# Forgotten Cycling slang



## Firestorm (23 Oct 2018)

With Mum and Dad being cyclists I was brought up around bikes and bits .
Always remember Rat traps being the pedals which had toes clips attached, but recently I only hear the term as a reference to the toe clips.
Also Clanger was a term for the chain ring
Tubs for Tubeless tyres

Any others ?


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## PK99 (23 Oct 2018)

Firestorm said:


> With Mum and Dad being cyclists I was brought up around bikes and bits .
> Always remember Rat traps being the pedals which had toes clips attached, but recently I only hear the term as a reference to the toe clips.
> Also Clanger was a term for the chain ring
> Tubs for Tubeless tyres
> ...



Tubs is still widely used.


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## rrarider (23 Oct 2018)

I think the clanger is the front mech. Honking is being out of the saddle, going up a climb. A 'bonk bag' is a musette.


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## Smokin Joe (23 Oct 2018)

What we now refer to as clinchers (Damn Yanks) were known as wired ons. And a cleat (Yanks again) was a shoe plate.


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## Threevok (23 Oct 2018)

We called riser bars "bull horns" when I was a nipper


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## Racing roadkill (23 Oct 2018)

I remember when all this was fields.


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## rogerzilla (23 Oct 2018)

Cowhorns were really wide bars back then (not lo-pro bars), a bit like modern riser bars.

We put cowhorns on a Raleigh Shopper and turned it into a jump bike, because we couldn't afford a BMX. The main frame tube snapped within a fortnight.


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## Racing roadkill (23 Oct 2018)

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok6CoIwcJ-E

Clangers were a nightmare, they were forever falling off and getting stuck in the spokes.


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## User6179 (23 Oct 2018)

I once caught one of my clangers in a rat trap...…...


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## Ian H (23 Oct 2018)

I think rap-traps were just pedals with metal cages as distinct from rubber treads. Quills had a single, wrap-round cage.

See also: block, sprints, quill, cottered cranks.


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## MontyVeda (23 Oct 2018)

Racing roadkill said:


> I remember when all this was fields.


I remember when all this was ice!


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## Threevok (23 Oct 2018)

MontyVeda said:


> I remember when all this was ice!



I remember nothing


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## Dayvo (23 Oct 2018)

Threevok said:


> We called riser bars "bull horns" when I was a nipper



We called them 'cows' horns'. And the Chopper variant were called 'ape hangers.'


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## Drago (23 Oct 2018)

Dork disc.

Granny ring.

The front mech/chainring was always was always interchangeable when referring to as the clanger up my end.

Crossbar mounted gear levers, a la Chopper, were Nutrcrackers.


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## Racing roadkill (23 Oct 2018)

I’ve got all sorts of scars on my shins and calfs caused by bear trap pedals ( like rat traps, but bigger) and usually found on off road type bikes. They really could do some damage if you smacked them into your legs.


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## Firestorm (23 Oct 2018)

Drago said:


> Dork disc.
> 
> Granny ring.
> 
> ...



There was no front mech on my Dad’s clanger, he always rode fixed and so did most of the club in the 60s

Spectators shouted “dig dig “ too


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## Venod (23 Oct 2018)

Avocet computer, the first modern speedometer I remember, before that I remember the mileage recorder by the front hub that clicked over with a thing fastened to the spokes, and the speedo that had a cable coming from contraption on the front hub, but I can't remember if they had specific names.


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## DCBassman (23 Oct 2018)

That speedo was a Huret, IIRC...


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## wisdom (23 Oct 2018)

DCBassman said:


> That speedo was a Huret, IIRC...


Huret speedo was on my bike too.it used to whine at any decent speed.


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## rrarider (23 Oct 2018)

Afnug said:


> Avocet computer, the first modern speedometer I remember, before that I remember the mileage recorder by the front hub that clicked over with a thing fastened to the spokes, and the speedo that had a cable coming from contraption on the front hub, but I can't remember if they had specific names.


The odometer gizmo was called the 'Lucas Cyclometer'.


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## Sharky (23 Oct 2018)

rrarider said:


> I think the clanger is the front mech. Honking is being out of the saddle, going up a climb. A 'bonk bag' is a musette.


Wasn't the "clanger" the rod operated front mech that was clamped to the seat tube and the steel chainrings made the clanging noise as it was moved from one ring to the other.


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## rogerzilla (23 Oct 2018)

Brake lever extensions (rather unfairly called suicide levers by some...they sort of work) were "GT levers" and rather desirable in the late 70s.


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## Salar (23 Oct 2018)

From my younger days, no doubt I'll remember some more.

