[Closed] Why haven't we adopted kms instead of miles yet???

I use KM's. All OS maps are in KM's, so makes sense to set bike computers up in KM...

I guess not all cars have dual speedos

I agree, it's stupid that we still measure distance in miles. Must just be a cost thing.

[i]most mtb routes are in km.[/i]

I still ride all my mtb routes in miles.

The lower numbers make me think I've gone less far so I'm not so tired.

Roadies do Metric Centuries for the opposite reason 😉

I have to use miles when I cycle because the speed display runs out of numbers if they're in Kmh.

I always work on the basis that only unfit people (in this country) use KMs, as it makes it sound further/faster. I can't process KMs without converting to miles to get my frame of reference right. 😆

It's just another way in which the UK insists on being different (despite it costing us) like driving on the other side of the road compared to the majority of the world. People get so precious about daft things like the imperial / metric systems, but it doesn't really matter. We really need to pick one and stick with it, at the moment we seem to have a half-arsed mix of both systems, which can be confusing, expensive and open to mix-ups / mistakes.

[i]a half-arsed mix of both systems, which can be confusing, expensive and open to mix-ups / mistakes[/i]

I'll say - I always thought Wednesdays was 'drive on the right hand side of the road' day.

Caused me no end of problems.

It's good practice for arithmetic though.

Benefit and want.

Whilst having things like metric money, metric things that affect pricing in shops, etc. make peoples lives easier for a load of other things it really makes no difference.

Like miles vs km - All they are really used for in day to day life is to give people a rough way to visualise how far something is. Kms are no better than miles for this the vast majority of the time and most people are already familiar with miles since they are already on the road signs.

So while it would obviously be better to be 100% metric in the long run there is no real need to make the change now or any time really so it won't change.

never know a roady do a metric century.

Miles offroad

KM on road

Miles offroad

KM on road

knots on water

Mach no. @ Alt in the air

Warp no. in space!

Why don't we just use nautical miles on land too?
I agree the units should be rationalised.
My sat nav uses miles, bike comp uses kms.
Its not a difficult conversion just unecessary.

we seem to have a half-arsed mix of both systems, which can be confusing

We are used to our system but people coming from abroad must wonder WTF we are doing with the mix of metric and imperial.

Pint of beer
Litre of fuel, but consumption of said fuel in miles per gallon
Pints of milk
Everything on roads in miles
Food measured in kg

seems very random.

[i]Litre of fuel, but consumption of said fuel in miles per gallon[/i]

that's the petrol retailers trying to confuse people, not the government.

Pints of milk

one of my local shops only sells milk in L. i was baffled at first.

i work in km. imperial is illogical and outdated. drive in miles though as you have to.

It's just another way in which the UK insists on being different (despite it costing us) like driving on the other side of the road compared to the majority of the world

Could be worse. We use a variety of 'engineered in the USA' products which use things like 5/64" screws rather than M2 screws.

The whole fuel being sold in litres, but consumption being measured in mpg is proper mental though.

Litre of fuel, but consumption of said fuel in miles per gallon

Had never stopped to think about that before. Insanity..!

(I ride my bikes in KMs, but do it to give some mental stimulus to do the conversions. When people ask how far I've been, I give the answer in miles. I'm a t--t.)

The fuel thing makes perfect sense once you factor in humans.

Litres are used for fuel as it is a measurement where is is useful to be able to calculate the cost of multiple units, part units etc. Metric makes sense.

Fuel consumption is just a useful tool for comparing performance. It is not important what the absolute measurement is, just the comparison between cars or current performace vs past peformance. The unit isn't really important, so long as it is consitent. Changing the units used would introduce this inconsistency. So there is no real compelling benefit of change.

[i]It's just another way in which the UK insists on being different (despite it costing us) like driving on the other side of the road compared to the majority of the world.[/i]

Obviously with a statement like this you've never actually travelled..., and even in France the home of metric somethings' are imperial - tyres for one.

For one I haven't a problem flipping between both systems, but then I've a BRAIN!

The change to metric will happen over time. I am just short of 50 and was never taught the imperial measures, always have used metric (and the SI units). As such as we get older the move to metric will happen. The move to km will probably be the last one as it is such a public change. It will be phased in over time, so we will have a mixture of signs until at some point.

I use metric for everything I wasn't even taught old at achool 😀 Can't get my head around old stuff like ounces. what is is? 12 ounces in a pound then 14 pounds in a stone? crazy. 10s are sooooo much easier.

emsz - you need to do more drugs if you want to get your head round that 😉

I bet most of the 'I use metric' people still measure tyre pressure in psi and quote their weight in stone.

It's a misplaced nostaligia that's one of the things that holds this country back. We haven't taught imperial measures at school for a couple of generations yet we still have to deal with a distance measure (miles) where most of the population cant translate it into a measure we understand (how many metres are there in a mile? shit, I don't know how many YARDS there are in a mile).

