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Old July 11th 17, 02:52 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc,alt.usage.english
Joy Beeson
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Posts: 1,638
Default AG: Cleaning agent

On Mon, 10 Jul 2017 13:36:10 +0100, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
wrote:

"chainwheel" is used by the British company Brompton Bicycle Ltd.

It is used to refer to the whole "wheel" to which the pedals are
attached. The "chainring" is the replaceable outer part of the assembly.


That explains why I say "big ring" and "small ring", but my internal
editor balks at "chainring".

Just checked: the larger chainwheel on my Fuji is all one piece, and
the small ring is bolted to it.

Really small; the mechanic told me that it was supposed to be the
inmost ring of a triple crankset. It makes shifting touchy for the
first few weeks after I've been shut in for a while, but it made it
possible to ride in Albany County, New York, and is even more
important now that I don't run up and down stairs several times for
every meal, and have to spend the winter inside. (Ob AUE: is the
comma after "meal" necessary?)

It seems to me that "ring" for "wheel" is standard metonymy, like
"wheels" for "car", "blade" for "knife", and "spare tire" for "spare
wheel". In each case you refer to the whole by the name of the
important part.

I think "crankset" a superior term to "chainset"; a person
encountering "crankset" for the first time would need very little
context to deduce that it's a pair of cranks with some necessary parts
attached, particularly if he's familiar with "frameset". "Chainset"
could easily mean the entire drivetrain.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/



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