B.S.A.........................................Best Scrap Available.

Also:-

Not really slang.

Ride a Raleigh
Ride a wreck
Ride a Raleigh
Break your neck.


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## screenman (23 Oct 2018)

Firestorm said:


> With Mum and Dad being cyclists I was brought up around bikes and bits .
> Always remember Rat traps being the pedals which had toes clips attached, but recently I only hear the term as a reference to the toe clips.
> Also Clanger was a term for the chain ring
> Tubs for Tubeless tyres
> ...



Tubular, not tubeless.


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## screenman (23 Oct 2018)

On the rivet.


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## Venod (23 Oct 2018)

Tester, are time trialists still referred to as testers ?


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## Drago (23 Oct 2018)

69'ers still make me chuckle.


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## rogerzilla (23 Oct 2018)

"Oil up!" and "Oil down!" for approaching cars.


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## Profpointy (23 Oct 2018)

Drago said:


> Crossbar mounted gear levers, a la Chopper, were Nutrcrackers.



And indeed the very word crossbar


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## Pale Rider (23 Oct 2018)

screenman said:


> On the rivet.



I heard one of the telly commentators use that this year, but it will be a very long time ago when racers last used riveted saddles.


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## tyred (23 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> Brake lever extensions (rather unfairly called suicide levers by some...they sort of work) were "GT levers" and rather desirable in the late 70s.



I like them. They work fine for controlling speed when cruising along.


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## Richard A Thackeray (23 Oct 2018)

Afnug said:


> Avocet computer, the first modern speedometer I remember, before that I remember the mileage recorder by the front hub that clicked over with a thing fastened to the spokes, and the speedo that had a cable coming from contraption on the front hub, but I can't remember if they had specific names.


I remember having the Huret items that operated by the screw-on peg (on the spokes)
Like one of these; https://gonevintage.com/vintage-bic...lometer-ussr-1970s-boxed-papers-mint-nos.html

Also, an odd black plastic one, that operated via a small drive-belt from the ring on the hub
One of these, they even had a trip function




I remember the Avocets, very accurate indeed!

My first one was a _30_, then a _40_, & a _45 _
I may still have a couple of them somewhere??

I recorded my fastest ever speed on the_ 40_
62.something MPH, down 'East Chevin' dropping, like a stone, into Otley


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## postman (23 Oct 2018)

Threevok said:


> I remember nothing



View: https://youtu.be/s6EaoPMANQM


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## Ming the Merciless (23 Oct 2018)

Knobblies for your tracker bike.


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## Cuchilo (23 Oct 2018)

Afnug said:


> Tester, are time trialists still referred to as testers ?


Yes


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## rogerzilla (23 Oct 2018)

Amber wall tyres.


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## Smokin Joe (23 Oct 2018)

Richard A Thackeray said:


> I remember the Avocets, very accurate indeed!
> 
> My first one was a _30_, then a _40_, & a _45 _
> I may still have a couple of them somewhere??
> ...


A mate owned a bike shop at the time Avocets were about and he stopped selling them, reckoning he had a 50% return rate of faulty units. 

They did look rather cool though, nice and slim on the bars. I think most of the pro peloton had them at one time.


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## Fenrider (23 Oct 2018)

'Cross bar' = top tube
'Crossie' = with a passenger sitting on the top tube, hence 'wanna crossie?'
'Racing bike' = a bicycle with dropped handlebars and 5 speeds
'Tracker' = a bicycle modified by fitting bull horn handlebars and knobbly tyres
'Push bike' = any bicycle
'Rough stuff' = off road


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## Levo-Lon (23 Oct 2018)

Croggy was a lift on the cross bar for us.


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## Moodyman (23 Oct 2018)

'Backie' used when being given a lift on the seat whilst the pedaller stood up.


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## rogerzilla (24 Oct 2018)

A road racing bike was just a "racer". The modern term "road bike" is nonsensical as Bromptons and touring bikes are also road bikes.

Mags were any wheel using the cartwheel concept of just a few thick spokes. Originally magnesium and used in BMX, later plastic.


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## Profpointy (24 Oct 2018)

Moodyman said:


> 'Backie' used when being given a lift on the seat whilst the pedaller stood up.



A “saddler” was the term in South Wales


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## Globalti (24 Oct 2018)

Afnug said:


> Avocet computer, the first modern speedometer I remember, before that I remember the mileage recorder by the front hub that clicked over with a thing fastened to the spokes, and the speedo that had a cable coming from contraption on the front hub, but I can't remember if they had specific names.



Huret. Made in France.


