The Anatomy of a Cycle
If you're a newbie to cycling, often the anatomy of a bike can be frustrating to understand.
You could be at a group ride meet up and hear seasoned riders use terms like a derailleur, crank, caliper. Perplexed!? Or you need to explain to a mechanic what is wrong with the bike.
Breaking down the technical jargon is an important step towards becoming a knowledgeable cyclist.
Let’s look at the typical bicycle and explain what’s what in the anatomy of a bike..
- Frame - At the heart of the bike is the aluminum, steel, titanium, or carbon-fiber frame. Composed of a top tube, head tube, down tube, bottom bracket shell, seat tube, seat stays, and chainstays.
- Bar ends - the angled extensions attached to the ends of some flat handlebars and riser handlebars that provide an alternate place to rest your hands.
- Bottom bracket - the collection of ball bearings and spindle housed within the bottom bracket shell of the frame, which provides the "shaft" mechanism on which the crank arms turn.
- Braze-ons - threaded sockets that may or may not be present on the bike frame that provide a place to attach accessories such as bottle cages, cargo racks, and fenders.
- Cage - the name for the water bottle holder.
- Chainrings - the gears that are attached to the right-hand crank arm nearer to the front of the bike.
- Crank arms - the pedals screw into these; these bolt onto the bottom bracket spindle.
- Cyclocomputer - A electronic device with features, speedometer/odometer, and other ride data.
- Derailleur - the device that handles the job of moving the chain from one gear to another when you shift gears.
- Derailleur hanger - a part of the frame where the rear derailleur is attached.
- Drop bar - the type of handlebar found on road racing bikes, with the half-circle-shaped curved ends that extend below the top, flatter part of the bar.
- Stem - the part that connects the handlebar to the frame.
- Dropouts - the U-shaped notches at the rear end of the bike frame, and at the bottom ends of the front fork legs, where the wheels are held in place.
- Fixed gear - "Fixie" for short is a type of bicycle that has a single gear and does not have a freewheel.
- Headset - the collection of bearings housed within the head tube of the bike frame; it provides smooth steering.
- Cassette - the collection of gears that are attached to the rear wheel on most modern bicycles.
- Saddle - just a fancy word for "seat."
- Hub - the central component of a wheel; inside the hub are the axle and ball bearings.
- Nipple - A small flanged nut that holds a spoke in place on the rim. Turning the nipples with a spoke wrench allows the tension in the spokes to be adjusted, making sure the wheel is perfectly round.
- Rim - the outer "hoop" part of a wheel. Usually made of aluminum, although can be made of steel on some older or low-end bikes, or made of carbon fiber on some high-end racing bikes.
- Rim strip/tape - a layer of material, usually cloth, plastic, or rubber, that is installed around the outside of a rim, to prevent the ends of the spokes from puncturing the inner tube.
- Seatpost - the rod that connects the saddle to the frame.
- Seat clamp - the collar located at the top of the seat tube on the frame, which holds the seatpost at the desired height.
- Cog - a single gear on a cassette or freewheel gear cluster, or the single rear gear on a fixed-gear bike.
- Wheel - the complete assembly of hub, spokes, nipples, and rim.
If you’re looking for more information, do leave it in the comments.
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