It looks like cycling and biking are consistently used to mean the same thing (pedaling exercise). I think the tags should be merged (all instance of one changed and one made a synonym of the other).
2 Answers
To me, "cycling" sounds more sports-oriented whereas "biking" has a more recreational meaning. In the realm of Fitness though, the terms don't appear to have any major distinctions in their use. I imagine any future questions on this subject will fall into improving technique or performance much like the currently tagged questions do.
I'm in favor of merging the two tags and am leaning more towards merging biking into cycling. I would also throw spinning into this mix even though there are no questions tagged as such.
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2Probably the best word is "bicycling" with "cycling", "biking", "spinning" and "bicycle" as possible synonyms.– freiheitCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 16:06
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I dissent on spinning, since my understanding is that the activity is stationary and includes much more control over resistance and speed than bicycling over distance, subject to the whims of geography. Commented Jan 25, 2012 at 16:42
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@freiheit Does "mountain biking" fall under cycling? I think of extreme sports, but I don't know how that related to the realm of what "cycling" entails.– user241Commented Jan 31, 2012 at 2:30
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@MattChan: Yes, mountain biking is a kind of cycling, but it's entirely possible to have different fitness concerns around it than, say, road cycling.– freiheitCommented Feb 1, 2012 at 21:16
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@freiheit As a minimum, I'll go ahead and merge the "biking" and "cycling" into "bicycling" since you, Dave, and I are in agreement. If the other words come up, we can deal with those later.– user241Commented Feb 2, 2012 at 13:41
I agree, but do not have the requisite answer score within those tags to suggest the change. I guess we need more bike questions.
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The reality on most SE sites is that a moderator has to do the tag merge/synonym stuff.– freiheitCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 16:03