Miles or kilometres?

[Shut Up Legs]

320 rods, or 80 chains.

Looks like you need to take a chain tool with you, then .

 

[Simontm]

Being born and bred in this ere Island, I just cannot mentally picture kilometres. Someone tells me something is a mile away, I know exactly how far it will take me. Km? No chance. Very pleased when I found the unit changer on the phone app

 

[Berk on a Bike]

I keep track in kilometres but find myself converting it to old money when telling other people!

As a quasi-related aside, I work with a very large printing press on which the width is measured in mm but the length is measured in inches. Go figure.

 

[tyred]

I had a massive ride to the shop last night - a journey of 190,080" - well it sounds more impressive than 3 mi.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I had a massive ride to the shop last night - a journey of 190,080" - well it sounds more impressive than 3 mi.

A league, sir! That sounds epic.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Looks like you need to take a chain tool with you, then .

Abraham Lincoln and his surveying chain., the other picture is a newer one. A bit more bulky than my chain tool, a KMC.

 

[psmiffy]

is that a metric, imperial or US chain?

 

[Gravity Aided]

Tags look US., and made by Keuffel and Esser, who also made slide rules.(God bless 'em.)

 

[mcshroom]

As an Engineer who has to convert between units a lot I use metric units wherever possible (so much easier to handle as soon as you need to do more than basic maths). I measure my rides in km, and convert the road signs accordingly. It also stems from audaxing where the distances are in kms (200, 300, 400, 600, 1400), the minimum and maximum speeds are in km/h and the route sheets are in km.

However I'm used to converting out to imperial measures for other people. Considering that metric units were originally the idea of a guy from Oxford, I do find the nationalistic defence of the imperial system rather silly.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

The accepted unit of measurement where I work is Angstroms or nanometres, perhaps I should standardise and use these units for my cycling too?

I rode 74,995,430,400,000 nanometres to work this morning

 

[Dogtrousers]

Another handy reason for km is if you are using OS maps, the National Grid is based on the metric system, so the grid lines are spaced at 1km.

 

[Bodhbh]

Miles for cycling here...

Those probably like alot hitting middle age, I'm a mongrel when it comes to measurements in general, having been brought up between the two systems:

Body weight - stone or kg (can't do pounds)
Food weight - grams or kilo
Distance (long) - miles
Distance (short) - cm if less than a foot or feet/inches
Altitude - metres
Height (people) - feet and inches (cm make about as much sence as pounds do for weight)

Homebrewing I tend to weigh solid stuff out by metric, but dilute down into pints of liquid, but bottle in 2l bottles.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I rode 74,995,430,400,000 nanometres to work this morning

how many barleycorns is that?

 

[Bodhbh]

Another handy reason for km is if you are using OS maps, the National Grid is based on the metric system, so the grid lines are spaced at 1km.

But if you assume they're miles and count a square as one no matter how diagonally or indirectly it passes thru, it normally works out about right in the end.

 

[I like Skol]

I rode 74,995,430,400,000 nanometres to work this morning

Personally I would have kept going another 4,569,600,000 to make it worthwhile