Likewise pints and fluid ounces. Pounds and stone for weight. Still using feet and inches for height and clothing measurements (32" waist?).

I'd feed it though to backward looking noddy house architecture and preservation of large amounts of badly built victorian housing. Don't even start on the House of Lords and the monarchy.

It is not important what the absolute measurement is

It is if you are a poor student and want to know exactly how much petrol to put in a borrowed car to get to Afan/North Wales/wherever.

If you think we are bonkers, try talking to Americans who are attempting to defend the 'English' units as they call them, claiming metric is unworkably confusing.

Kms are foreign, and therefore inherently suspect. We didn't win a war to use German distances... or some such.

1600 meters in a mile about 1750 yds in a mile.

Americans generally struggle with the 24 hour clock ('Military Time') so I'm not sure them complaining a unit of measurement is 'confusing' is bad thing.

Edit:

[i]We didn't win a war to use German distances[/i]

It's worse than that, they're [b]French[/b].

why doesn't my mountainbike have 66.04cm wheels, it's all so confusing to my tiny brain

Jo, yeah, bye bye to the 29er nichemongers! Bring on metric! Then they'd be the 73.66ers.

Didn't think of that, did they? 😉

why doesn't my mountainbike have 66.04cm wheels, it's all so confusing to my tiny brain

Oh don’t get started on the crazy mish-mash of metric vs imperial in cycling!
Half inch pitch chains, tyres/wheels measured in inches (with the exception of random numbers like 700c and 650b), suspension travel in mm (although early rear suspension was always referred to in inches). Headset sizes in inches, stack height in mm, pedal thread size in fractions of an inch (9/16th). The steerer clamp end of the stem in inches, the bar clamp end in mm with the actual length of the stem being in cm.
Road bikes frame size measured in cm, MTB in inches (mostly)
What a mess!

12 ounces in a pound then 14 pounds in a stone?

Nope. 5/10. Must try harder. 🙂

16oz to a pound, 14lb to a stone.

But 20 fluid oz in a pint. Why? because a "pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter" and 1 1/4lb is 20oz.

The Americas get this wrong though. Only 16floz in a US pint. Their gallons are smaller too, I'm not sure so please correct me, but I think this comes from their odd sized pint/floz thing

I can use either, because that's how I was brought up, but distances and speed sound wrong in metric to me, and I can convert instantly in my head. Also, I work in the building trade, and that's still very old fashioned as a lot of the guys are older. I have been asked how much concrete to fill "2 by 3 meters and about a foot thick" though..... 😀

Someone tried to tell me that metric was rubbish and confusing because the units weren't 'natural' or anything we could relate to based on the human body.

He stopped talking when I mentioned that almost everyone else in the world gets along just fine.

The lengths some Americans will go to to try and dress up blatant nationalism in respectable arguments amazes me.

It's a misplaced nostaligia that's[b] one of the things that holds this country back[/b].

From what, exactly? 🙂

Liquid volumes should be measured in schooners which is neither metric or imperial.
Makes it much easier to determine how many standard units of alcohol one has consumed.

What about common sayings?

"I'll go the extra one point six one kilometres for him, he's a lovely chap"

"Four hundred and fifty four grammes for four hundred and fifty four grammes, it's the best one you'll find"

Not so simple now is it?

Always raises an eyebrow when I tell people I grew up using lsd... 😯

[i]Their gallons are smaller too, I'm not sure so please correct me[/i]

yep.

Bloke crashed a plane near me because its tanks held 'n' American gallons and he'd used the wrong conversion rate when filling it with Imperial ones. Ran out of fuel.

I tend to use metric and can kinda handle ounces etc... when I'm cooking. Then my (American) girlfriend will step in and tell me measurements in cups. That one throws me, what sized cup?!

Then my (American) girlfriend will step in and tell me measurements in cups. That one throws me, what sized cup?!

You're right bra sizes should be measured in litres as well. Alphabetical is nonsense.

Being able to handle metric and imperial systems makes you better at mental arithmetic! Metric is easier for engineering calculations, whilst imperial units are more intuitive to human sized entities.

"I'll go the extra one point six one kilometres for him, he's a lovely chap"

I'm going to use that one PP, with your permission 🙂

A pint of beer = 568ml. If we went metric it would be half a litre. A loss of 68ml of ale!

Back off Brussels!!!!

Litre of fuel, but consumption of said fuel in miles per gallon..
Everything on roads in miles

CO2 emissions measured and taxed in g/km.
[url= http://carfueldata.direct.gov.uk/search-by-fuel-economy.aspx ]Metric fuel consumption[/url] is in l/100km

I wasn't even taught old at school

Likewise emsz and I'm considerably older than you. Kids are not taught imperial. Haven't been for decades. But are still expected to use it.

