| wack | A MTBiking term. Something that is not good. e.g. "It's pretty wack that my bike broke in two." | Bicyclesource.com |
| WADA | The World Anti-Doping Agency (created in 1999) is the international independent organization to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against doping in sport in all its forms. Composed and funded equally by the sports movement and governments of the world, WADA coordinated the development and implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), harmonizing anti-doping policies in all sports and countries. WADA works towards a vision of the world that values and fosters dope-free sport. | |
| wall | A MTBiking term. A road that looks like it goes straight up, because it practically does. Generally used for grades steeper than 10%, depending on region. | Bicyclesource.com |
| Wallride | A BMX term. Riding with both tyres on a vertical or near vertical wall. | Wikipedia.com |
| wang chung | A MTBiking term. What you might get when your stem has no nard guard. | Bicyclesource.com |
| wash out | Or simply to wash. To have the front tyre lose traction, especially while going around a corner or when inadvertantly locked. Generally results in the wheel ending up somewhere other than under the rider. | Bicyclesource.com |
| washboard | A MTBiking term. Small, regular undulations of the soil surface that make for a very rough ride. | Bicyclesource.com |
| washer | A metal disc with a hole in the middle. There are several different types of washers used on bicycles, to serve different purposes: Flat washers are commonly used between nuts or bolt heads and the parts that they tighten against. For most fasteners, it is desirable that the part that is turned by the wrench or screwdriver have a washer under it to protect the surface from the turning fastener. Flat washers are also commonly used to spread out the load when a fastener is attached to a thin or fragile part. Lock washers have one or more directional teeth that act like pawls against the bearing surface of the fastener. These make it easier to turn the fastener in the tightening direction than in the loosening direction, so it is less likely that the nut or bolt will rattle loose. | Sheldon Brown |
| watt | A measurement of power produced. It tells how much force is applied to the pedals. A power output of 100 watts will illuminate a 100-watt light bulb. | |
| webfoots | Term used by cyclist in Chicago for a bicycle fender/ mudguard. | The Complete Book of Bicycling |
| wedge bolt | Conventional handlebar stems use a long bolt running down the middle of the shaft to clamp the stem to the inside of the steerer. At the bottom of the stem shaft this bolt screws into a special shaped nut. These nuts are of two different types: Wedge-type stems have the bottom of the shaft cut off at an angle, and the nut is cylindrical with an angled top surface to match the angle of the bottom of the stem shaft. As the bolt is tightened, the wedge-shaped nut is pulled sideways so that it presses against one side of the steerer, and the shaft presses against the other side of the steerer. Most newer stems are of this type. Expander-type stems have square-cut shaft bottoms, but have one or two slots cut up from the bottom of the shaft. The nut is in the shape of a truncated cone. As the bolt is tightened, the conical nut spreads the bottom edge of the stem shaft outward, pressing it against the inside of the steerer. | Sheldon Brown |
| wedgie | Disparaging term used by recumbent fans to describe a conventional upright bicycle. | Sheldon Brown |
| weight-weenie | A MTBiking term. A bike owner (not even necessarily a rider) who is more concerned with how many milligrams a certain component saves off the bike's total weight than with how to be a better rider. | Bicyclesource.com |
| Weinman ® | A noted manufacturer of rims and (formerly) brakes. Formerly, Weinmann was based in Belgium and Switzerland, but the current Weinmann company is U.S. based. | Sheldon Brown |
| Westrick rim | A colloquial name for Raleigh pattern rims. "Westrick" is a made-up word combining "Westwood" with "Endrick." Westwood rims were only for use with rod brakes; Endrick rims were only for use with calliper brakes, but Raleigh Pattern, a.k.a. "Westrick" rims can be used with either type. They combine the raised (or dropped, depending how you look at it) centre that keeps rod brake shoes free from the risk of hitting the spokes, with the flat sides required for rim brakes. | Sheldon Brown |
| Westwood rim | The old-fashioned type of rim usually seen on roadsters. Westwood rims have rounded sides, so they are not suitable for use with calliper brakes. They are designed to be used on bicycles with rod brakes, where the brake shoes rub on the inside circumference of the rim. The Westwood profile has a ridge between the braking surfaces. The spoke holes are drilled into this ridge, and the ridge protects against the brake shoes hitting the nipples. Westwood rims are most commonly seen in the 635 mm (28 x 1 1/2) size, but they were made in most of the middleweight British sizes. | Sheldon Brown |
