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I was looking at our most popular tags and I've noticed that we're somewhat inconsistent about and .

To my mind, a "part" is something so essential to the operation of a bicycle that if you remove it, it's not really a bicycle anymore. Fork, handlebars, pedals, bottom bracket, etc.

"Equipment" sounds to me like additional stuff that you use around or on a bicycle, but aren't quite as essential. May or may not actually be attached. Pump, lights, water bottle, tools, cyclometer.

Not quite sure about things that bolt on (or otherwise attach semi-permanently) but that have debatable essentialness like fenders/mudguards, racks, baskets, bottle cage, etc.

But it does seem like we're a bit inconsistent with how we use these two tags.

Right now has description that doesn't explain anything and covers everything: "Equipment (as opposed to riding or technique)."

So, how should we be using these tags? What should each of their tag wiki excerpts say? Does the answer to these questions mean we should go do some tag cleanup on those questions?

Update:

Tag cleanup finished. is marked deprecated, is a synonym for and all relevant tag wiki excerpts updated. Retagged everything that had , sometimes simply removing the tag, other times replacing with , and/or as appropriate for the question.

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  • We also have the accessories tag.
    – Tom77
    Aug 18, 2011 at 12:08
  • @Tom77: Good point!
    – freiheit
    Aug 18, 2011 at 15:23

4 Answers 4

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My thoughts on how these should be used:

  • should be used for anything on a bike that's essential to use it, but isn't an acccessory. This would include components like a hub or a wheel or a fork or a shifter or even small parts like screws. Some of these have tags of their own, like , , and .

  • are things like racks, stays, fenders, bottle cages. Some of these have their own tags, like , , , and so on. Something like a helmet or a helmet cover could be considered accessories, but we have tags for these such as and .

  • is a tag that could really mean anything, from parts to accessories to track pumps or even helmet covers. I think it's imprecise and should be removed as a tag if possible.

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It's probably a good idea to list a few examples of items that would be and items that would be in the actual excerpt.

That, to my mind, would make it clearer than an abstract explanation.

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  • Listing some concrete examples in the excerpt was part of my evil plan all along.
    – freiheit
    Aug 18, 2011 at 21:28
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Ok, here's my action plan:

  1. Steal bits from the existing excerpt for excerpt and make the excerpt into (remove or add examples to make fit):

    Bicycle components without which it's not a working bike: wheels, brakes, saddle/seat, bottom bracket, derailleur, stem, handlebars, bolts, etc. Also tag with specific part.

  2. Make the excerpt for into:

    Stuff you add to a bike but aren't absolutely essential. May or may not actually bolt on. Such as rack, fenders, bottle cage, water bottle, bike computer, lights, bell, etc.

  3. Make excerpt for into:

    Deprecated tag, do not use. Consider "parts", "accessories", or "tools" instead.

  4. Merge into and set as synonym. This would make future attempts to use automatically be rewritten into . Picking as the survivor since it's the more popular tag.

  5. Look at the posts and remove the tag, set it to or as appropriate. Case by case basis, since it's used inconsistently. Need to figure out if we can do this without bumping the post edit date.

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  • I like this, it's a good plan. My only suggestions would be to burninate the depreciated tags to prevent people from using them. Aug 19, 2011 at 20:57
  • Only one tag gets deprecated (other is set as a synonym). Figure we should make sure we've cleaned up the tagging on all those posts before destroying the tag.
    – freiheit
    Aug 19, 2011 at 20:59
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Simply I would say that encompasses things for the rider to use and will be things for the bike to use; without the correct the bike will not work, without the correct the riding will just be less pleasant.

  • Brake blocks, saddles, tubes, rims and cranks are
  • Lights, speedometers, pumps, racks and comedy clown horns (parp! parp!) are
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  • And accessories?
    – freiheit
    Aug 18, 2011 at 20:01
  • I'd say accessories and equipment are synonyms.
    – Unsliced
    Aug 18, 2011 at 20:30
  • 1
    I think that "Equipment" is just a plain terrible tag, not much better that "stuff" would be. Aug 18, 2011 at 20:51
  • The more and more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to agree with @NeilFein. I think some places we've used "equipment" to mean "accessories", but in general equipment can mean anything, and I've heard it used to refer to a complete bicycle plenty of times.
    – freiheit
    Aug 18, 2011 at 23:28
  • Too true, if you arrived for a time trial on an MTB you'd probably be described as ill-equipped ... "bits-and-bobs"?
    – Unsliced
    Aug 19, 2011 at 10:00

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