Do Americans understand celsius?
I don't know whether to laugh or cry when a 3/4 inch diameter BMX spindle is incorrectly referred to as 19mm.
The reluctance to use metric in the US resulted in a decision to use an imperial size bearing with an outside diameter of 1 5/8 inch and an inside diameter of 3/4 inch as the industry standard for the bottom bracket of a BMX. The spindles that fit into these bearings are officially 3/4 inch in diameter but are more commonly referred to as being 19mm.
Simple, because it actually is 19 mm (0.748031 inches) and 0.748031 inches is kind of hard to say.
Now if your question is, why is it in metric? That would be because they are made in China, and that's the system of measurements in China. As a matter of fact it is the system of measurements in almost every single country in the world, except the US. Same reason Asian and European cars use metric parts.
The mid BB bearing for a 3/4 inch spindle is an R12 which is an industry standard mass produced part dimensioned in inches. Not all are made in China. There is also another mid BB bearing with an outside diameter of 1 5/8 inch and an inside diameter of 22mm but this is a specific BMX component rarely sold by industrial bearing suppliers. I don't think there are any metric industry standard bearings with a 19mm inside diameter. BMX wheels are manufactured in China but their diameters are almost always described in inches.
We Americans will never adopt the metric system outside of drugs and soda bottles. You could get Katy Perry, Steven Seagal, Hulk Hogan, or a CGI John Wayne to endorse it and we still wouldn't switch.
It makes more sense for a hot day to be 100 degrees. When you convert it to Celsius, it doesn't seem hot enough! What the f**k, Euro-nutters? You're not getting enough! Same with converting pounds to kilos. Feet to meters only makes sense when you factor in how close a meter is to a yard but who has time to add three inches to every yard?
We already tried converting to metric before (Northern Delaware still has metric road signs) and it failed. It'd be too expensive and it'd need a severe overhaul of American English. If you go to McDonald's, you order a quarter-pounder with cheese, not whatever the hell it is in grams! The former rolls off the tongue. It's smooth and natural. The latter is stilted and weird.
It makes more sense for a hot day to be 100 degrees. When you convert it to Celsius, it doesn't seem hot enough! What the f**k, Euro-nutters? You're not getting enough! Same with converting pounds to kilos. Feet to meters only makes sense when you factor in how close a meter is to a yard but who has time to add three inches to every yard?
We already tried converting to metric before (Northern Delaware still has metric road signs) and it failed. It'd be too expensive and it'd need a severe overhaul of American English. If you go to McDonald's, you order a quarter-pounder with cheese, not whatever the hell it is in grams! The former rolls off the tongue. It's smooth and natural. The latter is stilted and weird.
Despite the fact that Canada is *officially* Metric, we still use imperial measures for a lot of different things, including our burgers. A quarter pounder with cheese isn't called a "royale with cheese" here, it's called a quarter pounder with cheese.
Celsius is officially imperial. Kelvin is the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature.
Some American engineers, who use imperial measurements in everyday life, are concerned that the reluctance of the US to adopt metric sized components has harmed engineering and manufacturing industries when it comes to exporting products to the rest of the world because replacements or tools to fit them are difficult to find or expensive. Even simple parts like metric sized nuts and bolts have to be specially ordered in the US but every fastener store sells them in the rest of the world. The reverse is true with SAE sized nuts and bolts. Products measuring temperatures in fahrenheit but not celsius are virtually unsellable outside of the US. Imperial sized bearings are available from most suppliers in Britain but the BS covering them was withdrawn in 1997 so they are not recommended for new designs.
AM 740 in Toronto tells the temperature in both Metric and Imperial.
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