Copy of `Cycling iSport - Cycling terms`

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Cycling iSport - Cycling terms Category: Sport and Leisure > Cycling Date & country: 01/02/2014, UK Words: 369

Green jersey
The jersey awarded to the leader and eventual winner of the points competition at the Tour de France.

Grupetto
In a stage race, a group that bands together to ride just fast enough to make the time cut. Composed of riders not in contention for the general classification.

Grand tours
The three, three-week long national stage races of Italy, France and Spain: the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.

Granny ring
Usually the smallest chainring on a triple crankset. For example on a 22

Gravity check
Falling down or crashing, thereby confirming that, indeed, gravity is still in effect.

Gravity event
A mountain bike race where the competitors start at the top of a hill and race to the bottom. It includes downhill, dual slalom, 4-cross or mountain cross, and Super D. These races require bike handling, strength, technique and steely nerves more than aerobic fitness and endurance.

Geometry
The various angles and lengths of a bicycle frame (e.g. head-tube angle or top-tube length) that together create a safe handling machine properly fitted to the rider

Glycogen
Source of sugar used for quick energy, stored in the liver and muscles. Consuming carbohydrate before, during and after workouts helps prime, preserve and restore glycogen. See aerobic and anaerobic.

General classification
The main competition in a stage race where the riders race for the lowest overall time.

Gear ratio
Number corresponding to the effective wheel size of a given combination of chainring, cog and wheels. For example, a big gear is a big gear ratio and thus harder to pedal. See big gear.

Gear
Any of the possible combinations of chainring and cog that a rider can choose from. It ranges from a single gear on a single speed to as many as 33 gears on certain road bicycles.

GC
General Classification.

Gap
The distance between groups on the road.

Full suspension
A bicycle with both front and rear wheel suspension.

Functional threshold
The pace a rider can maintain for roughly one hour. Corresponds well with the core aerobic metabolic process and training at this intensity stimulates key fitness adaptations. See lactate threshold.

Funny bike
A time-trial bicycle with a front wheel that is smaller than the rear wheel. It is now banned internationally by the UCI and all bikes are required to have front and rear wheels of the same size.

Freeride
An in-between classification for full-suspension mountain bikes. Not quite a downhill bike, still light enough to ride up some hills, but equipped with enough suspension travel to handle steeper, more technical terrain.

Freewheel
To coast without pedaling while disengaging the ratchet mechanism of the rear hub. Also a self contained set of cogs

Friction shifting
A type of shifting that uses the friction of a screw to hold the lever in gear rather than mechanical indexing. See index shifting.

Frame
The central structure of a bicycle and the base for all the bike

Frame pump
A pump that can be inserted somewhere on the bicycle frame. Secured either by tension between tubes (e.g. along the top tube between the headtube and seat tube) or by some kind of mounting bracket (usually bolted to the water bottle bosses).

Freehub
The ratcheting mechanism on the rear hub where a cassette can be attached. Retracting teeth, or pawls, within the freehub allow it to engage when pedaled forward and to freewheel when pedaled backwards. There are splines, or raised ridges, on the exterior that integrate with channels in the cassette.

Form
The period of time when an athlete is mentally and physically ready to race. One is said to be

Fork
Holds the front wheel of a bicycle and permits steering. A fork consists of two fork legs, with dropouts at the tips and a crown that joins the legs to the steerer tube.

Fork crown
Connects a fork's legs to the steerer tube.

Forcing
See force the pace.

Force the pace
Pushing hard to raise the speed of the whole field while riding at the front of the peloton.

Foldable tire
A clincher tire with a bead made of a strong, flexible plastic.

Flying start
A race that starts with the rider already at top speed. See 200m.

Flyer
Usually a late race attack during competition. An example would be

Fenders
Semi-circular covers for the wheels meant to shield the rider from road spray on wet days.

Ferrule
Metal caps that fit over the end of housing.

Field
The peloton or bunch.

Field sprint
See bunch sprint.

Float
When the clipless pedal system is designed to allow the heel to move in an arc, with the pedal as the center of the arc.

Floor pump
A tire pump with a flat plate on one end and a plunger pump handle and a hose attachment on the other to allow efficient tire inflation.

Feed bag
See musette.

Feed zone
Designated portion of a road race where riders are allowed to take supplies from helpers on the side of the road.

Feeding
The practice of handing food or water to a rider, either in a feed zone or from a support car.

Escape
See breakaway.

Eyelets
Reinforced area around the spoke hole on a rim.

Fast twitch
Muscle fiber characterized by its ability to contract faster and with greater force. Good sprinters tend to have more fast-twitch than slow-twitch fibers.

Embrocation
Strongly scented oil or lotion applied to the legs to provide a feeling of warmth, particularly on cold days.

End cap
The plug inserted into the end of a handlebar. Also, the little metal caps that can be crimped over the end of a cable to prevent fraying.

Endurance event
Mountain bike events where the emphasis is on aerobic fitness in addition to technical ability.

Elite
Commonly a cyclist racing at the highest amateur level. In USA Cycling parlance, an adult cyclist between the ages of 23 and 30. See junior and master.

Effective top tube length
What a level top tube would measure. Applied to frames with sloping top tubes.

