A race in which all the competitors start together at the same time, as opposed to time-trials or pursuits. Mass-start races were illegal in Britain for many years, which is a major reason for the popularity of time trials there. Theses days there are truly massive cycling events in the world, such as the New York Fivo, Cananda’s Le Tour de L’ille de Montreal. South Africa’s Argus and 94.7 Cycle Challenge attracts 30 000 cyclists each, and constitute individually timed events.

A special chain link designed to be easily disassembled and re-assembled. Most simple bicycles have these, but they are not generally used on bicycles with derailleur gearing, because conventional master links are too bulky to clear the closely spaced sprockets. The Craig Super Link and SRAM/Sachs Power Link are special master links, and a good choice for a cyclist who wishes to be able to remove the chain for cleaning.

Match sprint. A track event for two riders (who start together). Each rider would like to be behind the other for most of the race, because the rear rider has the initiative. As a result, most of the distance of a match sprint is covered at a very low speed. Suddenly, one of the riders attacks with a burst of energy, and the tempo changes from a slow cat-and-mouse dance to a full-out blast. This is the most popular track event.

Mechanical Advantage. Every linkage that transmits power has a particular mechanical advantage. This is a ratio between the amount of force applied and the amount delivered. "Work" is defined as a force applied through a distance. When work is transmitted through a mechanism that has a mechanical advantage other than 1:1, the force can be increased at the expense of acting throughout a reduced distance (as in the case of bicycle brakes, or gear shift levers) or the distance can be increased at the expense of reducing the amount of force transmitted (as in the case of the chain drive where the driving sprocket is larger than the driven sprocket).

A very nice British bike. There are all sorts of models, and a great many of these came into the U.S through the big mail order companies. Some models were very ornate. The ornate examples, with N.R. parts in guideline condition are probably worth around $900. Relatively plain examples with N.R. parts are probably worth several hundred less. There are few people who consider these to be super desirable, so they remain a very good value. There was a very plain model called the classic that was remarkably well-constructed that we tried forever to sell. It was such a nice frame with so little of a following. Maybe people will be inspired to take another look at these.

During the glory years of Eddy Merckx's racing career (regarded as the greatest racer of all time), he rode frames bearing his name. They were actually built by a variety of framebuilders - Masi, Colnago, De Rosa . In the 70's, Falcon of England actually produced a Molteni coloured bike bearing the Merckx markings. These bikes had basic frames, low-end parts, and were not terribly exciting. After his racing career ended, Merckx went into frame manufacturing and he sought the assistance of Ugo DeRosa. It is claimed that some of the early Merckx frames were actually produced by DeRosa. Drop outs, for instance, are finished almost identically to the DeRosa style on early Merckx frames. Later Merckx frames became a bit less refined, some even downright sloppy. Merckx frames will always have value because, in addition to the legendary name, they tend to provide a wonderful ride. Merckx makes certain that the bikes bearing his name are designed brilliantly, and that makes quite a difference.

A style of lady's frame in which the "top tube" consists of a pair of small diameter tubes running more-or-less straight from the upper head lug, past the seat tube, and on to the rear fork ends. A mixte frame has 3 sets of rear stays, instead of two. A variant on the mixte uses a single, full sized top tube running from the upper head tube to the seat tube, but retains the middle set of stays. A lady's type bike that lacks the middle pair of stays is not a mixte. Mixte frames are stronger than conventional lady's frames, particularly in resisting the tendency of the seat tube to get pushed backward in the middle when ridden by a heavy rider. Although technically less strong and stiff, the Mixte design has proven very durable. Interestingly the mixte frame has very good general feautures in offroad - downhill application as a result of the lower centre of gravity and lower standover height.

Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km north-east of Carpentras, Vaucluse. It is by far the biggest mountain in the region and has been dubbed the "Giant of Provence". The road over the mountain is often closed due to high winds. The top of the mountain is bare limestone without vegetation or trees, but despite being  originally forested it was systematically stripped of trees from the 12th century to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon. Mont Ventoux achieved worldwide notoriety when it claimed the life of Tom Simpson, who died here on July 13, 1967, from a combination of amphetamines, alcohol and heat exhaustion. (There is a memorial to Simpson near the summit.) In 1970, Eddy Merckx rode himself to collapse while winning this stage. He received oxygen, recovered, and won the Tour.

motor

marshal

Larger in diameter than the traditional sizes, commonly used for headsets and frame tubing. Oversized parts are stiffer, and can be lighter for their weight if the walls are made thin enough. When BMX racing became popular, frames built to these old standards couldn't always hold up to the rigors of BMX competition. Since the wide availability of T.I.G. welding freed designers from the need to use tubes that would fit standard-size lugs, oversized tubing became the norm for BMX frames. This design and technology was later adopted by builders of mountain bicycles. In the interest of improved chainwheel/tyre clearance, some mountain bicycles have "oversized" bottom brackets, with a shell width of 73 mm, rather than the standard 68 mm.

A group of cyclists riding close behind one another in a line, so that each cyclist can draft the cyclist in front, except, of course for the leader, who is taking a turn to pull the rest of the group. Riders will take turns at the front to break the wind, then rotate to the back of the line to rest in the draft. Larger group rides will often form double pacelines with two columns of riders. A group of cyclists in a pace line can maintain a substantially higher speed than even the fastest of the group could do alone. See also: Audax and peloton Group of riders riding at high speed by drafting one another.

pacman

braze-on

A bag that hangs alongside one of the wheels of a bicycle. They usually come in pairs. Well-equipped touring cyclists often use two pairs, one on the rear & the other on the front, for better weight distribution. If they are mounted so that the top of the pannier is below the top of the wheel, they are "low riders." Contrary to popular belief, "pannier" is not a French word, and should not be pronounced as one. The normal English pronunciation is: "PAN-yer". "Pannier" is, in fact derived from a French word: "panier", a basket (more specifically, a bread basket, from "pain", the French word for "bread."