen is the molecule that functions as a long-term energy storage in our cells. It is made primarily by the liver and the muscles. Glycogen forms an energy reserve that can be quickly mobilized to meet a sudden need for glucose. The amount of glycogen stored in the body, especially within the red blood cells, liver and muscles, mostly depends on physical training, basal metabolic rate and eating habits such as meals between rides. High Performance athletes such as cyclists often go into glycogen debt, where almost all of the athlete's glycogen stores are depleted after long periods of exertion without enough energy consumption. This phenomenon is referred to as "Hitting the wall" or the Bonk. However, it can be delayed by a carbohydrate loading before the task. The upshot of all this information is that a cyclist should keep up his or her glycogen input. There are many nutritional intakes avilable to cyclists for before, during and after rides to keep the balance.

Head-set: The connection between the front fork's top tube and the frame. This includes the enclosed devices of bearings and a method of securing the connection and to enable steering of the bike all within the volume of the frame. That is rotation of the forks with respect to the frame. There are various methods for holding this altogher and allow for free movement.

Hydration: The opposite to dehydration. Not that a contrary meaning is a good way to define a word but hydration seems to have come into use as a term to mean to avoid losing fluid by sweating and peeing. Hydrate by drinking appropriate fluids. Water is a good idea whilst riding

Inch: An old unit of distance measurement. Now replaced with metric units. One inch is approximately 25.4 mm (millimeters)

Inner Tube: The tube inside the tyre that holds air at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. Inner tubes are not required for tubeless tyres/wheel rims and for glue-on type tyres which are like a tube with a tread glued onto a rim.

Jersey: A tight fitting upper garment of choice worn by most serious road racers and riders. Either long or short sleeved. Cycle jerseys have a number of pockets on the back that can be easily reached whilst riding. This is especially useful to carry nourishment etc. Really the cycle jersey is especially designed for bicycle racing. Jerseys are also used for day tripping and touring because the same attributes which make them desirable to racers apply to other riding activities. Retro (older style that are once again made available) jerseys are made from wool which wicks away moisture, offering an evaporative cooling effect when hot. If it starts to rain, the wool jersey insulates better than a wet cotton or synthetic shirt. Jerseys are also brightly colored, to make bicyclists as visible as possible to motorists.

Kevlar: A very strong plastic. Kevlar is the registered trademark for a synthetic fibre. It was developed at DuPont in 1965 and was used commercially as early the 1970s as a replacement for steel in car racing tyres. Typically it is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such or as an ingredient in composite material components. Kevlar has many applications. As far as cycling goes it is mainly used in tyres.

Knock: A state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of immediate energy. For further information see Glycogen.

Lumens: Lumens (lm) are a measure of lumenous flux and is the best measure of the effectivness of a light used to guide a cyclist in low light situations (such as nighttime or early morning.) These details are included to help you purchase the most suitable lights as there is a plethora of terms used. It is more useful than any other unit as it takes into account the perception of the human brain. 1 lumen is equivalent to 1 candella per solid angle (steradian) or 1 lux per square meter. A good light to see the road should be of the order of 100 lumen capacity.

Madison: The madison is a team event in track cycling, named after the first Madison Square Garden in New York, and known as the "American race" in French (course à l'américaine) and in Italian and Spanish as Americana. It is characterised by the rule allowing riders to propell his or her team mate by a sling shot effect via push or pull.

MTB: Pertaining to mountain bike. A mountain bike is a geared bike roughly of the same lateral frame dimensions (but not geometry or tube size) as a road bike with suspension to its wheels and possibly disk breaks rather than rim breaks. Its robustness is more vigorous than a road bike and therefore heavier in weight and able to be riden over much tougher terrain.

Numbness: in fingers - See Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Overtraining: A real problem with real consequences. It manifests as physical and mental fatigue and is caused by training at an intensity or rate too great for adaptation to normality.

Peleton: The group of riders at the front of a road race using each other for support. This is tactical. A rider that thinks him or herself faster or better than the rest loses and breaks away loses support of the peleton. A group of riders can assist its members through aerodynamic formation

Periodisation: The cycles involved in training throughout a year in order to reach a maximum fitness at the desired time eg in time for a qualifying race or championship.

Power Meter: A measurement of the power used in pedalling by a device embedded in the crank set, hub, bottom bracket or tension in the chain. The power measurement is usually displayed on a handlebar mounted computer and along with heart rate is probably the best method for monitoring intensity.

Presta: A type of bike tube valve. More common with touring and moutain bikes. See also schrader

PSI: stands for pounds per square inch. It is an old and archaic unit used for the air pressure conatined within bike tyres. The SI unit is Pascals (Pa) or Newtons per square meter Nm^-1. Most good tyre pumps have both the old and SI units.

Queen Stage: The most difficult stage of a multi-day road-racing event.

Quill: The section of the stem that inserts into the headset and steerer tube

Rollers: A device for indoor training consisting or 3 or 4 cylindrical or near cylindral free spinning rollers. The bike sits on the rolls. The back pair supporting the rear wheel of the bike is connected by a belt to the front roller so which makes both wheels spin. The rider pedalling his or her bike (as is) is supported by the gyroscopic effect of the spiining wheels and therefore needs to keep balance. This type of trainer is mostly used for warm ups without added resistance (to emulate hills and head winds etc). Some models accept added resitance and therefore even more dilligence or some other supporting method is required to keep upright. Recumbent: A bicycle or tricycle with such a low centre of gravity such that the riders' legs are almost horizontal. These bikes are efficient at long distance but not the speeds obtained at normal road bikes.

Schrader: A type of bike tube valve also found on car tyre. The other common type is presta

Time Trial: A road race of pure speed. Each racer rides a set course individualy. The lowest time taken to ride the course wins the race. The course is usually between 15 and 40 km. Sometimes small teams may be allowed to participate in a time trial. In this case the team (or perhaps most of them) would have to finish togther to be be validate their participation.

Ulnar nerve: A nerve running across the palm of the hand which can go numb from pressure of the grip on the handlebars.

VO2 Max: Volume or Oxygen: The body's maximal ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles.

Wheelsucker: A rider who sits on the rear wheel of others in a group or on another rider, enjoying the draft but not working.

XC: Abbreviation for cross country.

X-Wrench: A bike wrench combination tool with different sized spanner settings on each arm of the cross.

Zerk fitting: This fitting is a nipple to which a grease gun can be attached to inject grease. Most modern bicycles do not have Zerk fittings but maybe found on antique bicycles. The grease was required on bottom brackets and rear hubs.