The history of the invention and developmental improvements of the bicycle is outlined, and the linguistic designation of the machine and its parts is found to reflect the mental model dominated at the time by horse and riding techniques. The linguistic terminology associated with the bicycle and bicycling is studied from a diachronic perspective and with special attention to how technological development and metaphorical language use influenced each other. Excerpts from literary texts and colloquial terminology are analyzed. (LLBA 2001, vol. 35, n. 4)