Glossary of Bike Terms - Part 2

DJ

Dirt Jumper! A style of mountain bike with a beefy frame and fork, designed for jumps. On dirt. Often only one gear, but sometimes more. Think ‘stunt BMX with big wheels’ and you’re pretty close. 

Enduro

A mountain bike race format originating in France, which involves crazy fast downhill combined with actually riding uphill as well. The climbing sections aren’t timed - just the breakneck down hill sections. Enduro bikes are slightly different to pure downhill bikes in the amount of suspension travel and in the geometry which makes the bike  marginally less unpleasant to ride upwards. 

Fixie

A Fixed-Gear bike. The simplest form of two wheeled bike. When the bike is moving, so are the pedals. You can’t ‘coast’, where the bike rolls along and the pedals are static. Clever types can even ride these things backwards! The bikes you see on velodromes are all fixies. Without brakes. Yep - those crazies are riding at upwards of 50km/h, effectively naked, with no brakes. And if they tried to stop pedalling, they’d probably break their knees.

Gravel

A marketing term for off-tarmac riding. The Gravel segment of cycling has exploded in the last 10 years. Gravel bikes open up a world of bumpy, unsealed roads that would be uncomfortable, if not impossible, to ride on a regular road bike. It’s different to mountain biking in the number of kilometres covered and the surfaces that gravel bike are best suited to. Gravel bikes are kind of like road bikes, but 

• longer (for stability)
• their geometry is optimised towards slower steering and lower centre of gravity
• they sometimes have some form of suspension; or sometimes in-built frame flex for improved comfort and roadholding 
• they have clearance for wider tyres
• they often have attachment points for bikepacking bags
• they have wider, flared drop bars for better control on looser surfaces
• and their gearing is optimised for steep, loose climbs and slower, bumpier tracks.   

Groupset

Groupset is the name for the specific combination of gears, brakes, chain and cranks on a bike. Not necessarily what ratios the gears are… just the level in the maker’s hierarchy. So if someone says they’re running ‘full Ultegra’, that means the shifters, derailleurs, cranks, brakes and probably chain all belong to Shimano’s 2nd tier Ultegra groupset. It’s much less of a thing for mountain bikers who tend to mix and match components across brands much more. 

Hectic 

Mad. Crazy. Out of control. A super-gnarly mountain descent… or a fast finish on a road race… or a bad day in traffic. 

Hoops

Wheels. Specifically rims, but ‘hoops’ is often used to refer to complete wheels too. Riders love to nonchalantly refer to their $3500 carbon wheels as ‘hoops’ to earn bonus aura.

Hybrid

A hybrid is a cross-breed, right? Initially, a Hybrid bike was exactly that. It’s what someone imagined would happen if a road bike (larger diameter wheels, frame built for speed, tyres with minimal rolling resistance) had a baby with a mountain bike (flat bars, upright riding position, suspension, easy gearing). The word ‘hybrid bike’ has kind of come to mean a commuting bike, and actually takes a few different forms. But basically, it’s the result of a romance between a roadie and a bush basher.  

MAMiL

The Middle Aged Man in Lycra. It’s easy to snigger at the tight lycra, often suffering at the hands of a gut that has had one too many beers. It would be easy to think that the carbon fibre road bike has become the new mid-life crisis - like the red sports car was in the 70s. But think a little deeper. The research supports it… bike riding is good for physical health and mental health. These people are saving Medicare real money with lower rates of depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis and many other chronic illnesses associated with aging. Let them enjoy their lattes in peace. They’re not very pretty but they’re not hurting anyone.

Manual

A kind of wheelie executed by throwing your weight back on the bike and pulling up with the hands; as opposed to stomping power down on the pedals. Manuals are useful for negotiating short, sharp, rollers like you’d find on a pump track. They’ll also make you look cool in front of the kids. 

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