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## rogerzilla (24 Oct 2018)

It was said at our school that they had a pin in at 40mph at well as at 0, so you could break them if you went too fast.


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## overmind (24 Oct 2018)

I used to hear the term 'sprocket' a lot in relation to the cogs on the back wheel.

This seems to have been replaced by freewheel and cassette.


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## Alan O (24 Oct 2018)

Richard A Thackeray said:


> I recorded my fastest ever speed on the_ 40_
> 62.something MPH, down 'East Chevin' dropping, like a stone, into Otley


Ah, I remember it well - used to belt down there into Otley back in my student days, always being careful to remember the bend at the end. It was certainly the fastest I've ever ridden, but I had no speedo and no idea of the mph - I just remember overtaking cars.


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## Salar (24 Oct 2018)

We used to call our stripped down bikes with no brakes etc, similar to cycle speedway bikes as Track Knacks.

Knacks in Geordie means hurts, probably a reference to what happens when you can't stop.


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## rogerzilla (24 Oct 2018)

Racks were always "carriers", shifters were "gear levers" and coaster brakes, rare except on American kids' bikes, were "back-pedal brakes". US terminology has crept in over the years.


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## BeardyAndyM (24 Oct 2018)

Firestorm said:


> Tubs for Tubeless tyres
> 
> Any others ?



Tubs are still used at elite level, mtb, road and cyclocross. Short for tubular, not tubless (although they are technically tubeless!).


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## Bazzer (24 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> "Oil up!" and "Oil down!" for approaching cars.



Oddly, I am sure I heard "Oil up" last Sunday from the back marker of a group of cyclists approaching me from the opposite side of the road.


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## rogerzilla (24 Oct 2018)

Tubulars most certainly have tubes! Uusually latex, the carcass of the tyre is sewn up around them. Americans call tubs "sew-ups".


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## guitarpete247 (24 Oct 2018)

If you had 2 chainrings it was a "double clanger". I had a mate who refused to fit front derailleur and would bend down and lift it with gloved fingers.
In Uppadines (anyone from Donny knew it) window there was only Campagnolo gear. Only others I remember, as a kid, were Huret and Simplex.


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## Aravis (24 Oct 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> That's partly a technology thing I think. "Cassette" was introduced along with freehubs where the ratchet mechanism is part of the hub, replacing "freewheel blocks" where the ratchet mechanism is built in with the sprockets and screws on to the hub.
> 
> What you don't hear so much is "block" referring to the sprockets. But I suppose that's because these days the block isn't a block. It's a cassette.. But the word sprocket gets used too.


I think "block" referred to the whole assembly which screwed onto the hub. From what I remember, the shops never called them that - to them they were always freewheels.

The block consisted of a freewheel body and a set of cogs (or sprockets). I'm now questioning whether my first freehub (Shimano 600 Tricolour) actually used a cassette in the now-familiar sense. If I wanted to change my ratios I did it exactly as I would have done with a screw-on, and I don't think a cassette works quite like that. I may be getting confused.

With freehubs, the concept of a freewheel as a separate component no longer exists, so I think the old terms still mean what they always did. It's the components that have disappeared rather than the terms.


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> Tubulars most certainly have tubes! Uusually latex, the carcass of the tyre is sewn up around them. Americans call tubs "sew-ups".


I learned them as "tubs".


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

Aravis said:


> I think "block" referred to the whole assembly which screwed onto the hub. From what I remember, the shops never called them that - to them they were always freewheels.
> 
> The block consisted of a freewheel body and a set of cogs (or sprockets). I'm now questioning whether my first freehub (Shimano 600 Tricolour) actually used a cassette in the now-familiar sense. If I wanted to change my ratios I did it exactly as I would have done with a screw-on, and I don't think a cassette works quite like that. I may be getting confused.
> 
> With freehubs, the concept of a freewheel as a separate component no longer exists, so I think the old terms still mean what they always did. It's the components that have disappeared rather than the terms.


I think with the cassette, the cassette body is always fixed to the hub, and you remove the outer cog, then the further cogs and spacers come off. With the freehub, the whole assembly comes off the hub in one piece. At our co-op, we are contemplating a cog board, like in the olden days, so we can build up freewheel cogs, cassettes, and front sprockets to order.


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## rrarider (24 Oct 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> That's partly a technology thing I think. "Cassette" was introduced along with freehubs where the ratchet mechanism is part of the hub, replacing "freewheel blocks" where the ratchet mechanism is built in with the sprockets and screws on to the hub.
> 
> What you don't hear so much is "block" referring to the sprockets. But I suppose that's because these days the block isn't a block. It's a cassette.. But the word sprocket gets used too.


