A Special TOUR de FRANCE: Know Your Bicycle Inside Out—in French s’il vous plait!

Posted on 08. Jul, 2011 by Hichem in Geography, News, People, Vocabulary

You seriously cannot call yourself a “Tour de France enthusiast” if you actually don’t know your own bicyclette (bicycle) inside out—in French, please!

Les bicyclettes Terrot (The Terrot Bicycles): And you thought that Dijon was only famous for its moutarde ? (Yes, the French lady on the picture is definitely into “la provoc’“)

* * *

First of all, a French semantic consideration is in order: Whether you hear someone say in French bicyclette or vélo, don’t get confused: These two words mean pretty much the same thing. It’s like you would say in English “bicycle” or “bike”. They are in general synonymous in French (even though, strictly speaking, you could say that “bicyclette“, as the prefix indicates, must contain exactly *two wheels*, whereas a vélo can have more or less than two.)

Today, we’ll get to know how different kinds of bikes are called in French, as well as how you would call each bike component en français.

1- Plusieurs types de bicyclettes (Different types of bikes):

La bicyclette de course (road bicycle)
Le vélo-cross (Cyclo-cross bike)
Le vélo tout-terrain, or “VTT“ (mountain bike)
La bicyclette de ville (city bicycle)
Bicyclette de course—en action !

And more unconventional ones, like le sociable or le tandem:

An example of la bicyclette sociable

* * *

Here’s, by contrast with the video above, a poignant example of a “not so sociable” bicycle!

* * *

2- Les composantes du vélo (Bike components):

- The more obvious components are:

Le guidon (the handlebars)
Les roues (the wheels)
La selle (the seat)
La chaine (the chain)
La pédale (the pedal)
Les freins (the breaks)
Le phare (the headlight)
Le feu arrière (the rear light)

- Less obvious elements of a bicyclette are:

Le dynamo (Generator)
La valve (Valve)
Les pneus (Tires)
La jante (Rim)
Le câble de frein (Brake cable)
La tige de selle (Seat post)
Le catadioptre (A bike reflector)
Le porte-bagage (The carrier)

And of course, don’t forget the important accessoires, such as le casque (helmet) for your own safety, and un antivol (an anti-theft lock) for your bike’s safety!

Why it’s always good to wear un casque when you’re riding your bicylette !