| whatton bars | Handlebars located below the seat of a U.S.S. recumbent. | Sheldon Brown |
| wheel | A hub, rim, spokes, tyre and tube, all together. | everythingbicycling |
| wheel lacing | The action whereby the spokes are affixed into the wheel. | The Complete Book of Bicycling |
| wheelbase | The distance between the wheel axles on a bike - or where the tyres touch the ground. Conventional wheelsbases range between 96.5 - 111.7 cm. In general, a bicycle with a longer wheel base is more stable and comfortable; one with a shorter wheel base tends to be more manoeuvrable. MTB tend to have longer wheelbases. | Richard's bicycle repair manual |
| wheelie | A wheelie is the act of using a combination of pedal thrust and weight shifting to raise the front wheel into the air. A skillful freestyler can lift the front wheel high enough that the centre of gravity moves over the rear wheel, then ride the bicycle as if it were a unicycle. The correct verb to describe the act of doing a wheelie is "pop". Wheelies often cause great stress on a bicycle's fork when the front wheel comes back down. A "nose wheelie" / “endo” results when the front brake is applied hard enough to cause the rear wheel to lift off. Achieved by either a very dodgy landing from a jump, or extreme application of the front wheel with accompanying weight shift and a lot of balancing…) | Sheldon Brown |
| wheelie | Lifting the front wheel off the ground, or the act of riding on the rear wheel only, usually with some combination of pulling on the handlebars, pedaling harder, and balance. | Bicyclesource.com |
| wheelie bike | Also known as a "high-riser", "Stingray", "polo bike", "banana bike", "Chopper", perhaps the most horrible children's bicycles ever made. Some retain a sentimental attachment to them, so there is an active market in "collectible" wheelie bicycles, but they were, in Sheldon Brown's considered opinion, an unmitigated disaster. Early wheelie bicycles were home made by adapting a bike made for a small child for use by a larger child. They would use a frame from a 20" wheel child's bike, install tall "ape hanger" handlebars and a "banana seat" which extended back over the rear wheel. The resulting weight distribution created a bicycle that would do a wheelie with the slightest effort. The American bicycle industry, led by Schwinn with it's "Stingray" and "Krate" models, jumped on this early '60's fad. The wheelie bike killed the 24" bike market, because these bicycles would sort-of fit children who should really have been riding on 24" wheels. Wheelie bicycles also greatly re-inforced the idea that the bicycle was a child's toy, not a serious vehicle. Wheelie bicycles in turn were killed by BMX bicycles, which are much more "ride able", but the 24" market never completely recovered. | Sheldon Brown |
| wheelsucker | A cyclist who drafts other cyclists without taking his or her share of pulling. | Sheldon Brown |
| whiner | Someone who fights the commissars over 19th place. | Dictionary of roadie slang |
| whiteknuckle | To rapidly descend on a trail that's sheer gonzo when you were expecting a cake walk. "Man, I just whiteknuckled that descent at like 50 kph! Why didn't you tell me about the dropoff and rock garden?" | Bicyclesource.com |
| wild pigs | A MTBiking term. Poorly adjusted brake pads that squeal in use. | Bicyclesource.com |
| wind up | Steady acceleration to an all-out effort. | Wikipedia.com |
| windchill | The effect of air moving across the skin, making the temperature seem older than it actually is. A cyclist creates a windchill even on a calm day, a situation that must be considered when dressing for winter rides. | Wikipedia.com |
| winky | A MTBiking term. A reflector. "Nice winky set, fred!" | Bicyclesource.com |
| wipeout | A MTBiking term. A crash. | Bicyclesource.com |
| wishbone | Wishbone type frames have seat stays that do not run all the way up to the seat cluster. Instead, there is a single tube running from the seat cluster down to where the brake bridge would normally be. The seat stays come up and join this tube, much as the blades of a unicrown fork join the steerer. The advantage usually given for this type of construction is that it provides a more solid mounting for cantilever brake studs, since there is only a short length of narrow seat stay above the stud. | Sheldon Brown |
| WOL | Abbreviation of "wide outside lane", an outside lane on a roadway that is wide enough to be safely shared side-by-side by a bicycle and motor vehicle. The road may be marked with partial lane markings to designate a portion of the lane for cyclists. | www.answers.com |
