mrminibus said:
it's like the metric or imperial thing the US laughs at us and rightly so, it's illegal to buy a quarter of sweets yet you can walk into a pub and buy a pint of beer !
That can't be right can it?
Got to agree with you about the godawful mix and match of units in this country.
However, even the French aren't above this. You can still ask for a 'livre' (pound) of things and will get served with half a kilo of whatever you want. And don't forget that pint came over from France with the Normans in 1066.
mrminibus said:
Rover made a minimetro in about 1981 with 135 x 70 x 12... 135 mm across 70mm x 12 inches and a few years later changed to fully metric and of course the price went up but all other manufacturers still sell them in both metric and imperial, we should use one or the other....
As most wheels are still imperial units in diameter it doesn't make sense to change them into metric units as they wouldn't be precise numbers (integers to be correct). The width of the tyre is, by convention, expressed in imperial units if it's a cross-ply tyre and metric if it's radial. The 70 isn't a measurement but a ratio indicating that the tyre is 70% high as it is wide. Lower profile tyres can be 65, 60 50 or even lower if you have a supercar.
Metric diameter wheels and tyres are a fairly new concept and specifically designed so as NOT to be interchangeable wih imperial ones usually because of some special safety feature or other, such as run flat.
mrminibus said:
My 11 yr old son is doing fractions at school ! how mad is that ?
Fractions are still valid. What would you replace them with?
