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I went and got a fresh tire and innertube yesterday and just now I went to install them, preparatory to going grocery shopping. The tyre wasn't a problem. The tube, however, had some sort of newfangled valve that I've never seen the likes of and that my tyre pump won't fit.
Oh, and I can totally tell you that using american tools on a bike with metric fittings is a recipe for scraped-up hands and lots of rather inventive cursing....
Anyway, I'm bruised and scraped and I still don't have a bloody working bike.
I think I'm going to just write today off as a bad deal and go back to bed...
Comments
It Will Never Happen
... but the US should go metric.
Portia
Portia
Officially we are metric
It's just that the way our gov chose to go metric was to define the old British units in metric terms. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Just try over here...
Over here in the UK, we tend to use imperial and metric units interchangeably.
Initially we went down the route of using the same imperial sizes but defining them in metric equivalents. But at some point in time, plumbers decided to resize some fittings in 'whole' metric units.
But there's still a lot which is officially metric but sounds suspiciously imperial. Kitchen units are typically 600mm wide, a typical paving slab is 900mm x 600mm, fence panels are 1.8m long, a jar of jam is typically 454g, and while some companies are selling milk in 2L bottles, it's more common to find 2.272 L. Oh, and to make things really confusing, domestic gas is sold by the kWh, whereas most meters measure the passage of gas in cubic feet. The gas companies take the volume, and IIRC initially convert it into British Thermal Units before converting into kWh.
Food nutrition's another daft example. The fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein, and sodium levels are expressed as grams per 100 grams, yet while the energy value is typically displayed as calories (except that the nutritional Calorie is actually 1,000 calories).
We measure distance by miles and calculate fuel economy as miles per gallon, but fuel is sold by the litre.
Where else could you find an advocacy group entitled the Metric Martyrs?!
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
It's a mixed up crazy world!
And it's even more confusing if like me you were born after the UK switched to metric. I was schooled in kilometres, centimetres, millimetres and then unleashed into a world of miles, feet and inches. I like metric. I understand metric. But I still have to buy a pint of milk...
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Crazy?
What I find crazy is that the US uses British gallons but Britain doesn't. The UK uses Imperial gallons which are almost exactly 20% bigger.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
gallons
I seem to be posting a lot this evening :0)
Actually all our 'old' measures are Imperial (Roman Imperial that is). The US uses US gallons which have never been used in the UK. Anyone remember the airliner which ran out of fuel a few years ago and did a successful dead stick landing on an old unused airfield? That was down to faulty fuel gauges and confusion between litres, US and Imperial gallons amongst other things. As soon as the US (and the whole of the UK) is dragged kicking and struggling into 21st century world of metric units the better for all concerned.
The US seems to use very funny threads on nuts and bolts which are based on imperial units. If I buy a US model kit (which are generally excellent quality btw) I throw away all the supplied fitting and replace them with metric (usually 2, 3 or 4mm) which are much easier to get and much easier to understand. US spanner (wrench) sizes have always been different from the imperial ones used here (BSF and Whitworth) and were used on cars of the 50s and 60s. However I'm pleased to say the imperial socket set I had for my 21st birthday hasn't been used for many years.
There are 3 types of valve for cycle inner tubes. Woods (which are obsolete), Presta (sometimes called French) and Schroeder (which are the same as cars). I standardise on Presta because they're used exclusively on lightweight 700c and racing tyres.
Robi
A Pint's a Pound...
Of the various gallons in use at the time of the American Revolution, the choice was made to use the British Wine Gallon as the standard wet measurement. The Romans, like almost everyone else before the French Revolution, used different size gallons depending on what was being measured. The UK Imperial gallon came into use during the Victorian years in order to avoid just that confusion but the US had already settled on what was called a British gallon (as opposed to a French or Spanish one). When I learned my units in school, we were taught to call our gallons British Gallons. They became US Gallons as far as I know, only when redefined in metric units.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Strange...
The US Gallon is the *old* British Wine Gallon but not the newer (but sadly superseded) Imperial Gallon formerly used in the UK and many Commonwealth countries. The US Gallon is roughly 3.8 litres. The Imperial Gallon is roughly 4.5 litres, a bit bigger at almost five (4.8) US quarts. Sheer madness the Byzantine kit and caboodle of it.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Gallons and stuff
The ever-useful Wikipedia lists sixteen different definitions of the measure(!), and the current definition of the Imperial Gallon (adopted in the UK in 1985) originated in Canada (1964), being a metrification of the 1824 Imperial Gallon, itself being equivalent to the old Ale Gallon. The US Gallon is based on the Queen Anne Gallon, which was originally defined as the volume of water filling a cylindrical container 7" in diameter and 6" high.
