For the Marcel Duchamp sculpture, see Bicycle Wheel.
A bicycle wheel is a wheel designed for a bicycle. A pair is called a wheelset, especially in the context of performance-oriented wheels. A wheel consists of a rim connected to the hub by spokes. At the end of each wheel spoke is a nut, called a nipple. Bicycle wheels connect to the frame and fork via dropouts.
The hub uses bearings to reduce friction with the axle. Except in fixed gear bicycles, the rear hub is connected to the freewheel and the rear sprockets. Some bicycle wheels are attached using a ...
For road bicycle racing performance there are several factors which are generally considered the most important:
weight (for this article equivalent to mass)
rotational inertia
aerodynamics
hub/bearing smoothness
stiffness
Semi-aerodynamic and aerodynamic wheelsets are now commonplace for road bicycles. Aluminum rims are still the most prevalent, but carbon fiber is also becoming popular. Carbon fiber is also finding use in hub shells to reduce weight, although some argue that its proximity to the center of rot ...
Bicycle wheel - 26-inch/ISO 559.
26-inch clincher tires (with inner tubes) are the most common wheel size for mountain bikes. The typically 26er rim has a diameter of 22.0" (559mm) and an outside tire diameter of about 26.2" (665mm) Increasingly tubeless tires are becoming more popular. Tubeless tires are often called by the acronym UST. UST tires allow the rider to run lower tire pressures for better traction and shock absorption without risking puncturing the tube in convential bicycle tires.
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A bicycle lock is a physical security device used on bicycles to prevent theft. They are generally used to fasten the bicycle to a bicycle rack or any immovable object.
An important difficulty in preventing the theft of a bicycle is that the wheels are easily detachable from the frame, and that unless the bicycle is attached to an immobile object it can easily be carried away. However, if only the frame is locked, a wheel or wheels may be stolen. The most secure locking systems therefore lock the wheels ...
A wheel is a circular object that, together with an axle, allows low friction in motion by rolling. Common examples are found in transport applications. More generally the term is also used for circular objects rotating for other purposes, such as a wheel and axle and a flywheel.
Wheel - Mechanics.
Wheels are used in conjunction with an axle, either the wheel turns on the axle or the wheel is rigidly attached to the axle which then turns in bearings in the body of the vehicle. The mechanics are the same in ...
A bicycle, or bike, is a pedal-driven land vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. First introduced in 19th-century Europe, bicycles evolved quickly into their familiar, current design. Numbering over 1,000,000,000 in the world today, bicycles provide the principal means of transportation in many regions and a popular form of recreational transport in others. To distinguish a bicycle from a mot ...
A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and is made of two triangles, a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. This is known as the diamond frame. The main triangle consists of the head tube, top tube, down tube and seat tube. The rear triangle consists of the seat tube, and paired chain stays and seat stays. The head tube contains the headset, the interface with the fo ...
A bicycle rack is a device to which a bicycle can be securely attached to prevent theft. The rack is in turn anchored to the ground or a solid structure such as a building wall.
Early models tend to offer a means of securing one wheel: these can be a grooved piece of concrete in the ground, or a forked piece of metal into which a wheel of the bicycle is pushed. These are not very effective, since a thief need only detach the wheel in question from the bicycle to free the rest of the bicycle. They also do not offer much support, ...
A bicycle chain is a chain that transfers power from the pedals to the drive-wheel of a bicycle thus propelling it.
The chain in use on modern bicycles is a roller chain with a 1/2" pitch. Chain comes in either 1/8" or 3/32" widths. 1/8" is used on the common low cost coaster, three speed, fixed gear and track bicycles, and 3/32" is used on derailleur-equipped road bicycles such as racing and touring models.
Bicycle chain - History.
Obsolete chain designs previously used on bicycles included the bloc ...
The velocipede was the predecessor of the bicycle, introduced in the Victorian age. These vehicles had a variety of designs, of 2, 3, or 4 wheels. Some 2 wheel designs had pedals mounted on the front wheel, other 3 and 4 wheel designs used treadles and levers to drive the rear wheel/s. Later 2 wheel velocipedes had increasingly large front wheels, directly driven by bicycle pedals, and a smaller ...
Bicycle brake systems are used to stop a bicycle. There have been various types through history, and several types still in use today.