I always thought a block referred to the whole freewheel, of which I still have two. A strong time trial rider would sometimes ride with a 'corncob block', meaning a 5 or 6 speed freewheel with each sprocket differing from its neighbour by just a single tooth.


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

Richard A Thackeray said:


> I remember having the Huret items that operated by the screw-on peg (on the spokes)
> Like one of these; https://gonevintage.com/vintage-bic...lometer-ussr-1970s-boxed-papers-mint-nos.html
> 
> Also, an odd black plastic one, that operated via a small drive-belt from the ring on the hub
> ...


I think I have an Avocet still on my Mongoose Switchback, a tinybike I use for travels because it breaks down small, and has 24" wheels. I'm a little too large for all folding bicycles. I'll try and get it going this winter. I use it for trails in parks and the like where it is too far to walk.


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

rrarider said:


> I always thought a block referred to the whole freewheel, of which I still have two. A strong time trial rider would sometimes ride with a 'corncob block', meaning a 5 or 6 speed freewheel with each sprocket differing from its neighbour by just a single tooth.


I still have a corncob on my Trek 600, outfitted with (prosaically) Shimano tricolor 600.


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

I think I may have a couple of Campy corncobs and maybe a Rigida, down cellar.


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## Aravis (24 Oct 2018)

Gravity Aided said:


> I think with the cassette, the cassette body is always fixed to the hub, and you remove the outer cog, then the further cogs and spacers come off. With the freehub, the whole assembly comes off the hub in one piece. At our co-op, we are contemplating a cog board, like in the olden days, so we can build up freewheel cogs, cassettes, and front sprockets to order.


I may have a few cogs to donate!

I think what I was trying to say is that the now familar hub/cassette setup might not have evolved in a single step.


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## Ian H (24 Oct 2018)

Fenrider said:


> 'Rough stuff' = off road



The Rough-stuff Fellowship is still alive and kicking.


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## rrarider (24 Oct 2018)

Gravity Aided said:


> I still have a corncob on my Trek 600, outfitted with (prosaically) Shimano tricolor 600.


I still usually ride with my 13,14,15,17,19,21 freewheel and 52/42 chain rings, as it's very flat round here.


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## Lozz360 (24 Oct 2018)

overmind said:


> I used to hear the term 'sprocket' a lot in relation to the cogs on the back wheel.
> This seems to have been replaced by freewheel and cassette.


Sprocket is still the correct term. I was corrected by a fellow CCer (can't remember who) when I referred to the cogs on the back wheel some time ago. I now understand the difference. Sprockets are turned by or turn a chain whereas a cog inter-meshes with other cogs.


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## Aravis (24 Oct 2018)

Lozz360 said:


> Sprocket is still the correct term. I was corrected by a fellow CCer (can't remember who) when I referred to the cogs on the back wheel some time ago. I now understand the difference. Sprockets are turned by or turn a chain whereas a cog inter-meshes with other cogs.


Haha I should've known that from Meccano!

Desperately trying to salvage credibility, I can't think of anything on a bike which would accurately be described as a cog. If there's no scope for confusion perhaps it doesn't matter very much?


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## rogerzilla (24 Oct 2018)

Aravis said:


> I'm now questioning whether my first freehub (Shimano 600 Tricolour) actually used a cassette in the now-familiar sense. If I wanted to change my ratios I did it exactly as I would have done with a screw-on, and I don't think a cassette works quite like that. I may be getting confused.


600 tricolor (6400) uses a 7-speed cassette. I'm not sure if there is an earlier version.

http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=1e5f0209-4650-4284-b009-14e4658367fa&Enum=110


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## derrick (24 Oct 2018)

rrarider said:


> I think the clanger is the front mech. Honking is being out of the saddle, going up a climb. A 'bonk bag' is a musette.


I remember it being a double clanger.


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## Aravis (24 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> 600 tricolor (6400) uses a 7-speed cassette. I'm not sure if there is an earlier version.
> 
> http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=1e5f0209-4650-4284-b009-14e4658367fa&Enum=110


Yes, that's what I had. I see the comments from people who are using these with modern cassettes, and I'm sure they're right, but I don't see any way of locking it in place. Or can that smooth-faced ring sitting inside the freewheel be removed and replaced?

My collection of sprockets and spacers slid directly onto freewheel part of the hub, and were locked in place by the smallest (threaded) sprocket. No cassette or separate locking ring were involved.