10s are sooooo much easier.

only when you add them up, not when you divide them. Feet and inches you can half and half and half. Metric gets into awkward fractions instead

Halfing 10mm in metric you get 5, then 2.5, then 1.25 then 0.625. My tape measure isn't marked in 0.625 increments so it all gets a bit guess work, whereas imperial scales are in fractions to start with.

Then my (American) girlfriend will step in and tell me measurements in cups. That one throws me, what sized cup?!

I don't know I haven't met her but I'm prepared to guess - is it DD?

You're right bra sizes should be measured in litres as well. Alphabetical is nonsense.

I don't know I haven't met her but I'm prepared to guess - is it DD?

Walked into that I guess! Just in case anyone doesn't actually know what i mean:
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit) ]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)[/url]

Runners, do you really do everything in KM. I do a 10k run, not a 6.21 mile run. however, I do a 10 mile run and not a 16.09km run!

claiming metric is unworkably confusing

Being able to handle metric and imperial systems makes you better at mental arithmetic! Metric is easier for engineering calculations, whilst imperial units are more intuitive to human sized entities

I think for those of us middle aged it is hard as we do some things in both

I have little idea what my height is in cms and if someone told me theirs I would be clueless.
Apart from that I am fine with either system though metric makes sense when you need to calcualte stuff like say density, pressure etc

CUP - it does not really matter as it keeps the ratio the same though there is a standard size - I like that system for bakling tbh as it is much easier to recall cups than actual weights.

That one throws me, what sized cup?!

It's a standard size. Half a US pint or 237ml. American kitchens have a set of measuring cups as standard equippment, my Mrs was quite baffled when I said we needed some kitchen scales.

Interesting...
I buy milk in litres not pints.
When I worked in a cycle shop in the 90s, roadbikes were still measured in inches, so the cm thing is quite recent. A lot of mtbs are now small / med / large, doing away with numerical systems altogether and (I suppose) making sizing easier to understand for everybody.

I don't like inconsistencies - I think it's the OCD kicking in! 😉

I don't like inconsistancies

giggle

Because saying I was only doing 112 officer sounds a lot worse than I was only doing 70.

Too slow JoB - swift edit was already underway... 😛

Being able to handle metric and imperial systems makes you better at mental arithmetic! Metric is easier for engineering calculations, whilst imperial units are more intuitive to human sized entities

I'm quite happy working in either. It just kind of happens although maybe I need to find an aspect of it to get wound up about...

my mazda has a fuel consumption display only in litres per 100 mile, giving a great mix of metric and imperial.

I can see why someone in an office in Japan may have thought that was a good idea (measure fuel in litres and distance in miles).

> 10s are sooooo much easier.
only when you add them up, not when you divide them.

I don't find dividing by ten very hard 😕

Halfing 10mm in metric you get 5, then 2.5, then 1.25 then 0.625. My tape measure isn't marked in 0.625 increments so it all gets a bit guess work

Oh I see what you mean. I'm surprised your tape measure has increments at 0.0246062992 inches. 😉

I'd suggest that if you are trying to accurately measure sub-millimetre distances to 3 decimal places with a tape measure then you're already well on the path to FAIL anyway. 😀

Bombing along the Autobahn at 200 sounds impressive though.

Drac - Moderator
1600 meters in a mile about 1750 yds in a mile.

tsk, "George III said with a smile, 1760 yards in a mile."

Thank god I live in Spain, the only thing I miss is pints of beer, but then you can easily get over that by ordering another.

Adding up food products in dozens is quite easy on your hands when you know how. The practical methods of using different systems don't really make one better than the other.

Although you've got ten digits, if you take your thumb and press it against the three pads of each finger in turn whilst counting, you get a dozen, and you can count upto six dozen effectively (five on your other hand by extending digits, then a plus twelve)

I made a fun little story up that IT guys will get off the bat:

[i]The annual combined science conference was being held on a water world in the centre of the Federation of Planets. The hosts were a squid like humanoid creature. When the open mic session was called for last minute entries a disgraced local academic stepped forward to boos. He stood at the podium until his audience had quietened down and then slowly and quietly spoke, "I have been working on my own these last few seasons on the meaning of life and I have theorised a formula that helps to understand why we are here and what our Gods mean to us." The room was in uproar and he once again waited until they had quieted down, before simply stating, "Twelve times twenty equals two hundred." He stepped down from the podium and walked out of the room, leaving them scrabbling to figure it out.[/i]

When I'm on the road bike I think in miles, but on the mountain bike I think in km. I think it's because I get nowhere fast on a mountain bike, so any help to make it look like I've gone further is great 🙂

Halfing 10mm in metric you get 5, then 2.5, then 1.25 then 0.625. My tape measure isn't marked in 0.625 increments so it all gets a bit guess work, whereas imperial scales are in fractions to start with

That's better for those who were taught to understand fractions, but it's amazing (and saddening) how many people don't. 10mm is 3/8 inch give or take. I guarantee that loads of people will not know or understand that half of that is 3/16. Even friends I was at school with (I'm 37) surprise me with their lack of understanding of fractions.