Bicycle brake systems - History.
Early bicycles such as the high wheeled penny-farthing bikes had no brakes as we would recognize them. As the machines were fixed gear bicycles a rider could reduce speed by reversing the thrust on the pedals. Otherwise a rider who wanted to stop quickly had to jump off the bike as it was moving. Unsurprisingly there were many accidents, many ...
A bicycle fork is the portion of a bicycle that holds the front wheel and allows one to steer. A fork consists of two dropouts which hold the front wheel axle, two blades which join at a fork crown, and a steerer to which the handlebars attach allowing the user to steer the bicycle. The steerer of the fork interfaces with the frame via a headset.
On most mountain bicycles, the fork contains a set of shock absorbers. The suspension travel and handling characteristics vary depending on the type of mountain biking the fork is designed for. For instance, manufacturers produce different forks for ...
The gearing on a bicycle is the selection of appropriate gear ratios for optimum efficiency or comfort. Different gears and ranges of gears are appropriate for different people and styles of cycling. Multi-speed bicycles allow gear selection to suit the circumstances, e.g. it may be comfortable to use a high gear when cycling downhill, a medium gear when cycling on a flat road, and a low gear when cycling uphill.
On a bicycle, power is transmitted from the rider's legs to the rear wheel via the pedals, crankset, chain, and rear ...
A bicycle pedal provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crankarm allowing the leg to be used to turn the crank. The Velocipede, a predecessor to the bicycle, lacked pedals but allowed the crank to be operated by means of a treadle. Pedals were initially attached to crankarms connecting directly to the driven (usually front) wheel. The safety bicycle as we know it today came in to being when the pedals were attached to a crankarm driving a ring gear that transm ...
A clown bicycle or clown bike is designed for comedic visual effect or stunt riding. Sometimes called a circus bike.
Clown bicycle - Types of clown bike.
bucking bike (with one or more eccentric wheels);
tall bike (often called an upside down bike, constructed so that the pedals, seat and handlebars are all higher than normal)
Come-apart bike, (essentially a unicycle, plus a set of handlebars attached to forks and a wheel).
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A unicycle is a one-wheeled human powered vehicle. Unicycles are similar to, but less complex than, bicycles.
Unicycle - Construction.
Unicycles are comprised of a few key parts: the wheel, which includes the tire, tube, rim, spokes, hub and axle; the cranks and pedals; the frame; the seatpost; and the saddle. The wheel is the main part of the unicycle; it is basically a bicycle wheel with a special hub that doesn't freewheel, which means the axle can't turn independently of the hub. This makes it so the ro ...
A cruiser bicycle is a bicycle designed for riding on roads and paths in comfort and style over performance. Handlebars are straight or curved back, facilitating an upright riding position. Large, padded seats are the norm. Shock absorbers are common, both on the wheels and on the seat post. Cruisers have either a single gear or simple and minimal gearing, often through hub gearing. Instead of lever-operate
The crankset is the component of a bicycle drivetrain that converts the reciprocating motion of the rider's legs into rotational motion used to drive the chain, which in turn drives the rear wheel. It consists of one or more chainrings attached to the crankarms. It is connected to the rider by the pedals, to the bicycle frame by the bottom bracket, and to the rear sprocket, cassette or freewheel via the chain.
On older styles the spider—the multi-armed piece that connects the chainring to the bottom brack ...
-cycle is a suffix used in two contexts - transport, and measurement.
-cycle - Transport.
The English suffix -cycle indicates a vehicle for transportation, but generally smaller than an automobile or truck. Alternatively, it is used to specify the number and arrangement of wheels in any vehicle. Typical is bicycle, a lightweight two wheel device powered by the rider, or a motorcycle, a two wheeled motor powered device substantially larger than a bicycle and which is not powered by the rider i ...
An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. In some cases the axle may be fixed in position with a bearing or bushing sitting inside the hole in the wheel or gear to allow the wheel or gear to rotate around the axle. In other cases the wheel or gear may be fixed to the axle, with bearings or bushings provided at the mounting points where the axle is supported. Sometimes, especially on bicycles, the latter type is referred to as a spindle.
Axle - Vehicle axles.
Axles are an important structural ...
