Translating “La vita è come una bicicletta con dieci rapporti... Tutti noi abbiamo rotelline che non usiamo mai”?

Question

I don't understand the meaning of *rapporti* and *rotelline* here... clearly the second one is not tires.Can someone explain to me the specific meaning or translation of these two words?

Answer 1

This is a clever expression, thank you for posting this. Translated into American English:

Life is like a ten speed bike. We all have gears that we never use.

"rapporti" refers to the different gears found on the rear tire of a multi-speed bicycle around which the chain wraps. When changing gears, the chain moves from one gear "ring" to another. The collection of gear rings on the rear tire are the "rapporti".

"rotelline" refers to one of those gear rings.