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## MichaelW2 (24 Oct 2018)

Aravis said:


> My collection of sprockets and spacers slid directly onto freewheel part of the hub, and were locked in place by the smallest (threaded) sprocket. No cassette or separate locking ring were involved.



One version of Shimano used a locking small sprocket. Maillard's Helicomatic was another weird and wonderful system that old timers may recall.


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## Sharky (24 Oct 2018)

Not much talk of one inch pitch nowadays.


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## midlife (24 Oct 2018)

BITD if a customer bought a "block and chain" we would fit them for free. Most of the time we made a profit


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## screenman (24 Oct 2018)

DHSS professional, there used to be good few in most cycling clubs.


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## Milkfloat (24 Oct 2018)

Anyone remember ‘snowflake’ lacing of your spokes?


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## screenman (24 Oct 2018)

Milkfloat said:


> Anyone remember ‘snowflake’ lacing of your spokes?



Yep.


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

rrarider said:


> I still usually ride with my 13,14,15,17,19,21 freewheel and 52/42 chain rings, as it's very flat round here.


As here, as well


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## Gravity Aided (24 Oct 2018)

I remember most Treks I encountered, at least in the first few years, came with Maillard Helicomatics.


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## Lozz360 (24 Oct 2018)

Aravis said:


> I can't think of anything on a bike which would accurately be described as a cog. If there's no scope for confusion perhaps it doesn't matter very much?


Completely agree. If you refer to cogs instead of sprockets it Is still very clear what you are referring to. Just be warned that this forum is a hotbed of pedantry of which I myself have succumbed to practicing.


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## Yellow Saddle (25 Oct 2018)

Lozz360 said:


> Completely agree. If you refer to cogs instead of sprockets it Is still very clear what you are referring to. Just be warned that this forum is a hotbed of pedantry of which I myself have succumbed to practicing.



Aravis said: ↑
I can't think of anything on a bike which would accurately be described as a cog. If there's no scope for confusion perhaps it doesn't matter very much?

Speaking of pedantry and all that. I can think of several things on a bike which can be described as cogs. Each sprocket has many cogs because a cog is one tooth on a sprocket or gear. A sprocket works with a chain. A gear is a wheel of cogs that meshes with other gears. Hence the English idiom of "I'm just a cog in the wheel here."

Link: 

Here's a rhetoric question for you all: Should I not cringe when I read about steal bikes, peddling home and breaking to stop?


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## Sharky (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Aravis said: ↑
> I can't think of anything on a bike which would accurately be described as a cog. If there's no scope for confusion perhaps it doesn't matter very much?
> 
> Speaking of pedantry and all that. I can think of several things on a bike which can be described as cogs. Each sprocket has many cogs because a cog is one tooth on a sprocket or gear. A sprocket works with a chain. A gear is a wheel of cogs that meshes with other gears. Hence the English idiom of "I'm just a cog in the wheel here."
> ...


You are write to cringe.


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## Milkfloat (25 Oct 2018)

Milkfloat said:


> Anyone remember ‘snowflake’ lacing of your spokes?



For those still at a loss.


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## further (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Here's a rhetoric question for you all: Should I not cringe when I read about steal bikes, peddling home and breaking to stop


A few of my pet hates there.


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## Yellow Saddle (25 Oct 2018)

Milkfloat said:


> For those still at a loss.
> 
> View attachment 435342


Kodos to the genius who calculated those spoke lengths.


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## Yellow Saddle (25 Oct 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> Well, as it happens, yesterday I took a bike that wasn't mine, and on my journey home I sold some small items to passers by. As I arrived home I needed a way to arrest my progress, so I damaged the bike in order bring it to a halt.


I'll let you off the hook, but remember, I'm watching you.


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## Profpointy (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Kodos to the genius who calculated those spoke lengths.



an imaginative way of using up spokes which you’d calculated wrongly


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## Drago (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Kodos to the genius who calculated those spoke lengths.


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## rrarider (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Here's a rhetoric question for you all: Should I not cringe when I read about steal bikes, peddling home and breaking to stop?





Yellow Saddle said:


> Kodos to the genius who calculated those spoke lengths.



Whilst we are being pedantic, the correct spelling of the word is 'kudos'.


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## Alan O (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Should I not cringe when I read about steal bikes, peddling home and breaking to stop?


What, have you never had a bike nicked, sold a house, or cracked anything in a crash?


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## DCBassman (25 Oct 2018)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Should I not cringe when I read about steal bikes, peddling home and breaking to stop?


Oh yes. Oh yes you should. There, I've come out as a grammar pedant. What a relief!