| Women's specific | Bitmap Designed-for-women bikes feature frames with shorter top tubes and longer head tubes to accommodate a woman's relative shorter reach , shorter torso and narrower shoulders and wider pelvis structure. In addition, these frames incorporate a lower standover height, shorter cranks (women have smaller feet), - stems, smaller brakelevers (for a women's smaller hands) and female saddles are shorter and broader than men's saddles. | everythingbicycling |
| wonky | Not functioning properly. "I bailed, and now my wheel is all wonky and all I hear are wild pigs." | Bicyclesource.com |
| wooden rims | In many ways wood is an ideal material for bicycle rims, and most bicycles in the early part of the century were equipped with them. They are light, strong and resilient. Wood rims are not suitable for "clincher" tyres, but worked well for other types. Wooden rims went out of style for road bicycles when rim brakes came in, but continued to be use on the track well into the '40's. They were eventually outlawed for competition because of their dangerous failure mode: When a highly-tensioned racing wheel with a metal rim was damaged, it would fold up, but it would stay together. Similar wood-rim wheels - when overstressed - would suddenly turn into a cloud of sharp, dangerous splinters. | Sheldon Brown |
| Woods valve | The Woods valve - also known as a "Dunlop" valve - is unusual and rarely seen in SA. It has a bottom similar to Schrader but necks down to about the size of a Presta- valve. Woods valves were formerly popular in the British Isles and Asia, and can be pumped with a Presta pump. | Sheldon Brown |
| work | To work is to do "turns on the front", aid a group of riders by sharing the workload of working against air resistance by "pulling on the front" of the group. similar to pull .Often used expressively in-combination with other expressions:eg "he is hasn't done any work all day he has just sat on the breakaway" working is used in many contexts in the peloton and road racing | Wikipedia.com |
| wrench | A MTBiking term. A bike mechanic, especially at a professional bike race in the US. | Bicyclesource.com |
| WSBA | An abbreviation for the' Washington State Bicycling Association'. | Bicyclesource.com |
| XC bike | A MTBiking term. XC race machine regardless of whether the frameset has been set up as hardtail or full susser, with the emphasis remains on superlight and responsive steering & the pedalling position being all about max power transfer to the rear wheel. | Cultcycling.co.za |
| XC racing | A MTBiking term. “Cross country” colloquialism for a mtb race consisting of multiple laps of a 6-7 km off road course. It is still considered the jewel in the crown of mountain biking despite the media attention given to downhill racing. | Cultcycling.co.za |
| Xenon | Xenon - an entrylevel 10-speed Campagnolo groupset. | Campagnolo.com |
| Xpress ® shifter | Sun Tour's below-the-bar shifter, similar to Rapidfire Plus ®. | Sheldon Brown |
| XT ® | A MTBiking term. Shimano mountainbiking componentry. | Sheldon Brown |
| XTR ™ | A MTBiking term. Shimano crownjewel MTB titanium componentry. | Sheldon Brown |
| X-Up | A BMX term. Turning the bars 180° or beyond while holding onto them. | Wikipedia.com |
| yammering | Chatting whilst on the bike. | Dictionary of roadie slang |
| yard sale | A MTBiking term. A horrendous crash that leaves all your various "wares" - water bottles, pump, tool bag - scattered as if on display for sale. (From skiing) | Bicyclesource.com |
| yield | When an object is bent so far that it does not spring back to its original shape when the stress is removed, it is said 'to yield', having been bent past the point of no return. | Sheldon Brown |
| yoke | A fitting used on centre-pull calliper and cantilever brakes which use a transverse cable. The yoke is the part that connects the main cable to the transverse cable. This is frequently misspelled as "yolk", which is part of an egg. | Sheldon Brown |
| Y-socket tool | A handy combination spanner with 8mm, 9mm and 10mm sockets. | Richard's bicycle repair manual |
| Zap ® | An electronic rear derailleur made by Mavic. | Sheldon Brown |
| Zipp ® | An Italian manufacturer of bicycle wheels (its 404's are very well known), highly regarded throughout the industry. | Sheldon Brown |
| zone de ravitaillement | A French cycling term. A designated section of the race where riders pick up musettes from the soigneurs. The end of the zone de ravitaillement is a good place for spectators to pick up discarded water bottles and musette bags. | University of Toronto |
| zone out | A MTBiking term. A state of mind where you think you've reached The Zone, but you really just stopped paying attention to what you're doing. Usually used as an excuse for a particularly embarrassing biff. | Bicyclesource.com |
| zonk | A MTBiking term. Same as bonk. | Bicyclesource.com |
Cycling Terms 
