Glossary
Bicycle Mechanic Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential bicycle mechanic terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key bicycle mechanic vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in bicycle mechanic training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bleed
- Removing air from hydraulic brakes.
- Bottom bracket
- Crank bearing.
- Cassette
- Rear gears.
- Chain stretch
- Wear that lengthens chains.
- Chainring
- Front gears.
- Derailleur
- Shifts the chain.
- Disc brake
- Brake using a rotor.
- Headset
- Steering bearing.
- Hub motor
- E-bike motor in the wheel.
- Mid-drive
- E-bike motor at the cranks.
- Spoke tension
- Tightness of spokes.
- Torque spec
- Correct tightness.
- Truing
- Straightening a wheel.
- Tubeless
- Tires without tubes.
- Tune-up
- Full adjustment service.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Bicycle Mechanic practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Bicycle Mechanic training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.