Dual slalom
Gravity event where riders race two at a time on parallel downhill tracks. The first rider to the bottom wins the heat, with the riders switching sides after the first run. The winner is the rider with the greatest time differential.

Echelon
An angled paceline meant to provide a draft in a crosswind. Because of the angle, the number of riders is limited, so the rest of the field must either form a second echelon or ride in the gutter.

Dual pivot brakes
Brakes with two pivots, each offset from the center line of the wheel to increase leverage.

Dual compound
In tires, when the tread has a harder central compound with a softer compound on the sides.

Drops
The curved bottom section of standard road handlebars.

Dropouts
The slots in a frame that are used to secure a bicycle wheel.

Drop
To leave another rider behind. The rider left behind is said to have been

Drop anchor
See blow up.

Drive side
The side of the bicycle that has the chain, chainrings, cogs, and derailleurs. Standing over the bicycle looking toward the front wheel, the drive side is the right-hand side.

Downhill racing
A mountain bike gravity discipline where riders race one at a time. The one to reach the bottom in the shortest amount of time wins.

Downshift
To shift into a smaller, and thereby easier, gear ratio; e.g. from the big ring to the small ring or from a smaller cog to a bigger cog.

Drafting
To ride behind another rider in the slipstream in order to conserve energy. At race speeds, a drafting rider uses 1/3 less power to move at the same tempo.

DNF
Did Not Finish.

DNP
Did Not Place.

DNS
Did Not Start.

Domestique
French term for the member of a bicycle team whose role is to support the team leader.

Double butted
Type of butting where the butt at the tube end is one step down in thickness from the thinner section in the middle. Also refers to spokes with a similar two step thinning.

Down tube
The tube on a frame that extends from the headtube to the junction with the bottom bracket shell.

Disc brakes
Brakes that use cable or hydraulically activated clamps to squeeze onto a metal disc.

Disc rotor
A metal (or less commonly carbon fiber) disc bolted onto a special mount on the hub. Disc brakes clamp onto this rotor to stop the bike.

Disc wheel
A solid wheel made of carbon fiber with substantial aerodynamic advantage over standard rim and spoke wheels. Typically used in time trials.

Dish
The amount that a wheel

Derny
A small, motor-powered bicycle or scooter used in motor-paced track races to allow bicycle riders, drafting behind, to ride faster than without the motorized draft.

Devil take the hindmost
See miss and out.

DFL
Dead F*****g Last or Doing it For Love.

Directeur sportif
An on-the-road manager for a bicycle race team who will typically drive the support car. From the French term for sporting director.

Cyclocross
A winter cycling discipline where riders compete on modified road bikes over a mostly off

Deep section rims
A rim that is deeper than a standard box section rim and ranges from 27mm to 100mm deep. Increases a wheel's aerodynamics.

Derailleur
The mechanism that moves the chain from one cog or chainring to another.

Cross country
A mountain bike discipline where racers ride up as well as down hills. Climbing ability, endurance and aerobic fitness are important. As opposed to gravity events.

Cowhorn bars
See base bars.

Crank
See crankset.

Crank arm
The lever arm of a crankset.

Crankset
Lever arms attached to the bottom bracket via an axle. The pedal is attached at one end and the chainrings at the other via a spider.

Criterium
A road race run using a lot laps on a very short loop course (from 800m to 5km).

Cone wrench
A very thin wrench used for holding the cone, or outer bearing surface, against the bearings while tightening the locknut with another wrench.

Corner
The ability of a bicycle rider to smoothly carry speed through turns.

Compact cranks
Crankset with a smaller bolt circle diameter (no more than 110 mm) that allows for smaller chainrings. Typically set up with 50

Compact frame
A road frame with a top tube that slopes from front to back and originally based on mountain bike frames. In contrast to a standard frame with a level top tube.

Component
Any of the parts attached to a bicycle frame that makes it rideable.

Cobbles
Primitive paving stones. Several classic races in the spring are run over roads paved with cobbles, most notably the Paris-Roubaix.

Cog
Any of the 8 to 11 gears mounted on the rear wheel. Freewheels and cassettes are both composed of cogs.

Cold forged
Forming a metal part by pressing the raw material into a form (as opposed to melt or hot forged).

Collarbone
The short bone that connects the arm to upper body. It is commonly broken in cycling accidents when riders brace against a fall using an outstretched hand, which then transmits the force of the fall directly into the collarbone.

Clips and straps
Leather or synthetic straps combined with metal or plastic cages attached to pedals. Once the rider's feet have been inserted, the straps are cinched down and the feet are secure.

Cluster
See cassette.

Cobbled classic
Any of the traditional classics run over cobbled roads.

Cleat
Metal or plastic piece fixed to a cycling shoe that snaps into a clipless pedal.

Clincher
Generic term for a tire that mounts on a clincher rim.

Clipless pedals
Pedals that snap onto a cleat mounted on a cycling shoe. Allows the rider to stay connected to the bicycle for more efficient pedaling and greater safety. As opposed to the clips and straps formerly used to secure riders

Clipped in
When a rider's feet are secured in the pedals.

Clean
To ride through a technical section without touching the ground or crashing.

Clavicle
See collarbone.