km or miles??

matthewbradly

I'm always out on my bike and am never really sure whether to measure speed/distance in kilometres/per hour or miles/per hour?
Any specific opinions and reasons?
Much appreciated.

99thmonkey

Miles - Im British

Davdandy

I`m English and its miles, and only miles,none of the foreign km nonsense.

Sprool

i prefer to stay with convention cycling as a brit in the UK. That's miles.

matthewbradly

ahaha, of course; apologies. :P

big_p

Rule #24
// Speeds and distances shall be referred to and measured in kilometers.

This includes while discussing cycling in the workplace with your non-cycling coworkers, serving to further mystify our sport in the web of their Neanderthalic cognitive capabilities. As the confused expression spreads across their unibrowed faces, casually mention your shaved legs. All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden.

matthewbradly

big p wrote:

Rule #24
// Speeds and distances shall be referred to and measured in kilometers.

This includes while discussing cycling in the workplace with your non-cycling coworkers, serving to further mystify our sport in the web of their Neanderthalic cognitive capabilities. As the confused expression spreads across their unibrowed faces, casually mention your shaved legs. All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden.

ahahah , I love it, but I think I'll stick to Miles for now.

gjcknocker

It's miles per hour........at least thats what it is at the moment in Scotland......which may change if left to a certain mr.Salmond (hehe)

bompington

In 1863, the House of Commons passed a bill by 110 votes to 75 which would have mandated the use of the metric system throughout the British Empire

Still, things are slowly getting more rational.

I'll be back in a microyear.

jibberjim

Distance in miled, speek in kph.

Alex_Simmons/RST

metres per second

Trev The Rev

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

metres per second

Klingon Kellicams, 1 Kellicam = approximately 2 kilometers or 1.24 miles. I have training data in Kellicams and Sargh Power (Klingon Horse Power - 1 Sargh power = Approx 900 Watts) going back to 1970.

Barbarossa

You need to use a consistent set of units. If you use imperial units, power has to be stated in hp and bikes weights stated in lbs!

Herbsman

Seriously, does it matter what units you use as long as you actually do some pedaling?

The units you use do not affect the outcome of the training, so why have even the slightest concern?

springtide9

This is a real pain.

Cycling:
- Speed in mph
- Distance in miles
- Accent in metres
- Rider and Bike weights in KG
- Rider height in metres

And if you are running:
- Speed in "minute miles"
- Distance in miles
- Accent in metres
- Rider and Bike weights in KG
- Rider height in metres

I switched to metric distance/speeds about a year ago, for both running and cycling. It confused anyone you spoke with, and I switched back.
So basically you have to live with imperial measurements for all devices and conversations, and convert your height and weight to "inches" and "pounds".

nweststeyn

km

---

metres - ^

kg - O

ozzzyosborn206

km.....miles is quite a random measurement, strange how road signs refer to things coming up in meters then switch to miles for speed........

big_p

it's a peculiar British trait, when it feels cold we refer to the temperature in degrees Celsius, but when it's warm we use Fahrenheit.

we use the metric system for money and measurement of physical items like tools and nut's and bolts but use the imperial system to weigh stuff and find out how far we are from home.

dumb to say the least.

Herbsman

big p wrote:

it's a peculiar British trait, when it feels cold we refer to the temperature in degrees Celsius, but when it's warm we use Fahrenheit.

Who's this 'we' you're talking about?

big_p

the British, as stated.

t.m.h.n.e.t

I've never used Fahrenheit.

So is it, "we" or "you"?

Trev The Rev

big p wrote:

it's a peculiar British trait, when it feels cold we refer to the temperature in degrees Celsius, but when it's warm we use Fahrenheit.

we use the metric system for money and measurement of physical items like tools and nut's and bolts but use the imperial system to weigh stuff and find out how far we are from home.

dumb to say the least.

Torque is in lbs/feet, power in horse power, measurement in inches, feet, yards, miles, the stupid thing was joining in with this French weights & measures system.

dodgy

In Britain, only triantelopes or runners measure in KM, it's because it sounds more impressive to their equally rubbish friends.

springtide9

Trev The Rev wrote:

big p wrote:

it's a peculiar British trait, when it feels cold we refer to the temperature in degrees Celsius, but when it's warm we use Fahrenheit.

we use the metric system for money and measurement of physical items like tools and nut's and bolts but use the imperial system to weigh stuff and find out how far we are from home.

dumb to say the least.

Torque is in lbs/feet, power in horse power, measurement in inches, feet, yards, miles, the stupid thing was joining in with this French weights & measures system.

Good point..... apart from pretty much every scientist and technologist across the world nowadays uses metric for any calculations

It makes more sense to switch to metric, especially when you work in technology as the units are much easier to deal with when using Base10 for units.

The problem is, like many like me, in their early 40s, they were initially taught on school with imperial measurements, but switched half way though school. If you are a little older, you'll be more biased with imperial measurements. If younger, then the chances are you'll be more metric biased.

I know people dislike change, but really we as a nation should have stopped following the USA and switched like the rest of the world to metric. As it currently is, as the poster stated above, we have this ridiculous hybrid concept where dependant on application, we will randomly switch units.

springtide9

dodgy wrote:

In Britain, only triantelopes or runners measure in KM, it's because it sounds more impressive to their equally rubbish friends.

Not true... when was the last time you heard a runner mention they were running a 3 minute kilometre ? The distances of the various events are based on where the event was created... so if it's an 'international standard' event, the international standard for measurement is metric! As above, it's just pretty much the UK and the USA who use imperial.... and we won't change because the USA wouldn't like it!

