Why do roadies insist on using km’s all the time. I’ve never understood it. I started my trade with MTB and only recently started roading to increase fitness but really dont understand the need to talk km’s when last time i checked, the UK is an imperial based country and I think every distance marker is in miles.

Non of my riding mates can give a sensible explanation but still insist on km’s. I point blank refuse!! Miles it is for me.

Is it something to do with those tongue in cheek rules from the keepers of the cog? Enlighten me. Please!

Probably because that is what all road races are measured in so it is easier to compare their riding to the pro’s.

I only use miles. Can’t see the point in measuring distance on the road (or off road) in KM at all, maybe it feels like it’s longer?? 100k sounds a bit better than 62k. I reckon it’s just attention grabbing.
I am assuming those people who use KM also use it when driving.

road racing is in km.

It’s the same with running and triathlons and other such events etc

5km, 10km etc.

I don’t go for a 6 mile run, I do a 10k.

I also use kilos,CMs and other such metric measures.

Except in golf. But that’s just silly and confusing. I have no idea how many meters I hit a 9 iron.

It’s cos it’s considered a ‘French sport’ therefore everything’s in ‘foreign’
A few other French terms, like ‘bidon’ for example.

the UK is an imperial based country and I think every distance marker is in miles.

Is it? Despite the Conservative’s best efforts we are at best a very odd mix of imperial and metric.

I think road cycling uses kilometres because it’s quite a continental sport, all the biggest races are on the European mainland and all distances/speeds etc. are quoted in Kms.

…but yeah, I stopped using miles once I stopped riding ‘proper’ imperial centuries regularly. Am much happier seeing 100km than 65miles 😎

Bigger numbers is a more impressive ride. A century definitely sounds better than 62 miles.

UK is an imperial based country and I think every distance marker is in miles.

Checks calendar.

Its been metric since the sixties?

Its high time we drop the nonsense!

Because more of anything sounds better.

1972 for the coins.

Everything road is metric. Distance in km, weight in kg, size in cm, tyre width in mm. It’s MTB that’s all messed up. Tyres, wheels and frames are imperial. Suspension, seatposts, bars and stem are metric. Total mess.

the UK is an imperial based country

You are BoJo and I claim my £5 😉

I measure distances in Kms.
Makes more sense, seeing as I measure things in mm, cm, and m, and weigh things in g and kg (though I occasionally lapse into ft and inches for human height)

Height and elevation on a ride makes far more sense in metres (feet climbed…uh?) So distance should be in km too.

SI units came into use in 1970, the first year of my apprenticeship. Metric first on drawings with imperial in brackets. Miles/Km has always been the odd one out.

Well, if you look at the road signs & speedos in cars, then its pretty clear that the UK is not entirely a metric country. I still think of distance in miles and speed in mph, but like others I’m happy to claim a 100k ride.

Why would anybody want to cling to imperial?

This used to do my head in with fell runners talking about feet of elevation and miles when the OS maps they are mandated to carry at races are metric.

I hope you aren’t using those dreadful statute miles you see on road signs, a johnny-come-lately of the unit world AND worst of all defined only relative to SI units of m. A hellish mix of transatlantic interference and EU popery in our traditional British units.

My mates a roadie and only uses miles, I’m mainly off-road but I’ve always used kms, couldn’t tell you why it’s something I’ve always done.

Because it’s 2022

Why would anybody want to cling to imperial?

Because that’s what we think in.
Yes, I know a kilometer is 1,000m and that’s all very logical but I can’t think/estimate/visualise it.
I know how far away everything is in miles, I know my speeds in mph, etc.
Some friends use km and metres but I have to a quick bit of mental arithmetic to understand is that a long way, was that fast?
And runners, mins/km, what is that? What’s wrong with mph, I can understand that.
.
Anyway, not all roadies use these weird foreign units. Standard time trial distances are 10 miles, 25m, 50m, 100m, and then distances achived in 12hr and 24hrs are quoted in miles.
Runners mix it up too, 5k, 10k, 13.1m, 26.2m

I’ve lived and worked all over the world so prefer km now TBH. It feels very old-fashioned and quaint to use miles.

It’s whatever you are brought up with. I know that 20mph =32kph, but it is only the former which means something to me. I certainly don’t have a clue when it comes to fuel consumption in metric.
I worked in aviation. Runway dimensions are metric. Speed is in knots and height is in feet. Everyone seemed to get along with it just fine because that is how they are trained. In any case, aircraft flying at 10,000 ft is far neater than one flying at 3,300m

I know how far away everything is in miles

I used to know distances before google maps and Sat nav, not so much anymore. For car journeys I think more in how long to get there as that is what Google maps presents, and is a far more useful piece of information.

I’ve come to realize lately I’ll probably never be able to run 41.84294 km.

Also, roadies are good at one thing (if even that): riding road bikes. I just don’t get the attraction. The ideal roadie would just be a pair of legs and a head.

Miles are better by miles.
You never hear anyone say, ‘this new bike’s kilometres better than my last one’ do you?
I’ll stick with miles thanks.

Anybody pump up their tyres using anything other than PSI ?

And runners, mins/km, what is that? What’s wrong with mph, I can understand that.

That’s a simple one, by using pace in km you get more pace updates, one every every km Vs every mile, so you get more of them.

Also it’s easier to work out pace for the common run distances. Want to run a 25 min 5k? That’ll be 5:00/km pace. 30 min? 6:00/km.

In miles, well I’d need a calculator for that.

I’ll probably never be able to run 41.84294 km.

Why would you want to? If you got that far you might as well do another km and do a complete marathon…

After 25 years in Spain I only use kms – I have no real feeling any more for how far a mile is.

I have swapped over to km as a result of using my Garmin etc. for running. Running training tends more around Kms or portions thereof.
I changed my settings to km and that’s about it.
I actually prefer them as they tick by faster 🤣 so even though there’s more of them, they seem to go nice & quick.

It’s not like their hard to convert between so not exactly a big problem.

Metric is better for engineering calculations but on the whole imperial units are more convenient sizes for humans in the real world.

MTBs are a ludicrous mix of the two!

I wish we’d just go fully metric, hanging onto imperial just feels all gammony

Why would you want to? If you got that far you might as well do another km and do a complete marathon…

Don’t you mean Snickers?

I worked in aviation. Runway dimensions are metric. Speed is in knots and height is in feet. Everyone seemed to get along with it just fine because that is how they are trained. In any case, aircraft flying at 10,000 ft is far neater than one flying at 3,300m

fuel is in kg. visibility is in metres. This side of the Atlantic at least.

on the whole imperial units are more convenient sizes for humans in the real world.

That’s just familiarity.

when last time i checked, the UK is an imperial based country

You were cryogenically frozen in the 1960s and have only just been defrosted and I claim my £5!

I use km because I don’t really know what a mile is, never run a mile but have run 1500m, don’t even know how many feet or whatever a mile is made up of, but ai do know what 1m looks like. always seems odd to me we use miles on road signs…they mean nothing to me outside of a car or motorbike.

I can’t think/estimate/visualise it.

You could with a bit of practice.

I wish we’d just go fully metric, hanging onto imperial just feels all gammony

You’d want a metric calendar?

The simple answer is that the default setting on Strava is km. That probably sways it for most people!

I wish we would change over to kilometres.
I use it because hill navigation.