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## Black Sheep (26 Oct 2018)

Ian H said:


> I think rap-traps were just pedals with metal cages as distinct from rubber treads. Quills had a single, wrap-round cage.
> 
> See also: block, sprints, quill, cottered cranks.



I'd assumed rat-traps were the cage, so the bike or pedal can be fitted with rat traps - got some retro ones for the carlton when I re-build it, 

Thanks for reminding me that I need some new cotter pins for my cranks 



guitarpete247 said:


> If you had 2 chainrings it was a "double clanger". I had a mate who refused to fit front derailleur and would bend down and lift it with gloved fingers.
> In Uppadines (anyone from Donny knew it) window there was only Campagnolo gear. Only others I remember, as a kid, were Huret and Simplex.



I once had the chain come off the front ring while doing about 30 down kennilworth road racing a friend, I did manage to lean down and get it back on, never figured out how I didn't come off, nor have I repeated the event. 


Banger gears was what we referred to friction shifters as, after we'd experienced indexed gears as we all used to simply bang them across from 1st to 5th (or 3rd on the front) on our mountain bikes. 

clickclick gears were indexed gears

throttle shift was grip-shift because you could rev it like a motorbike (and usually break it as a result)


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## Ian H (26 Oct 2018)

Black Sheep said:


> I'd assumed rat-traps were the cage, so the bike or pedal can be fitted with rat traps - got some retro ones for the carlton when I re-build it,



I assume that, by 'cage', you mean a toe-clip.


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## Ming the Merciless (26 Oct 2018)

DCBassman said:


> Oh yes. Oh yes you should. There, I've come out as a grammar pedant. What a relief!



Spelling dear boy


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## Black Sheep (26 Oct 2018)

Ian H said:


> I assume that, by 'cage', you mean a toe-clip.



yup



Dogtrousers said:


> Like @Ian H I always thought rat traps were just all-metal pedals without rubber treads. This doesn't bode well for @Ian H because I am generally wrong.



No, the rat trap requires the toe clip to be present, because then it looks like something a rat could crawl into but fail to turn round to get back out of. 

shin burgers are the name mountain bikers gave to metal pedals with small (or large) studs (or even small spikes) on - one manufacturer later actually named one of their pedals after the term. 

so called because one slip of the pedals and your shin was tenderised like a burger.


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## Ming the Merciless (26 Oct 2018)

Never Readys


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## Alembicbassman (26 Oct 2018)

I've heard the bit that gets saddle sore is called the Humber Bridge (for females anyway).


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## Firestorm (26 Oct 2018)

Cycling weekly was "The Comic"


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## Apollonius (26 Oct 2018)

Double clanger was definitely a double chainring. (Very exotic, back in the day.) Oil up was definitely used by Suffolk DA of the CTC in the sixties. Does anyone else remember the fashion for wrapping spare tubes, tyre-levers etc in an ice-cream advert? I think they were made of PVC or something.


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## Ian H (26 Oct 2018)

Some more:-
Evens
Medium gear
Rustless spokes


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## Sharky (26 Oct 2018)

Firestorm said:


> Cycling weekly was "The Comic"


Haven't heard "Cycling and Mopeds" for a while either


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## Gravity Aided (27 Oct 2018)

Apollonius said:


> Double clanger was definitely a double chainring. (Very exotic, back in the day.) Oil up was definitely used by Suffolk DA of the CTC in the sixties. Does anyone else remember the fashion for wrapping spare tubes, tyre-levers etc in an ice-cream advert? I think they were made of PVC or something.


No, but I had a bag for a tube and a folding clincher called a Kirtland Tour-Pak. I still have one around here. I think you may have been able to fit a tire lever in there, as well. It may also have been able to carry some tubs and glue, if you were touring on tubs. Maybe a Tip-Top case as well.


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## rogerzilla (27 Oct 2018)

You don't often hear about tyres being "down to the canvas" these days.


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## Fenrider (27 Oct 2018)

The practice didn't have a name, but I remember it was fairly common to stop a bike with no brakes by wedging the sole of the left shoe in the gap between the chain stay and the bottom bracket shell.


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## DCBassman (28 Oct 2018)

Fenrider said:


> The practice didn't have a name, but I remember it was fairly common to stop a bike with no brakes by wedging the sole of the left shoe in the gap between the chain stay and the bottom bracket shell.


"Survival" possibly?


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## Illaveago (28 Oct 2018)

Milkfloat said:


> For those still at a loss.
> 
> View attachment 435342


Is that one way of making spokes that are too long fit ?


