My pet peeve is the use of the term "forks" on the east side of the Atlantic to refer to the front fork. Evidently, our Anglo-Saxon cousins view each leg of the front fork as a "mini-fork". Presumably, the tines of the fork are the small points on each side of the dropout. It would seem more intuitive that the entire structure be viewed as a large fork, with two legs. After all, even across the lake, they speak of a "fork crown," not a "forks crown."
Louis Schulman Tampa, Florida (contemplating the assembly of my very English Holdsworth Italia Strada Specialissimo.)
-----Original Message----- From: Sheldon Brown <CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com> Sent: Feb 23, 2004 2:30 PM To: REClassicBikes@aol.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Fixed Wheels & track bikes
http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/
Martin Coopland wrote:
>It is one of my most irk some missed used phrases.
One of my bit peeves is when folks from Great Britain don't realize that there are legitimate differences in English usage on the two sides of the Atlantic, and that these differences don't mean that Yanks are ignorant, just that the languages have evolved differently.
This is particularly noticeable in technical matters involving technologies that have evolved since our nations came to the parting of the ways in 1783. For instance, almost every part of an automobile has a different name depending on where you are.
When an American fits "fenders" to his bike to keep dry, he doesn't call them "fenders" because he's so stupid that he doesn't know the "correct" term is "mudguards." In fact, the correct term in the U.S. _is_ fenders, and it is generally considered rather affected to call them by the British term "mudguards," if it is even understood at all.
_Correct_ usage of many terms does differ across the Atlantic. It's
patronizing and offensive to accuse those on the opposite shore of
being "incorrect" or "ignorant" when they use the appropriate
terms/spellings for their location.
>I have now been told in no uncertain terms, by Sheldon, that I am wrong.
You're not wrong to use the term "fixed wheel", but you are wrong to
criticize those who use the term "fixed gear" in its standard sense.
>However I do not see it that way. Several things suggest otherwise to me.
>
>We (English speakers) call a freewheel a freeWHEEL, because it not a fixed
>WHEEL.
>
>If we were trying to distinguish a freewheel from something described as a
>fixed GEAR, a freewheel would be know as a Free GEAR. It is not.
OK, I think I see the problem. If you loosen the axle nuts of a track bicycle and remove the wheel, the thing you hold in your hand is a "fixed wheel."
However, if you loosen the axle nuts and remove the rear wheel of a one-speed freewheeling bike, the thing you hold in your had is _not_ a "freewheel." It is a _wheel_ with a freehweel attached.
A "freewheel" is not actually a wheel, it is a mechanism. Another name for a freewheel is "ratchet."
Note that "fixed wheel" is two words, but "freewheel" is a single word. Here's the entry from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary:
Main Entry: 1freewheel Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: |
Function: noun
1 : a power-transmission system in a motor vehicle comprising an
overrunning clutch that is interposed between the gearbox mechanism
and the final drive and that makes the connection for a positive
drive between the engine shaft and propeller shaft but permits the
propeller shaft to run freely when its speed is greater than that of
the engine shaft
2 : a clutch that is fitted in the rear hub of a bicycle and that
engages the rear sprocket with the rear wheel when the pedals are
rotated forward and permits the rear wheel to run on free from the
rear sprocket when the pedals are stopped or rotated backward --
compare COASTER BRAKE
>So despite Sheldon's posting, containing several sophistries,
If you're going to accuse me of sophism, you should at least have the
decency to be specific. This is out of line.
>I believe the correct term to be Fixed wheel.
_A_ correct term is "fixed wheel" particularly East of the Atlantic.
>I will freely accede that the term "fixed gear" is widely missed used and
>widely misunderstood. This is as much in print as in everyday verbal use.
Will you tell us that we're "wrong" to spell "colour" as "color", or
"aluminium" as "aluminum" next?
>I once read a cycling manual that advised me to "sleep on my back, with the
>window open and wear goggles" if I wanted to be a racing cyclist. Print is not
>proof.
Sophistry...?
>The term "freewheel" is not really applicable to direct drive (ordinary)
>bicycles, because in their heyday, before the common up take of the non direct
>drive (safety) bicycling, freewheels were not generally used and there was no
>need to differentiate between fixed and free wheels.
There is a difference between a free wheel and a freewheel. See above.
>A Sturmey Archer ASC, is a three speed hub, providing a fixed wheel in each
>gear. It is not a fixed gear.
Sturmey-Archer didn't agree. See: http://sheldonbrown.com/
Sheldon "Yank, And Not Ashamed Of It" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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| -- George Bernard Shaw |
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