Useful words and phrases

Published on:  | Last updated: 25 March 2018

Signs

  • incrocio pericoloso — dangerous junction
  • rallentare — slow down
  • curva pericolosa — dangerous bend
  • uscita mezzi pesanti/automezzi — entrance used by heavy vehicles
  • strada chiusa — road closed
  • strada chiusa a [x] km — road closed at the x-kilometre point
  • deviazione — diversion
  • divieto di transito — road closed
  • frana — landslide
  • strada disestato — road in poor condition
  • bici a mano —  cyclists dismount
  • discesa ripida — steep descent
  • velocipedi cyclist
  • vietato — forbidden 
  • vietato appog­giare biciclette — do not leave/park bikes here 

Bike parts and repairs

Useful phrases
  • there’s a problem with this — c’è un problema con questo
  • it doesn’t work — non funziona
  • it’s working badly/not working properly — funziona male
  • I need — mi sirve […]
  • I need a tool for this — mi sirve un utensile per questo — 
  • I need a new inner tube like this one — mi sirve una camera d’aria come questa -
  • can you do it today? — sarebbe possibile farlo oggi? — 
  • how long will it take? — quanto tempo ci vuole?
Parts and consumables
  • inner tube — una camera d’aria
  • valve — una valvola (Schrader/Presta — you defin­itely don’t want Regina)
  • tyre repair patch — un Tip-Top (this brand is so common it has become the word people use, but if you prefer, una pezza reparazione)
  • tyre repair kit — un set di reparazione (or un set Tip-Top)
  • tyre — una copertura (may also be referred to as un copertono — un copertoncino)
  • folding tyre — una coperta pieghevole
  • cable — un cavo
  • gear cable (stainless steel) — cavo di cambio (acciaio INOX)
  • chain (9-speed) — una catena (nove velocità)
  • chainlube/lubricant —  lubri­ficante [per la catena]
  • grease — grasso
  • olio (eg for forks) — olio
  • screw/bolt — un vito
  • chainring bolt — un vito guarnitura
  • chainring — una guarnitura
  • water bottle — una borraccia
  • bottle­holder — una portabor­raccia
  • Co2 cartridge — una bomboletta di CO2 (‘ci-oh-due’)
Wheels and tyres
  • 26-inch — ventisei pollice
  • 2-inch — due police
  • tyre lever — una levagomme
  • puncture — un buco (or una foratura di camera d’aria)
  • tubeless — tubeless (non-tubeless — montaggio con camera)
  • quick-release — un bloccaggio rapido
  • wheel(s) — la ruota — le ruote
  • spoke(s) — il raggio (i raggi)
  • rim — il cerco
Brakes
  • brake — il freno (i freni)
  • disc brakes — i freni a disco
  • v-brakes — i freni V or i v-brake
  • canti­lever brakes — i freni di corsa
  • brake lever — leve freno
  • brake blocks — i pattini di ricambio
  • brake block holder portapattini
  • disc brake pad — una pastiglia freno (or pads)
  • a pair of disc brake pads — un paio di pastiglie (or una coppia di pastiglie) or due pad
  • sintered/organic pad — una pastiglia sinterrazzata/organica
  • resin pad — una pastiglia in resina
  • brake fluid (for hydraulic brakes) — brake fluid
Transmission
  • gears — le marcie
  • pedal — il pedalo — i pedali
  • front mech — il deragliatore anteriore
  • rear mech - deragliatore posteriore or il cambio
  • shifters - i comandi cambio
  • bottom bracket — il movimento centrale
  • external BB cups — le callotte delle guarniture
Other bike parts
  • frame - il telaio
  • forks — la forcella
  • suspension fork - una forcella ammortizata
  • seatpost — una regisella
  • stem — piantone
  • handlebars — il manubrio
  • bar ends — gli appendici manubrio
Tools
  • pump — una pompa
  • mini-pump — una minipompa (probably best not to ask for a pompino (blow-job) in a bike shop)
  • Co2 cartridge — una bomboletta di CO2 (‘ci-oh-due’)
  • minitool — un minitool
  • cassette tool — chiave cassetta
  • spoke tool — una tira raggi
  • screw­driver — una cacciavita ( — crosshead screwdriver)
  • spanner — una chiave
  • pedal spanner — una chiave per pedali
  • cone spanner — una chiave per coni
  • adjustable spanner — un chiave inglese
  • chaintool — un estrattore catena
  • allen key — una chiave esagonale
  • spanner for chainring bolts — una chiavetta bussole viti guarnitura
Tools for hollowtech cranksets/external BBs
  • Shimano tool for left hand  crank — una chiave per montare la ghiera pedivella sinistra
  • external BB tool - una chiave per montare le calotte delle guarniture

Reading a route description

There’s always Google Translate, but sometimes but a few useful words and phrases can help to make sense of a route description.

  • sinistra/destra — left/right (abbre­vi­ations SX or DX)
  • dislivello — the amount of climbing
  • impeg­nativo — a hard climb or ride
  • difficile/medio/facile — difficult/average/easy
  • strada — road
  • strada sterrata — unsur­faced road (also carrareccia)
  • fondo [stradale]- road surface (normally either asfalto or sterrato)
  • sentiero — path
  • pista/percorso ciclabile — cycle path but don’t assume it’s rideable with a roadbike
  • percorso ciclope­donale — path shared with pedes­trians (pretty much all cycleways are shared with pedestrians)
  • discesa — descent
  • discesa ripida — steep descent
  • salita — climb
  • salita ripida — steep climb
  • pendenza — gradient
  • incrocio — junction
  • scaricare [traccia GPS/roadbook] — download GPS track/roadbook]
  • s.l.m — altitude above sea-level
  • sede propria su asfalto — part of traffic-free cycleway with a tarmac surface
  • sede propria su sterrato — part of traffic-free cycleway with aggregate surface
  • sede promiscua a basso traffico — part of cycle route on roads with light traffic
  • sede promiscua forte traffico — part of cycle route on busy roads

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