Commuting - Metric or Imperial

After being at this board for a couple of years, I still convert everything from metric to imperial for our US friends. Is this still necessary, do people want to read both measurements, are they happy to convert it themselves.

CHEERS.

Mark

Its not that hard to convert. Since we Americans are the only ones using the "imperial" units of measure, don't see the need to make most of the rest of the world do the converson. Then again, this server is based in the U.S....hmmmm Wonder what the percentage of U.S. vs. rest of the world are on the forums?

I thought America used the “American Standard” and not Imperial? Imperial was/is used by the UK and her former occupied territories. Here in Canada we are using all four systems: Metric, Soft Metric, Imperial and American Standard. We also lack standards for the spelling of our English language and for writing out dates. I prefer metric for day-to-day measurements, but I work in Imperial.

I generally prefer to read metric, but it doesn't bother me too much. I can do a quick conversion in my head if need be.

Imperial works for me- I don't often go to metric, but if our non-US friends want to use the metric, I can convert it in my head and still be down with that.

Koffee

I can deal with metric easily us shipping types tend to use the weights and volume metriic system already seeing the rest of the world is already there. And yes the US should just switch over it is so much easier to deal with than our system wwhen it comes to the math. Besides they made me learn all the stuff when I was growing up because we were planning on being metric by now.

Not a problem for me. I usually post temperatures in F and C, dimensions in cm or mm, speed in mph (sorry, I'll repent :) ) but it's tough posting US$ and every other currency.
Stones and the other not too frequent stuff I can handle since a BF member (can't remember who) told us about this nifty conversion tool (http://www.joshmadison.com/software/convert/).

I can handle US$. It buys the same a £ does in the UK.
Farenheit, wots it all about ?
What does it mean to you when the temp goes below zero.
I know that in celcius, you can expect ice.

What does it mean to you when the temp goes below zero.
It means it's COLD outside. ;)

U.S. conversion to metric is long overdue, and is creeping in slowly anyhow. At one time I owned a commercial cabinet shop. Most of my equipment was from Europe (and had metric scales) but all the architectural drawings were in the architectural version of imperial (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc). My policy was to convert everything to metric within the shop, but to keep a parallel set of shop drawings to submit to the general contractor in imperial. It was an insane, error prone system, but it was the best I could come up with in a field where boring machine center-to-center is 32mm or 37mm (depending on what the holes are for), and entry level cabinetmakers are setting the stops based on architectual drawings using imperial units.
It made me long for a rapid transition to the metric system.

What does it mean to you when the temp goes below zero

Well, if the temp hits 0 in ferenhite then it is a bit nippy out. Being that our freezing point is 32f which is your 0c.

:beer:

I prefer to read metric, but can convert whatever is posted easily. If you're not sure of the conversion, post in whatever system you know. I'd rather do the conversion myself and get it right ;).

One note - when posting dollar amounts, it's very helpful if people just identify what currency they're talking in. If no location is filled in, and someone posts a 'what's the best bike for $2000' question, who's to know if it's US, Canadian, Aussie etc???

I grew up long after imperial measurement disappeared from Australian culture, but had to know it to be able to talk easily with parents and grandparents who still thought more easily in imperial. Now, living in the US, I've had to learn the American Standard system. I'm used to it now, but bugger me it's confusing at times. Whatever people post here, I'll be able to convert quickly in my head, but I really wish the US would just join the rest of us and go metric. LarryJ, it must be annoying sometimes working in an industry that requires precise measurement and having the confusion of the two systems... especially working in American Standard on a metric machine!!!

What does it mean to you when the temp goes below zero.
I know that in celcius, you can expect ice.

My car engine won't start ... but another layer of clothing is all I need to use the bike.



Sorry, didn't fill out the poll -- I want to answer: don't do work for me, if I need it, I can take the time to make the conversion. But then, some of the "America is great" people probably cannot understand why anyone would do anything different than us and expect the rest of you to conform.

It was an insane, error prone system, but it was the best I could come up with in a field where boring machine center-to-center is 32mm or 37mm


Stalin ran into the same trouble when copying the B-29 Bomber. They eventually overcame this and produced a perfect copy, even down to the flaws... It was a huge undertaking.

Dan

I thought America used the “American Standard” and not Imperial? Imperial was/is used by the UK and her former occupied territories. Here in Canada we are using all four systems: Metric, Soft Metric, Imperial and American Standard. We also lack standards for the spelling of our English language and for writing out dates. I prefer metric for day-to-day measurements, but I work in Imperial.

what is "soft metric"?
just wondering b/c in the rural South everything is just measured by the number of stop signs and referenced by a major landmark, like walmart or a traffic light (i.e. you go three stop signs past walmart and its up the road a ways on your left.)

I`m still an "imperialist" despite the "Clowns" in the Euro community foisting the "Metric" upon us.

Guess its Brit pride,refusing to "toe the line" at the demands from "Brussels" and its so confusing for the older folks who have a struggle with the conversion.

This thread get me thinking of "Pulp Fiction".

-Do you know what they call a quarterpounder with cheeze in Paris?

-They don´t call it a quarterpounder with cheeze?

-No man, they got the metric system. They don´t know what the f**k a quarterpounder is.

-Then what do they call it?

-They call it a Royale with cheeze.

Posting it in metric is fine with me. We should have been on metric a long time ago. Do I recall correctly that we were going to go metric by 1980?

I lived in Central Asia for a year and it took about a week to get used to Celsius. 25C is a nice day, 40C is blistering, 0C is freezing. (And -40C = -40F = too damn cold to go outside).