Kilometers are rubbish:
If this song was called 4.97 klometers high it wouldn't scan at all:

I can see for kilometers? Nonsense.

And A LOT of people are not going to be happy renaming this bloke:
[img] [/img]
We'd have to redesign the sleeves and everything.

It's not just the UK. The Canadians use a mixture of Imperial and Metric too. On a river trip, it was described in miles but water levels were measured in metres.

I'm going to use that one PP, with your permission

Yeah, crack on, that'll baffle someone I hope!

I'm trying to think of a few more. Brain is dead though. Off on holiday this pm. Packing, sorting. It kills the brain. 🙂

Bicyle gearing measured in gear inches? Do they do that on the continent?

Aye, those Proclaimer lads would have been struggling 🙂

But I would walk 804.67200 kilometres
And I would walk 804.67200 more
Just to be the man who walked a 1609.344 kilometres
To fall down at your door

It's a common problem, I'm a machinist and the amount of drawings I have to work with that contain metric and imperial dim's is a right pita. Metric all the way please! 8)

Bicyle gearing measured in gear inches? Do they do that on the continent?

IIRC they have some foreign much called gear development which is in metres.

Bicyle gearing measured in gear inches? Do they do that on the continent?

even if they do it's based on a nominal 27" wheel. but normally using metric 700c wheels. so we're out from the start!

It's a common problem, I'm a machinist and the amount of drawings I have to work with that contain metric and imperial dim's is a right pita.

The lead screws on my lathe are 0.1" pitch (despite the dials claiming it's 2.5mm), so I'm forever having to get the calculator out.

It's a bit of an arse really. Being taught both ways is silly, measuring everything in one, then ordering in another, it's not what the efficient Germans would do!

When I fly gliders, after driving 50 miles to get to the airfield, we measure airspeed in knots, height in feet and distance in km's. I then put water in the wings in litres, but order my beer afterwards in pints. Unless it's a rum in which case it's cl's. I have no idea why!

american cups in cooking is a pain. Loads of on line recipes have them, especially for yummy things like pancakes and cupcakes...There's a recipe site called the pink whisk, and I spend half my time converting the amounts.

PP, it's just daft 😆 why not stick to one amount? like ermmmm, 10? 😀

mrdestructo, I was watching a programme once where they said that arabic people (I think) can count up to 100 on their fingers....

Don't get me started on dress sizes....grrrrrrr.

PS guys: bra sizes are based on volume so 30D is the same as 32C and 34B and so on...just in case you were guessing...

That's better for those who were taught to understand fractions, but it's amazing (and saddening) how many people don't.

The thing is, using metric does not preclude using fractions anyway.

It is perfectly reasonable to say "Five and a half centimetres" for instance.

mrdestructo, I was watching a programme once where they said that arabic people (I think) can count up to 100 on their fingers....

<geek> Count on your fingers in binary and you can count to 1024 😀

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_binary

</geek>

The best mixed mixed unit I have heard of was told to me by one of my former colleagues who had briefly been an astronomer (before moving to IT). He said they used to measure the temperature of space in 'British Thermal Units per cubic Mega Parsec'.

mrdestructo, I was watching a programme once where they said that arabic people (I think) can count up to 100 on their fingers....

what is special about arab fingers? 🙂

Distance & Speed = Miles (Per Hour)
Weight = usually decimal
Measurement = probably 50/50 between imperial and metric. A 8 X 4 sheet of material is much easier to say than 2440 X 1220
(Don't get me started on measurements of wood which is a bastardised rounding of converted imperial sizes :roll:)
Volume = either or

It's just another way in which the UK insists on being different (despite it costing us) like driving on the other side of the road compared to the majority of the world.

It's the other way around actually.

The US drive on the right just to be contrary; when our lot landed over there, they wanted to be different from the UK. The other countries who drive on the right have done so to be in line with the US.

I have been asked how much concrete to fill "2 by 3 meters and about a foot thick" though....

I'm glad it's not just me. Being born in the early 70s, I often use both in the same sentence. "Oh, that's three inches and 5mm."

Bloke crashed a plane near me because its tanks held 'n' American gallons and he'd used the wrong conversion rate when filling it with Imperial ones. Ran out of fuel.

That's backwards too, surely? If he'd filled up with UK gallons he'd have too much fuel?