Hello Fred ,
Good One !
I hadn't thought of that one !
BUT ,
Let's make the example a Jeep Cherokee , 2 wheel drive . Because this one actually does NOT have independent front suspension ! The big long part in the middle ( which you can clearly see as the car goes past ) is called the "front axle" . But , the two little parts on the ends , on which the wheel-hubs actually rotate , are generally called "front spindles" !!
And mostly , these days , a rear wheel drive car with independent front suspension is not thought to really have a front axle , just two front spindles .
Of course , the same people down at the auto parts counter , who use the terms axle and spindle , are also the same folks who think that the word "motor" means the same thing as the word "engine" .
But , to get back on topic . . .
What is THE correct and proper engineering term for what is in the middle of these components :
hubs
bottom brackets
pedals
? ? ?
Cheers ,
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> > I recall a bicycle magazine article from
> > years ago which defined the usage as BB axle
> > (the shaft turned, and the item around it
> > remained stationary) and a hub spindle (the
> > shaft remained stationary, and the item
> > around it rotated).
> >
> > Does anyone else have an "industry" definition?
> Those definitions from Bicycling would be the opposite of what
> I was taught but consider this bit of info from the automotive
> world:
> A two wheel drive car has front and rear axles (well so does
> a four wheel drive car but that won't help me make my point).
> At the end with the driven wheels, what we call the axles
> rotate with the wheels in order to propel them. At the other
> end, the axles are stationary in their uprights and the wheels
> rotate around them. Yet they're both called axles in general
> parlance. So it seems to me that, with this subject, you
> simply can't be punctilious in your usage. Unless (to
> paraphrase Woody Allen) you're like trying to be like didactic.
> Cheers,
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
>
>
>
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