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## Illaveago (28 Oct 2018)

We used to call bikes that had been stripped down to the bare minimum for mucking about in the fields" Dirt Trackers". Some kids would fit motorcycle scrambler bars and later Cow Horn bars to their bikes. There was also a few lucky kids who managed to get hold of some special knobbly tyres which had small round projections. I think they came from an Avon Rubber dump and weren't for the home market. It was a shame as all us kids thought they looked great.


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## Proto (28 Oct 2018)

Afnug said:


> Avocet computer, the first modern speedometer I remember, before that I remember the mileage recorder by the front hub that .......... .



I’ve got a yellow Avocet bik3 computer in the shed somewhere


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## Gravity Aided (28 Oct 2018)

I've got a 30. If I can get it to work, I'm putting it on the Trek


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## Yellow Saddle (29 Oct 2018)

Afnug said:


> Avocet computer, the first modern speedometer I remember, before that I remember the mileage recorder by the front hub that clicked over with a thing fastened to the spokes, and the speedo that had a cable coming from contraption on the front hub, but I can't remember if they had specific names.



Unfortunately I also had one of those. I bought it because the colour matched my bike, certainly not for reliability or battery life. 
Have a look at this, for a walk down memory lane. For some reason they keep the website alive, even though the company died ages ago.

Avocet


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## BADGER.BRAD (24 May 2019)

Cow horns = wide bars fitted to you tracker bike (early home made version of the mountain bike ,normally on a tight budget)
Tracker =racer bike fitted with wide bars for off road riding and attempting to kill your self
Peddle back brakes=coaster brakes

Not a cycling term but does anyone remember seeing racer bikes with the handle bars turned upside down to give you a higher riding position ? Or cyclists with their trousers tucked into tier socks to stop their right leg being dragged into the chain wheel, or bikes with different size wheels built out of bits ?


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## dave r (24 May 2019)

BADGER.BRAD said:


> Cow horns = wide bars fitted to you tracker bike (early home made version of the mountain bike ,normally on a tight budget)
> Tracker =racer bike fitted with wide bars for off road riding and attempting to kill your self
> Peddle back brakes=coaster brakes
> 
> Not a cycling term but does anyone remember seeing racer bikes with the handle bars turned upside down to give you a higher riding position ? Or cyclists with their trousers tucked into tier socks to stop their right leg being dragged into the chain wheel, or bikes with different size wheels built out of bits ?



We used to chop and flop the bars, turn the drop handlebars upside down and cut off the bottom of the bars.


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## Justinitus (24 May 2019)

BADGER.BRAD said:


> Or cyclists with their trousers tucked into tier socks to stop their right leg being dragged into the chain wheel



I still do this...


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## Gravity Aided (25 May 2019)

Justinitus said:


> I still do this...


As do I.


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## Illaveago (25 May 2019)

BADGER.BRAD said:


> Cow horns = wide bars fitted to you tracker bike (early home made version of the mountain bike ,normally on a tight budget)
> Tracker =racer bike fitted with wide bars for off road riding and attempting to kill your self
> Peddle back brakes=coaster brakes
> 
> Not a cycling term but does anyone remember seeing racer bikes with the handle bars turned upside down to give you a higher riding position ? Or cyclists with their trousers tucked into tier socks to stop their right leg being dragged into the chain wheel, or bikes with different size wheels built out of bits ?


Tracker. We called them Dirt track bikes. I think it was before the people who came up with the idea of mountain bikes we even born .


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## Illaveago (25 May 2019)

Milkfloat said:


> For those still at a loss.
> 
> View attachment 435342


One way of taking up the slack I suppose !


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## Illaveago (25 May 2019)

When people talk about some steel bikes being made of gas pipe, they should first of all compare them with the old newspaper round bikes which WHS had in the 60's . Built like tanks and had a similar weight !


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## pawl (25 May 2019)

Up the league.Up the Union


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## pawl (25 May 2019)

guitarpete247 said:


> If you had 2 chainrings it was a "double clanger". I had a mate who refused to fit front derailleur and would bend down and lift it with gloved fingers.
> In Uppadines (anyone from Donny knew it) window there was only Campagnolo gear. Only others I remember, as a kid, were Huret and Simplex.




You missed Benelux.


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## snorri (25 May 2019)

Justinitus said:


> I still do this...


Me too, unless I'm wearing wellies.


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## yello (25 May 2019)

Bear traps, to me, where MTB / off road pedals - large metal platformed pedals with serrated-like edges, they could be nasty, right shin gougers. Cleated MTB pedals were spuds, specifically SPD but generically any cleated MTB pedal.


