Bidons

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Flick of the Elbow

Flick of the Elbow

Guru
Location
Edinburgh
Almost all cycling lingo is French. The only common non French term I can think of is riding piano. Like the kid in Breaking Away, I don't have a problem with this. D'accord ?
 
John the Monkey

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Citius said:
Indeed it is - so why not call it a borracce or trinkflaschen ??
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Do you think that would be as widely and easily understood as "bidon" among your cycling confrères, as a synonym for cycling-specific-water-or-other-beverage-bottle?
 
Citius

Citius

Guest
John the Monkey said:
Cycling Specific Bottle, remember, as clarity is our aim here.
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Just 'bottle' will do - let's not over-complicate things, or pretend we're talking some special language. Last time a team-mate said to me "hand me up a bottle on lap 4, matey" - he didn't say 'bidon' (cos he isn't French) and I didn't need to clarify with him what type of bottle he meant.
 
Shut Up Legs

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
Citius said:
Just 'bottle' will do - let's not over-complicate things, or pretend we're talking some special language. Last time a team-mate said to me "hand me up a bottle on lap 4, matey" - he didn't say 'bidon' (cos he isn't French) and I didn't need to clarify with him what type of bottle he meant.
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When people use the term 'bidon', that also doesn't need clarification, because people already know what it means. If you seriously think English needs purifying by removing all words of foreign origin, then feel free to try to convince people of this. Good luck with that: you'll need it.
 
Citius

Citius

Guest
Shut Up Legs said:
When people use the term 'bidon', that also doesn't need clarification, because people already know what it means.
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Unless of course people don't know what it means - in which case it will need clarification.

Shut Up Legs said:
If you seriously think English needs purifying by removing all words of foreign origin, then feel free to try to convince people of this. Good luck with that: you'll need it.
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Thanks for the good wishes, but I never actually said anything remotely like that. Not sure how you arrived at that conclusion.
 
John the Monkey

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Citius said:
Just 'bottle' will do - let's not over-complicate things, or pretend we're talking some special language. Last time a team-mate said to me "hand me up a bottle on lap 4, matey" - he didn't say 'bidon' (cos he isn't French) and I didn't need to clarify with him what type of bottle he meant.
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How super!

I'm going to carry on saying, and indeed writing, bidon though. not only because of Its undoubted je ne sais quoi, but also because of the advantage of concise, clear meaning in situations where ambiguity may ensue otherwise.
 
400bhp

400bhp

Guru
How does a cover for a bidon work? You only want a cover for the bit that touches your mouth, so woulnd't a cover just get in the way?i
 
John the Monkey

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
400bhp said:
How does a cover for a bidon work? You only want a cover for the bit that touches your mouth, so woulnd't a cover just get in the way?i
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Usually some sort of plastic flip cap - it closes over the spout, normally around the circumference of the lid.

I've not seen it on cycling specific water bottles, but some commercial bottled water lids have a spout with an integral flip up lid - opening that means the spout is open too though (whereas the ones I describe above tend to have the spout you'd be used to from a cycling specific water bottle inside). How well that would work on a bike, or when running, I dunno.
 
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