When everything in this country is done on miles? In happy with either, just curious to see where people get it from. Is it an engineering thing? Or do people love the continent and want to continue the vibe?

The Rules

#24

Not everything in the UK is done in miles, all arms of our military use metric, so most ex-forces bods will too. Not sure if this applies to police.

Because 10k sounds better than 6.2 miles when you’re trying to impress people down the pub/at work etc. 🙄

The Rules #24

Ahhh, no more explanation needed

Oops, double post.

I’ve used km for hiking for decades – ever since the OS decided to publish 1:50K maps. It was only natural to continue that when mountain biking.

I often use miles for road biking though as all road signs are currently in imperial units.

Maybe because not everyone lives in the UK

Os maps are in km and when using with bike computer and compass, km is better.

Once i get home from shredding the gnarr and the mrs asks how far, i do the 5/8 mental calculation and say ‘its about a mile and a half,love’!

Toadally stokerized.. and now stocked back up on biscuits and crisps! 🙂

Swapped recently, also gone to KG for weight, much prefer it.

Everything should be metric.

Cos it makes it sound like they have done more

I’ve taken to saying ‘klicks’ cuz it sounds cooler… 8)

more importantly, why do some people (me included) measure short distances in meters but longer ones in miles.

They’re members of a French sleeper cell.

more importantly, why do some people (me included) measure short distances in meters but longer ones in miles.

I do this, but only because in 1980s Scotland we weren’t taught anything about Imperial measurements at school. And, anyway, metric measurements just make more sense.

more importantly, why do some people (me included) measure short distances in meters but longer ones in miles.

The smaller imperial units are confusing for most born in the 70s or later. I mix mine up but switched to km for cycling when became a roadie to fit in with the pros better….

Still seem to be a lot of people using metric to measure their fork travel, and imperial for the rear wheel travel.
That’s just so wrong.

Metric just makes more sense.
It’s been the primary system taught in UK schools since at least the early 70s.
There’s no need to remember all those different amounts like:

1760 yards in a mile
36 inches in a yard
versus
1000 metres in a kilometre
100 centimetres in a metre

The Rules
#24

Yes. This.

Metric just makes more sense.
It’s been the primary system taught in UK schools since at least the early 70s.
There’s no need to remember all those different amounts like:

I was at primary school in the early 70s and seemed to remember imperial .I still convert metric back ,price of fuel to gallons kms to miles on Audax rides ,my weight and height etc

I was at primary school in the early 70s and we were taught metric measurement, but my memory suggests only for small numbers. As a result I went through a period of referring to 4 foot 10 centimetres.
Same with weight 3 pounds and 50 grammes.
Now being an architect we have the great amusement that the Brits adopted millimetres as the primary system for construction whereas the rest of Europe adopted metres and centimetres. Studying in the US in the early 90s I quite like decimal imperial!

It is weird how we have this schizophrenic dual system. I think in imperial but convert to metric to do calculations, then convert back again so I can understand the results.

It was 1974 when is became compulsory in UK schools according to the Metric Association (I bet that’s a fun club to be in!)

I’m happy with both, but usually use miles to match with road signs

The OS National Grid is metric.

Makes everything really easy when measuring stuff on a UK map.

I was at school during the transition from metric to imperial – started school in 1971.

I use;

Body Weight: stones and lbs
Doing recipes and weighing small stuff: Grammes
Distance: Miles
Measuring stuff with a ruler: Cm
Working with maps: KM but with a mental conversion to miles to work out how long it will take to walk/ride it.
Height: Feet and inches or cm dependign on the age of the person I’m talking to.
Car ‘gas mileage’ – mpg but with a mental effort to convert to miles per litre to work out how much it’s actually costing me based on pump prices.

it’s bloody mess, frankly.

Ha ha, it’s a total mess, go to most other countries and they laugh at our system, for them there is little use in using miles.

I’ve taken to saying ‘klicks’ cuz it sounds cooler…

+1

I also like to call the car park “the L.Zee” and refer to red socks as “Charlie”.

more importantly, why do some people (me included) measure short distances in meters but longer ones in miles.

Well I might measure in metric (usually), but I’ll quite often refer to short distances in inches rather than cm – the shop might call that bit of wood 100 by 50, but it’s actually a 2×4 (and I’ll refer to it as such if actually speaking to a person). As for distances in km, as mentioned above, that makes sense for anything involving a map – hence I have my GPS set to km (though the computer on my road bike is in miles).

I always used to do height in feet despite using km for distance (when off-road), but have now made that conversion too.

Most engineering is metric. I find judging distances in metres/km far easier. Also previously mentioned OS maps in km.

wwwas – you use exactly the same choice of units as I do! Must be an age thing.

You think our systems messy …. I give you – the decimized foot.

Crazy oilfield yanks !

My OH is an engineer and it’s quite easy to set him on a full blown rant if americans use imperial measurements on something he’s working on. He always uses km although he might just allow a 10 mile race to slip through.

I prefer miles for some reason. Habit mainly I think as I use metric for anything shorter than a mile.

You think our systems messy …. I give you – the decimized foot.

That is an abomination.

You think our systems messy …. I give you – the decimized foot.

Perfect.

I need one of those 🙂

I prefer long car journeys in km. It’s quicker Innit.

Got a decimilized foot tape in bottom drawer of my tool box from when i worked in california… Its the one i give newcomers to my house who require to measure something 🙂

Im cruel arnt it….. Had to move it from the measuring devices drawer after falling foul to it my self toomany times

The French took a shot at decimalising time, which seems sensible to me. French Calendar

It’s like having a second language, no?
Was riding with someone recently who quoted his bike’s weight in lbs, and the ride in km.