FBinNY 

The biking season is winding down, so I think it's time to vent. What's your pet peeve here on BF?

Here's mine.

I bristle every time I see the word TENSION used, as in adjusting derailleur cable tension. You don't adjust cable tension --- that's determined by the spring. You're adjusting the LENGTH.

It bugs me, because I consider a clear understanding of how things work, key to successful mechanical problem solving.

It probably doesn't matter much regarding brake or gear cables since the job gets done either way, however it muddies the thinking in things like wheel alignment or building.

As I read those related threads, I keep seeing people focus on spoke TENSION and I wonder if it leads them to miss the point that you adjust the spoke's LENGTH, not its tension to bring the rim properly into position.

Anyway that's mine, what's yours?

Polaris OBark

Weird auto-correct or text-to-speech artifacts that make reading what should be a few simple paragraphs a bit of a challenge.

Examples:

The bind moggles when considering possible origins.

gearbasher

Chain "stretch".

freeranger

Riders flying by with no announcement--inconsiderate and dangerous for both riders. As this is in "mechanics", guess it would be ?? which obviously need specifics, but none are supplied.

Troul 

political views & assumptions that dictate one's brand of choice.

bboy314

Mine would have to be run-on sentences like when someone blathers on and on with no punctuation in one long paragraph how am I supposed to read all of that and offer suggestions when I can’t even decipher the steps you’ve taken so far a few bulletpoints can go a long way ok I’m done carry on

IPassGas

Seeing riders with, in order of most common, (1) too low tire pressure, (2) something brazenly creaking in the drive train, (3) all black clothing in the dark w/o lights.

Troul 

but you saw them, didn't you?

IPassGas

yes, the fraction that had not yet perfected their stealth mode.

Kai Winters

tempest in a teapot lol

RB1-luvr

Gravel talk. Gravel, gravel, gravel....

Koyote

My “pet peeve” is posts in which people complain about things just for the sake of complaining.

andrewclaus

My pet peeve is having to scroll through a lengthy quoted post including several photos to see a reply. Especially on post number two, when we've just read the OP.

pdlamb

Incorrect or questionable information posted as truth and defended ad infinitum.

No bonus points for pointing out the lack of italics in the preceding.

JohnDThompson 

Referring to a single sprocket as a "cluster," e.g.:

Desert Ryder

Fake news......

People who define you by what you ride/own.

smd4

Luckily I'm pretty easy-going, so my list is small:

--Handlebars with the brake levers pointing skyward at 45 degrees or greater;

--Saddles pointing downward 25 degrees or greater;

--Triple cranksets on road racing bikes;

--Barcon shifters on road racing bikes;

--Bells on road racing bikes.

--Tires greater than 25mm wide on road racing bikes;

--Dirty road racing bikes;

--90 degree or greater stems on road racing bikes;

--Seeing bikes that are obviously on their face too big or too small for riders, based on seat post height;

--Frayed cables;

--Rust;

--People who size cable housing way too long, so it forms hideous, friction-inducing loops fore and aft;

--Complaints that certain small things are too expensive (cables, bar tape, rim strips);

--Corollary: People using the wrong tool for the job, because they’re too cheap to purchase the right tool;

--Corollary: People who work on their bikes upside-down because they’re too cheap to buy a stand;

--Toe strap ends looped through the buckle;

--Quick releases, hub labels and rim/tire labels on the “wrong” side;

--Neglected bikes;

--The thought that properly cleaned and lubed chains are still “dirty;”

--People who don’t match their bar tape to their saddle color;

--Road racing tires colored anything other than black; Tan sidewalls are fine;

--Using the phrase "Tri-color" to refer to Shimano 600 Ultegra parts;

—People who write “tension meter” when the more accurate word is “tensiometer.”

--Black road racing components.

Iride01 

I know it got coined as a term back in my younger days. And even many magazines have called them by that name, But the thing that make me wince when I hear it is...

Brifter!


I didn't like the sound as it rolls off the tongue then and I don't like it now!

gearbasher

People that don't read the original post thoroughly and post things that don't pertain to the question. Or, offer advice and ask questions that the OP has already posted saying he/she had already tried doing those things.

squirtdad

people who ask for input and then get upset when the input does not affirm their thinking

smd4

So then why do you use a tensiometer when truing wheels, and not a ruler?

cxwrench

Exactly. It's actually cable length that gets adjusted but it's definitely spoke tension as well as length. It's just much more practical to measure it by tension.

SJX426 

I know this is a controversy due to the common usage not being specific of the definition, cog vs sprocket. The definitions indicate a sprocket is a subset of cogs with the specific feature of the teeth engaging into a component like a chain and not another cog.

base2 

Road handle bars rotated ~180 degrees. Obviously the owner should've bought an Oma/Opafiets if such a thing were available. But, shopping cart action & self reinforcing brake levers? Come on...At least Fred right.







Wait! Fredrite sounds like the name of a commuter bike company. I call dibs!

Rolla

Pedantry.