Tom Dean

Trev The Rev wrote:

power in horse power

Irrelevant if you don't believe in measuring it surely
Also torque is lbs ft, not lbs/ft.

Trev The Rev

Tom Dean wrote:

Trev The Rev wrote:

power in horse power

Irrelevant if you don't believe in measuring it surely
Also torque is lbs ft, not lbs/ft.

Torque is often expressed as lbs/ft such as here,

http://www.mr2ownersclub.com/converter.htm

but you are technically correct.

I don't have a problem measuring, only the obsessive analysis of data.

springtide9

jimlennon wrote:

Miles/h, you should make sure it from your habit in your country.

So we keep all units in imperial ..... So what's your FTP in Horse Power?
Should we request a firmware update for our Garmin/Powertap to display HP?

I think most people have finally migrated away from Fahrenheit... you never see it quoted on TV for the weather.

Being serious, we have finally migrated pretty much all measurements to metric, apart from distance/speed. Imperial hasn't been taught in school for probably a decade or even two.
I would guess the average 20 year old only knows about 'Miles' from when they start learning to drive. Why we can't make the final switch is beyond logic. I guess we are still ultimately ruled by the USA, with our 'special friendship'.

Trev The Rev

springtide9 wrote:

jimlennon wrote:

Miles/h, you should make sure it from your habit in your country.

So we keep all units in imperial ..... So what's your FTP in Horse Power?
Should we request a firmware update for our Garmin/Powertap to display HP?

I think most people have finally migrated away from Fahrenheit... you never see it quoted on TV for the weather.

Being serious, we have finally migrated pretty much all measurements to metric, apart from distance/speed. Imperial hasn't been taught in school for probably a decade or even two.
I would guess the average 20 year old only knows about 'Miles' from when they start learning to drive. Why we can't make the final switch is beyond logic. I guess we are still ultimately ruled by the USA, with our 'special friendship'.

300 watts is approx 0.4 Horse Power. If you grew up using horse power it is difficult to 'feel' in watts. They still use horse power in the motor industry. I think shipping still use nautical miles and aircraft nautical miles and feet for altitude.

We still have Greenwich Mean Time or 'ZULU' as the Americans like to call it.

GiantMike

Trev The Rev wrote:

We still have Greenwich Mean Time or 'ZULU' as the Americans like to call it.

'ZULU' as the military call it, equating to local time on the Greenwich Meridian. When the clocks change over the summer 'ALPHA' becomes the LOCAL time, and 'ZULU' remains as the GMT datum. So, sometimes ALPHA is LOCAL and sometimes ZULU is LOCAL. In other countries DELTA or SIERRA might be LOCAL. Most military operations and operations run on ZULU time as a common datum. For example, if you're a soldier on the ground in Afghanistan and you want to call in an airstrike, you'd use ZULU as the reference. It can get confusing because there is a 3.5 or 4.5 hour difference between LOCAL and ZULU in Afghanistan.

Anyway, back to measurements. I say use what you like as long as you know the conversion factors. If somebody says they rode 78kms I know what they mean in miles (and furlongs). If somebody says they climbed 230m I know what that is in feet. If somebody tells me I'm using the wrong units I'd tell them to f*ck off.

springtide9

Trev The Rev wrote:

springtide9 wrote:

jimlennon wrote:

Miles/h, you should make sure it from your habit in your country.

So we keep all units in imperial ..... So what's your FTP in Horse Power?
Should we request a firmware update for our Garmin/Powertap to display HP?

I think most people have finally migrated away from Fahrenheit... you never see it quoted on TV for the weather.

Being serious, we have finally migrated pretty much all measurements to metric, apart from distance/speed. Imperial hasn't been taught in school for probably a decade or even two.
I would guess the average 20 year old only knows about 'Miles' from when they start learning to drive. Why we can't make the final switch is beyond logic. I guess we are still ultimately ruled by the USA, with our 'special friendship'.

300 watts is approx 0.4 Horse Power. If you grew up using horse power it is difficult to 'feel' in watts. They still use horse power in the motor industry. I think shipping still use nautical miles and aircraft nautical miles and feet for altitude.

We still have Greenwich Mean Time or 'ZULU' as the Americans like to call it.

But I guess that is the point... you grew up with Imperial, so that is what you are used too. But as a nation (GB) we decided to switch to metric. I'm 43, and my initial schooling was all imperial measurements, but ended with metric.
Talk to a (even intelligent) 16 year old about feet and inches and you'll generally get a blank expression.

Now this is what really shows how ridiculous things are with distance measurements, that I (and many other people that I talk too), know that there are roughly 1600 Metres in a Mile, but have no interest how many Feet or Yards are in a Mile. It just shows that even if we use the "Imperial Mile" for the larger distance measurements, most people are using metric distance measurements for pretty much all other calculations... and it obviously keeps your brain in gear converting the measurements between the two, constantly.

The bottom line is that imperial is a dead measurement system, but for some reason we can't let distance measurements go. I think it was stated that it would confuse us on the roads, but it's probably more likely that no government wants to (a) spend the money or (b) upset the older generation voters
Working with Base10 units is so much easier than with the "old" imperial. Any calculations that matter are done using metric units, but converted back to imperial so that the older generations can understand.

But it's OK, the only people who care about Imperial measurements are people over 40.... but are obviously the decision makers in various industries. In 20 years time, these people will be retired and Imperial measurements will retire with them. Until then, we'll keep this hybrid alive for us old timers.