There's similar fun with dry weight, with five different definitions of the ounce (avoirdupois, troy, Maria Theresa, Dutch metric and Chinese metric). Heck, until a few decades ago we even had imperial coinage.
Length appears to be fairly standardised in Imperial measures, but it can be fun finding out where the units originated. The inch was originally 1/12th of a foot (the latter's origin being fairly self-explanatory!), but in England (where we do things differently!), the inch was defined at various times as the width of a thumb (taken as the average of a small, medium and large man's thumb, just to be on the safe side!) or the length of three barleycorns (incidentally, barleycorns are used as the basis for shoe sizes in both the US and UK) and a foot being 12x the length.
A furlong was a furrow long (also 10 chains), a chain was an actual chain used by a clergyman in 1620 called Edward Gunter, and an acre was 1 furlong x 1 chain, allegedly the amount of land that could be ploughed by one man behind an ox in a day. A league was originally how far a man could walk in an hour (3 miles), a mile was 8 furlongs and was standardised in 1592 - but the original Roman Mile was 1,000 paces.
The nautical mile is different, but then again not many people can walk on water (without the aid of stepping stones!)...
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Gimli Glider
Ah, yes, the famous "Gimli Glider":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
Loading X pounds of fuel when you need X kilograms can ruin your day!
Kris
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Peter Piper picked ....
.... a peck of pickled pepper.
I dislike all things metric. Not desperately so you understand. Not enough to do anything about it. Just a feeling of distaste when I happen to think about it.
The metric system is completely lacking in charm. Everything just multiplied by ten. Boring, boring, boring. Where is the poetry? And all based on what? Nothing that is remotely imaginable. Whereas a foot, a hand, a yard etc have all a history and a human dimension. I grieve for the demise of rods, poles and perches, (1 of which is 25 links or a quarter of a chain for the new born amongst you). For links and chains themselves. And those poor deprived people whose education did not extend to the learning by rote the essential fact that 2 pints make 1 quart, 4 quarts 1 gallon, 2 gallons 1 peck, 4 pecks or 8 gallons 1 bushel, 64 gallons or 8 bushels 1 quarter. Such a quarter of course must not be confused with the avoirdupois quarter, 4 of which, as all are aware, equal 1 hundredweight or 112 pounds.
I would incidentally dearly love to know if there exist US pecks bushels and quarters of corresponding inferior capacity?
Romance is dying, crowded out by by slavish need to conform. By a craven acknowledgement that people can nowadays only divide or multiply by moving a decimal point about.
Incidentally not only have we become mentally effete but physically we are in a precipitous decline. I visited an old working windmill last weekend. The wheat used to be, was indeed for centuries, emptied by hand into hoppers at the top of the mill in 1 hundredweight sacks by our undersized ancestors. Now Health and Safety Regulations mean that 25 lb sacks are used in case the poor men strain themselves. The heart bleeds.
There are some gray areas still. It was pointed out to me recently by one who had been schooled in the metric system that if he was measuring a length he would do it in metric whereas he would automatically measure a height in feet and inches. Indeed he had no idea how tall he himself was in metric. Thus there is a clear schism between the vertical and the horizontal. Ah me.
Hugs,
P.S. The most useful conversion aid is that 1 hand equals approx. 10 centimetres.
Bushel and a Peck
U.S. dry measure is in dry quarts, pecks and bushels which are about 3% smaller than their Imperial counterparts.
Did you know that the US stock market recently went decimal? Doing away with the old calculations which were in pieces of eight.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
My two bits ....
I have this lovely mental image of a chap in frock coat with, admittedly somewhat incongruously, a parrot on his shoulder hammering a coin into an, equally incongruous, mast with the cry of -
'A golden dubloon to the first man who sights a recession."
Hugs,
P.S. I think I am indebted to you Erin for a previous comment concerning the relationship between two bits and pieces of eight.
Am I stoned?
Or what?
I keep seeing things that make me think the UK is even more mixed up than that.
I seems like weights are still told in stone+pounds (at least for humans). And I keep seeing (long) distances in miles, but speed is always kph, how the heck does that work?
Is that right? Is it only trade that has switched? Or am I just reading the wrong things? (If they're translating for a USA audience, wow, they're really messing up by using 'stone' for kilos.)
Re: Am I stoned?
Greetings
I think you have been misled by something you have read.
Road distances are still measured in miles and speed limits are miles per hour. However, as many vehicles and drivers come from other parts of Europe some limits are posted in both Imperial and Metric units.
When it comes to fuel for vehicles it is sold in litres. But when it comes to measuring how much fuel is used, it is still quoted in miles per gallon! Why they don't change that to miles per litre does not make sense to me.
The use of the metric system was made legal in USA as a system of measurement in 1866.
The majority of the countries of the world now use metric units.
