Bicycle Mechanics - 700c fork question

if i were to buy an old road bike that is designed for 27" tires, but want to run 700c tires, can i just replace the fork with a fork that is designed for 700c tires, and simply run a brake on the front tire, but have no brake on the rear? would this work, or am i missing something....

if i were to buy an old road bike that is designed for 27" tires, but want to run 700c tires, can i just replace the fork with a fork that is designed for 700c tires, and simply run a brake on the front tire, but have no brake on the rear? would this work, or am i missing something....
It would likely screw up the geometry by lowering the front end. Generally, it is a Bad Idea to replace the original fork on a road frameset unless it has been wrecked in a crash.

If you need to do it, it's best to use a "hybrid/cyclocross" fork, those have geometry similar to the older forks seen on '70s road bikes.

You only need to be able to lower the brake shoes by 4 mm to make the original brake work with 622 mm ("700c") wheels. It is very common for original brakes to permit this much adjustment.

Then again, there's really nothing wrong with hte 630 mm (27 inch) wheel size.

Sheldon "If It Ain't Broke..." Brown

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