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## Slick (25 May 2019)

Illaveago said:


> When people talk about some steel bikes being made of gas pipe, they should first of all compare them with the old newspaper round bikes which WHS had in the 60's . Built like tanks and had a similar weight !


Similar for me although I came a bit later in the mid 80's, the bakery I delivered for kept their bike from the 60's which had the small wheel at the front and weighed a ton. It still had the old rod brakes which never worked.


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## Smokin Joe (25 May 2019)

pawl said:


> You missed Benelux.


Nobody misses Benelux


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## SuperHans123 (25 May 2019)

In the BMX heyday of the Eighties, Bunny Hops and how many you could manage was a common sight.
Often though, if you had a Raleigh Burner with the standard rat trap pedals, you would slip mid-hop and the pedals would spin around to smash you in the leg, for which I still have the scars. (Now 50)
It was called 'the shin cruncher'


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## Dogtrousers (25 May 2019)

Smokin Joe said:


> Nobody misses Benelux


I have an old Benelux front mech. I dated it once and I think it was early 60s. It looks really good. It used to be on one of the wrecks I did up as a teenager. It's the only thing I've retained from that period. IIRC it didn't work very well.


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## SuperHans123 (25 May 2019)

One person on our estate always had his handlebars way forward. His surname was Humble and whenever we saw someone with their bars quite forward (BMX), we would all shout Humble Humble!


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## lazybloke (25 May 2019)

Square-taper cranks were "cotterless cranks" when I were a lad.


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## yello (25 May 2019)

Broad slides, or broadies, were what we did as kids; get up a head of steam, slam on the brakes and slide the rear end around without, hopefully, losing it. Worked best and most spectacularly in gravel, particularly if you did lose it!

I think the term's probably borrowed from speedway, but it's known as broadside there.


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## BADGER.BRAD (25 May 2019)

A photo from the early 1980's a group of my friends and I did this mad thing we equipped or bikes with nicad packs to make up 12 volts and mounted a mobile aerial to the frame (DV27 in my case)and then rode around chatting to each other on the CB ( illegal AM CB radio that was !)


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## lazybloke (25 May 2019)

yello said:


> Broad slides, or broadies, were what we did as kids; get up a head of steam, slam on the brakes and slide the rear end around without, hopefully, losing it. Worked best and most spectacularly in gravel, particularly if you did lose it!
> 
> I think the term's probably borrowed from speedway, but it's known as broadside there.


Oh yes! I occasionally demonstrate that to my kids.


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## Apollonius (26 May 2019)

Benelux! I recall having to borrow a bike to get to school - must have been 1966 as I had to get to an "O-level" exam, and it had a Benelux 3 speed derailleur. They depended on a sort of clock-spring. Needless to say, the clock-spring broke and shot the entire mech into the rear wheel. Messy. I made it to the exam, but I don't remember how. 

I suspect this was the start of my long-held belief that there are two sorts of cycling gear: stuff that breaks and Campagnolo.


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## Paulus (26 May 2019)

Pale Rider said:


> I heard one of the telly commentators use that this year, but it will be a very long time ago when racers last used riveted saddles.


The late great commentator David Duffield used it a lot.


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## Paulus (26 May 2019)

BADGER.BRAD said:


> Or cyclists with their trousers tucked into tier socks to stop their right leg being dragged into the chain wheel,


 
I still do this, saves on old school trouser clips


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## Ming the Merciless (28 May 2019)

Illaveago said:


> We used to call bikes that had been stripped down to the bare minimum for mucking about in the fields" Dirt Trackers". Some kids would fit motorcycle scrambler bars and later Cow Horn bars to their bikes. There was also a few lucky kids who managed to get hold of some special knobbly tyres which had small round projections. I think they came from an Avon Rubber dump and weren't for the home market. It was a shame as all us kids thought they looked great.



Knobblies were around for tracker bikes in the mid to late 70's. Don't know about before that. Somewhere in a family album will be a pic of me on my tracker bike with a frame recovered from the dump by my dad, and restored by a pre teenage me. Painted the frame gold from memory.


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## palinurus (28 May 2019)

Drumming up


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## Smokin Joe (28 May 2019)

Bit and bit used to be the term used for riding through and off on a chain gang.


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## Rusty Nails (28 May 2019)

Paulus said:


> I still do this, saves on old school trouser clips


So yesterday!
Now you roll up the right trouser leg.


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## bladderhead (28 May 2019)

Dad said his bike had north-road bars. Anyone heard of this?


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## further (28 May 2019)

North road bars
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.ETC-Northr...MIiPyugOa-4gIV1eF3Ch3I2A7eEAQYASABEgLFy_D_BwE


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