Brian
Who weighs 74kg, 11 stone 9 pounds or 163 pounds
Metric in Canada
We primarily trade products with the USA. We require these products to be labelled in metric, with French and English labels where enough room exists for such labelling. Those canadian products you can buy primarily come in plastic packaging made in the USA so even our own products are 454g instead of 500.
In the beginning all items had to be labelled only in metric, but I noticed about 10 years ago the non-metric price was printed in smaller lettering.
My mother still asks me what that is in real degrees... or real miles?
I personally believe a fundamental change in how society works requires that 3 generations come and go. Then there will be no confusion. Everyone in the 4th generation will only know the new way of doing things.
Generation 1. This generation clings to what it knows, bands together to ask what is that in real degrees.
Generation 2. Translates on behalf of generation 1 but mostly uses both interchangeable.
Generation 3. Mainly uses the new methods but remembers the previous way but doesn't really
understand why gen1 and 2 couldn't just do it the new way... its soo much simpler.
Generation 4. Finally gen1 is likely deceased and those who come after have been successfully integrated.
So here we sit... waiting for gen 1 to pass away.
Nobody.
grams and litres
Illicit drugs and bottled soft drinks are about the only things consistently sold in metric units.
Funny to think
Funny to think that drug dealers and cola warriors are more rational than the rest of the business community. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Yes they do have some yukky yuppy valve now
I think it came from Europe, like the Dutch Elm disease, or something. Now, as to why, I simply can't say.
Gwen
My brother bought
what he thought was six feet of timber. When he got it home he found it was five feet ten and a half inches. He complained to the shop and was told ...
"It's a metric foot."
Now, when I go into a shop and ask for something and they tell me it's in grams, centimetres, and so on I ask ...
"What's that in real money?"
Susie
There are two main types...
and
also laughingly called the "American" valve.
You're absolutely right; they're very different.
You can purchase Presta to Schrader valve adapters for very little dosh, less than a dollar if you look around. More if you don't.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Hi Abby!
Other than a strange bike tube, how are things going? I think you said that you were going or went on HRT; do you see or feel any changes yet? Mood, sense of smell, the way your body (odor) smells?
There are American metric tools, but most one sees are from Taiwan or China. ;-)
The valve on your new tube is probably a Presta valve. The threaded OD is smaller than the OD of the thread on the end of a Schrader valve (like ones on car tires). The presta valve holds high pressures better; they're used on anything that could be called a racing (road) bike.
What you need, for your pump or air from a service station, etc., is an adapter. Small brass ones cost 2 or 3 $ at a bike shop. I have one here that's .6" long and has a 3/8" OD knurled section to grip. The other end is threaded the same as a schrader valve. The inside diameter, ID, is threaded to screw on to a presta valve. To fill a presta, screw the little nut on the center rod of the valve, out, then push the nut and rod into the valve to release the seal. There's an O ring on the end to get a tight seal when the adapter is screwed onto the presta valve. Your pump, etc., will work with the schrader threaded end of the adapter. After inflating the tire, screw off the adapter then screw the center rod nut, in, tightening the seal inside the valve.
Alternatively, just flag down anyone on a road bike (with derailleurs, multi gears, narrow tires, etc.) who's wearing the traditional skintight bike shorts. E will either have an adapter and/or some way to inflate presta valve tubes.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Bloody hell, now I'm really confused...
And yes, it is a Presta valve. Thanks for the info!
And yes, I've been on HRT for a little over 9 months. Things have changed, but I don't notice most of the changes unless I actually think about it. Sense of taste, and smell, not just enhanced but completely different.
Body odor? I dunno, I don't exactly go around with my nose stuck in my armpit.
Best opinion on that? I smell like Safeguard.
Other physical changes? Yep. Fairly major ones. Hopefully more developments yet to come, about which I am very impatient.
But perhaps the biggest and best change is in hubby's attitude and the way he makes me feel.
The whole topic deserves more serious attention and thought and a well-considered reply and I'm just not up to that right now.
Abby
Amazing
we get discussions on weights and measures, political philosophy, history, engineering, bio-emotional change and pharmaceuticals - all from a bike valve. Wonderful things bikes!
Angharad
Angharad
It almost happened in the late 70's early 80's
In the US, after 1974, gas prices started to raise from about 29 cents a gallon, I forget just when but as they exceeded a a dollar a gallon, the gas pumps in use could not accommodate the price per gallon. Prices were changed to a metric reference based on liters, I think it might have been Decca Liters.
Any how, the effect was that the price looked cheaper on signs at the gas stations, you would be driving along and see a sign that had a price per that looked to be half the prevailing rate and quickly turn in and fill your tank, only to realize you had spent about the same amount.
After awhile this lead to revolt and signs start to appear every few miles along major highways, $500 fine - No Littering