Plus, I've got a 54cm bike with 700mm x 23mm tires and all the components are attached with 3, 4, and 5mm hex nuts.

what is "soft metric"?
just wondering b/c in the rural South everything is just measured by the number of stop signs and referenced by a major landmark, like walmart or a traffic light (i.e. you go three stop signs past walmart and its up the road a ways on your left.)

Soft metric is when an American Standard of Imperial measurement is converted to metric. For example, beer in Canada comes in a 341-ml. bottle. Paint is sold in 3.74 litre pales and the list goes on. I love it when I am in Europe, especially Italy, where food, for example, is sold by the kilo. Canada stopped going metric many years ago and we are in a state of limbo. In the eastern part of the country, I use metric when conversing with friends, but here in the west it is all in imperial. Oh yeah sport measurements are common, you will hear things like “it is the size of a football field” Now are they talking American football, Canadian football or European football? Man I wish the world would just use METRIC!

Hmmm... and here I am wishing the world would just use IMPERIAL!

;)

Soft metric is when an American Standard of Imperial measurement is converted to metric. For example, beer in Canada comes in a 341-ml. bottle. Paint is sold in 3.74 litre pales and the list goes on. I love it when I am in Europe, especially Italy, where food, for example, is sold by the kilo.

If you put it like that, I guess we have something like that in the States. Like the can of Pepsi I'm drinking now says "12 fl. oz -- 355 ml" I"m a little surprised that the beer and cola companies haven't figured out that they could use 333 ml. cans (which would make a six-pack exactly 2 liters) but charge the same as they do now. Instant profit and the average American consumer would be none the wiser.

Hey y'all don't forget the Redneck Metric System-

10 buttloads equal 1 s_h_i_t_load.
10 s_h_i_t_loads equal 1 truckload.
10 truckloads equal 1 boatload.

Hey y'all don't forget the Redneck Metric System-

10 buttloads equal 1 s_h_i_t_load.
10 s_h_i_t_loads equal 1 truckload.
10 truckloads equal 1 boatload.

So therefore a buttload is a milliboatload? Or a boatload is a kilobuttload? :)

In the US, I acept that bolts on bikes and imprted cars are metric; but that distances, weights, volume measures and temperature are imperial, and that engineers measure in a bastardized system of feet and tenths of feet (instead of inches). There are literally dozens of ways to measure water flow and volume in both the metric and imperial systems. This all seems quite logical to me...so don't go and try to convert the entire US system to metric on us..it didn't happen in the 70's and it ain't gonna happen now...there's nothing so special OR standardized about metric that we should be required to use it against our will...

My depth of zeal around the issue of measurement systems is very shallow, as I'm pretty adept at making conversions where needed. But having both made and lost money off the accuracy of unit calculation, and after having muddled through an industry where it was necessary to do metric/imperial conversions on a daily basis, the metric system wins hands down over the imperial system. The reason isn't so much the units chosen, which are arbitrary anyhow. It's the historical baggage which rides along with the imperial system. It would be possible to get the big advantage of metric (doing calculations in one's head by merely adding units and shifting the decimal points for division and multiplication) within the imperial system by merely choosing a unit (inches in most cases) and expressing all fractional units as 1/10ths, 1/100ths, etc. Engineers tend to do this, and it strips out the obsolete blithering idiocy built into unit measurements in the architectural and construction related fields. But given the long history of architects and contractors expressing length in feet, and inches, and fractional inches (1/2, 1/4, 1/8 ...) this isn't likely to occur, and the best hope is a gradual erosion of systems other than metric.

Soft metric is when an American Standard of Imperial measurement is converted to metric. For example, beer in Canada comes in a 341-ml. bottle. Paint is sold in 3.74 litre pales and the list goes on. I love it when I am in Europe, especially Italy, where food, for example, is sold by the kilo. Canada stopped going metric many years ago and we are in a state of limbo. In the eastern part of the country, I use metric when conversing with friends, but here in the west it is all in imperial. Oh yeah sport measurements are common, you will hear things like “it is the size of a football field” Now are they talking American football, Canadian football or European football? Man I wish the world would just use METRIC!


Soft metric doesn't appeal to me. All beer should come in bottles that measure a full liter. One liter, two liter, three liter, etc....
(Edit) The beer should be cold, very cold, just above 0 Celsius.
I haven't been able to understand why we don't switch to the metric system here in the U.S. If you want to change something, you just move the decimal point over. Math is much easier, as well as measurements. If people want something hard to do, they can find a good hill to climb with their bike.

One liter, two liter, three liter, etc....
(Edit) The beer should be cold, very cold, just above 0 Celsius.

Give me a half litre of warm ale (10 centigrade) and I am very happy boy! So why is America resisting metric?

America is resisting metric becuase we are stubborn, and people are too stupid to make the switch. If EVERYTHING was suddenly turned metric, I wouldn't know the difference. For instance, I was talking about this with one of my friends, and he was saying that he wouldn't know how fast he was going in the car if the speedo was in km/hr, but if the speed limit was 100km/h, then he could easily see if he was above or below the speed limit.

Phasing things out just confuses people.

hey look at the bright side, 100km/h is ~63mph so you would be going faster on your interstate highways. but yet you have some speed limits of 70 :(

Give me a half litre of warm ale (10 centigrade) and I am very happy boy! So why is America resisting metric?

Because we're just as happy with pint of ale at 50 degrees Fahrenheit!