Author Topic: MPH or KMH?  (Read 19012 times)

MPH or KMH?
« on: 01 January, 2021, 12:57:49 pm »
Most people on this forum post upcoming rides, or rides completed in kmh rather than mph. Is it because many, including myself are audaxers where brevets etc are set in kmh. When I first participated in Audax I reset my cycle computer to km as that is how routesheets are set. My Garmin is currently set to mph as that's what I prefer.

Kim

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Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #1 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:00:39 pm »
I'm a child of the 80s, so I naturally think of speed in mph, and distance in kilometres.  I have a cycle computer in miles and a GPS receiver in kilometres, and entertain myself on boring bike rides with mental artithmetic.

I find it slightly confusing that the BHPC's race timing software's set to work in miles.  The speed column makes sense but all the distances are meaningless.  Not that the other way round would be much of an improvement.   :facepalm:

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #2 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:06:38 pm »
I work in km for cycling because of audax. I don’t generally post anything about average speed, but if I post a distance it’ll be in km.

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #3 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:11:17 pm »
I'm pretty much billingual when it comes to units - as I suspect most Brits are over a certain age (with the exception of people who are wilfully ignorant of one or the other).

I set my GPS to imperial for day to day rides, but switch everything to metric for Audax. Oddly I still leave it on imperial when touring overseas, despite the fact that all the signs are in km. But then that gives me the opportunity for mental arithmetic as Kim mentions.

So I'm happy with either. I'm less happy about people telling others that they're morons for using one or the other. I can guarantee this will happen in this thread :P
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #4 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:17:55 pm »
For audaxxy reasons I only viscerally understand pace in km/h but raw speed in mph.

Distance is km except during the last 10 km of a ride, because then it’s barely 6 miles.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #5 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:18:57 pm »
I use kilometres, because it's 2021, and I'm not a backwards barbarian...

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #6 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:19:16 pm »
I use both. On my tandem the control panel is in km and the garmin that sits next to it is in miles. I estimate distance on landranger maps in miles, and on explorers by halving the landranger mile.
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Blodwyn Pig

  • what a nice chap
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #7 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:30:30 pm »
so I naturally think of speed in mph, and distance in kilometres. 

^^^ This, plus avg speed in km/h   :facepalm:

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #8 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:33:00 pm »
I should add that I don’t use either km or miles when actually riding. It’s not necessary to know those things.

Kim

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Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #9 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:36:04 pm »
so I naturally think of speed in mph, and distance in kilometres. 

^^^ This, plus avg speed in km/h   :facepalm:

Average speed in km/h when it's an audax or a race or something, but I use a fixed value of 10mph (including stops) for touring purposes, where speed is only usually of importance for working out when you've got to get moving in order to reach your destination at a reasonable time of day.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #10 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:42:35 pm »
The first cycle computer I got was an enormously complicated thing measuring instantaneous, average and cumulative speeds, distances and cadences with and without breaks by means of several lightyears of wire. It was also white. I set it in miles because I lived in Britain and it was the 1980s. I then spent a couple of years away from my bike and mostly in countries where they use kilometres (though also briefly in countries where in practice they didn't use either km or miles). I then got another bike and shortly afterwards another cyclocomp in Poland, so naturally I set it to km. I've kept this habit up, perhaps due to audaxy influences or perhaps due to years of accustomization to post-Napoleonic measures, until a couple of weeks ago when I took the computer off the bike. I might get around to sticking it on FTAGH unless I decide it's worth something (or even that I want to use it again). The GPS is still in km but only if I look at the data summary page, I don't have that displayed normally.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #11 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:47:14 pm »
I should add that I don’t use either km or miles when actually riding. It’s not necessary to know those things.

"How far is it to the next turning?"
"If I'm going at this speed, will I make it to the bakery before it shuts?"
"Oh I'm 20km from Utrecht, that means I've made a wrong turning somewhere"
"Hmm, my speed has dropped significantly. Have I forgotten to eat again?"
"I need to keep my average speed above X, otherwise I'm going to be late for dinner"

There are many reasons to need to know what your speed or distance is while riding.

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #12 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:49:02 pm »
Kilometres, of course. Mental conversions allow for medieval measurements.

While riding, I mostly rely on timings based on the average speed that I feel like I am riding at e.g. I’ll be ‘there’ in about 20 minutes. That sense is pretty well calibrated most of the time.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

rob

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #13 on: 01 January, 2021, 01:52:08 pm »
I do everything in miles.  There’s 32 years of cycling records on file in this format.

For Audax I have map/heart rate/elapsed time on screen.  I have in my head where the controls are and a rough schedule.  Over and above that I ignore how far I have done or how far there is to go as it doesn’t help me me much mentally.

When racing I work in mph as I race imperial distances.

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #14 on: 01 January, 2021, 02:05:48 pm »
I should add that I don’t use either km or miles when actually riding. It’s not necessary to know those things.

"How far is it to the next turning?"
"If I'm going at this speed, will I make it to the bakery before it shuts?"
"Oh I'm 20km from Utrecht, that means I've made a wrong turning somewhere"
"Hmm, my speed has dropped significantly. Have I forgotten to eat again?"
"I need to keep my average speed above X, otherwise I'm going to be late for dinner"

There are many reasons to need to know what your speed or distance is while riding.

J

You might want to know those things but it’s not necessary to know them.  Sure you can see distances on signs if you’ve made a wrong turn but you don’t need speed nor distance showing on your GPS.

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #15 on: 01 January, 2021, 02:31:00 pm »
I'm happy with either, mostly metric when riding (except TTs) and mostly imperial when driving (except abroad).  I organise a 100 mile audax event (amongst others).

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #16 on: 01 January, 2021, 02:53:00 pm »
Secondary school and further education for me was 60s/70s so I am bilingual imperial and metric.  I live in an imperial country with imperial signposts etc, so I think in miles and buy beer in pints.  Unless on holiday in metric countries where I think in kilometres and buy beer in fractions of a litre.   I think some people just use km because 100km at 20kph sounds so much more impressive than 64 miles at 12.5mph.   ;D

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #17 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:04:25 pm »
I just use km, I can't see a good reason to use miles.

Tomsk

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Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #18 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:13:55 pm »
Surely audax distance is measured in hours and minutes?  ;)

So long as the funometer is turned up to eleven I'm happy with either measure, barbaric or otherwise ...

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #19 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:24:29 pm »
Everything in miles.  Kilometres aren't used in the UK (except for motorway distance posts 0.1km apart).

Using km for the length of a ride is like a tabloid using °F for heatwaves and °C for cold snaps, to make the numbers more impressive  ;)
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #20 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:24:59 pm »
Distance and speed in miles/mph, though I can easily convert to Km if required.
But also
Bike weight in kg, bike size in cm, tyre diameter in inches but width in mm

 ??? ??? ???

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #21 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:26:30 pm »
Surely audax distance is measured in hours and minutes?  ;)
Or pieces of cake and cups of tea...
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Pingu

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Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #22 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:38:38 pm »
Metric, using 8s & 5s to convert UK sign distances.

Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #23 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:44:03 pm »

Using km for the length of a ride is like a tabloid using °F for heatwaves and °C for cold snaps, to make the numbers more impressive  ;)

Same with people using feet for the amount of climbing. They want the numbers to sound more impressive. :P

PaulF

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Re: MPH or KMH?
« Reply #24 on: 01 January, 2021, 03:53:19 pm »
   I think some people just use km because 100km at 20kph sounds so much more impressive than 64 miles at 12.5mph.   ;D

Rumbled ;D