Question - when did derailleurs become "mechs"?

[lconley]

In 54 years of working on bicycles with derailleurs, I had never used or heard them referred to as "mechs" until the last year or so. Where did this come from? Does it only refer to non-electronic derailleurs?

Laing

Old guy in Delray Beach FL

[Luke Hendrickson]

I’ve been wondering the same thing. I don’t hear anyone in the shop where I work (customer or mechanic) refer to them as such. I assume it’s a trend?

Luke

Old at heart in San Francisco

[Steven Sweedler]

Mechs is The British term for rear derailleur. Steve

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Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

[Eric Floden]

IIRC a retronym is a new term required when new tech or other developments dictate a new term. The only example that comes to mind is "black and white teevee" yo replace "teevee*" after colour teevees became a thing.

Or maybe not...

EricF
A sometime enjoyer of wordplay

* spelling hopefully endorsed by Gilbert Shelton

[Patrick Moore]

I think "mech" is an ancient British cycling term, doubtless from back when most British racing bikes were fixed gear time trial bikes, so that anything as complicated and mechanical and fussy as a device to shift a chain across multiple cogs was by contrast a "mechanism." And of course the Brits also said "Campag" instead of "Campy," so there's no telling what terms they might come up with.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Josiah Anderson]

Yep, British term. I've never heard it said here in the US but I've seen it in writing plenty of times throughout my decade-plus of experience with bikes (I was born seven years after Bridgestone USA folded and have been working on bikes since late elementary school). As far as I know the term has been around for a long time.

Josiah

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[Joe Bernard]

Yep, I use the term and I picked it up from British magazine bike reviews. Cuz it sounds kinda cool and cuz I don't have to decide if I'm going to type derailer or hope my phone knows how to spell derailleur. 

Joe "that's a nice bit of kit" Bernard 

[George Schick]

The late, great Sheldon Brown on the same subject in one of his threads referred to rear deraillers as "jumpers," which he said was the African-American term for that component.  In similar manner, he called cassettes "kah-septs" which he attributed to the French for some reason.  Hmmm...seems to be a bit of similarity here, but then there is what the early mountain biking crews referred to a chain that had over shifted the front derailler as "chain suck."  Go figure.

[Ben Adrian]

Yeah, I first heard it when I began watching GCN videos. It seems like the U.K. produces the mosts cycling media, with a huge uptick on Youtube from U.K. sources in teh last 5 years or so. that would be my guess.

Cheers!

Ben

[Nick Payne]

It's an English term for derailleurs that's been around for decades. I can remember seeing it in English cycling magazines in the 1970s when I first became interested in cycling.

Nick Payne

[Garth]

I watch Europsport live cycling coverage all the time and to further the "mech" term, in racing when a rider suffers a dropped chain and/or any gearing issue they refer to it as "having a mechanical".... a malfunction of drivetrain. It happens more than ever these days. With many if not most teams using electric shifting it's not something the rider has any control over. If it's simply a dropped chain and not jammed they can fix that themselves but if it has anything worse, or the electronics themselves they have to wait for another bike. Isn't that the shit-takke ? Even tire changes have become painfully slow to watch with thru axles. The mechanics then must use electric screwdrivers for the bolts, or it would take forever by hand. And those malfunction too. Battery operated crap ! It's faster to take another bike. Then again, I don't watch these races for the bikes, I frankly never really notice them lest when the frame focuses on some failure. I like the pictures, the scenery, the people along side the road. Even in rural places, the locals show up just give the riders a hand of support. Cycling racing is really effing hard. You'll never see that in Umerika. Umerikan culture in may ways is just weird, just effing weird. 

[Eric Marth]

I picked it up from Brits and enjoy deploying its usage!