Commuting - Once You Go 27", You Never Go Back

Ah, I don't know if that's true, but on my singlespeed conversion (a 1982 Fuji), I have 27" wheels. And I love them. The ride is comfortable and quick, and you feel up there. I understand that 700c has forever supplanted them, but what is the downside?

Anybody ride 27" wheels?

Anybody ride 27" wheels?My commuter has 700c My beater has 26' My Sunday joy ride has 27' I don't notice the difference in the wheels - just the tires.

schwalbe marathon plus is the difference. If you want the plus or supreme, they don't make 27, only 700. But, you can get your conti gators. Tire selection is the only thing I've found.

but what is the downside?
Lack of choice for tyres.
Longer spokes = less strong wheel (marginally).
Less choices for rims if you ever need new ones.
Rims are more likely to be steel, which is crap for braking.

Other than that...

Are the rims hooked?

Are the rims hooked?
Alas, no. That's the real drag. Can only inflate tires to around 75 psi. (Which is maybe why I like the ride?)

I'm enjoying the 27 inch wheels on my summer commuter. The tire selection is small, but they are the tires I would want anyway.

Given a choice, I would pick 700c just because it is the modern standard. I'm not in any hurry to get rid of my 27 inchers, though. For the same width, I don't think I could tell the difference.

Can you just swap in 700c's for 27" wheels? Or are there drop or whatever issues?

27x1-1/8" tires have the exact same outside diameter as 700x32c tires.

Al

Can you just swap in 700c's for 27" wheels? Or are there drop or whatever issues?

The brakes won't always line up, you might have to get long reach brakes.

I have a set of 27" Wobler Super Champion rims laced to some Specialized (Suntour) 36 hole Sealed hubs. They ride very nicely. The only issue I had so far was that I broke a spoke in the rear wheel and the closest shop did not have any replacements long enough to fit the wheel. I have never had a problem w/ tire selection though. Schwalbe still makes a number of offereings in 27 inch as do others. I run them at 90 psi and they work great.

I have an old 1984 Trek 720 that still has the original 27" wheels and 1 1/4" tires. Rides pretty nice and just as fast as my road bike with 700 x 23. Or at least I can't seem to tell a difference in speed. The wider tires of the trek are a little more plush though.

When it comes time to replace the wheels on the trek I will likely go with 700 x 32 or so. Manly for the tire selection. I will have to replace the brakes though as the current cantilevers will not work with 700 wheels, I tried.

Bolo: when you tried the 700c, was it just as simple as popping a 700 into the fork? Did you actually try to move the brake pads down, or did you just eyeball it?
I'm thinking of converting the singlespeed to a fixed, and there are far more 700c track wheels available. (In fact, I think Harris Cyclery is the only shop to offer a 27" fixed wheel.) I won't need a rear brake anymore, so that won't be a problem. But how off would it be to run a 700c rear and a 27" front?

my local lbs had SS wheels in 27" for $65 all day. And i've had no problem running them at 100 psi, or finding tires. in fact they're usually easy to find for cheap as well. If you have your sights set on a specific tire, they might not make it but to say that 27 wheels and tires are elusive is altogether incorrect.

BTW, damn near all my rides are 27s


edit -- the shop i got it at -- www.baerwheels.com

The problem with older 27" rims is that they're not hooked, and therefore can't take high-pressure tires. New or recent 27" — like the kind you must have — are the same as 700c. Just a little bigger.

ah, I see. I just checked sheldon's site to make sure i wasn't going to die. Whew, I feel betta. ;)

Yeah, I had been running them at 85, 90, whatever. A bunch of retrogrouches in the vintage forums scared me straight.

The brakes won't always line up, you might have to get long reach brakes.

And longer reach brakes will sometimes help give awesome tire/fender clearance. 27"-wheeled frames offer great opportunities to switch to 700C rims and get great fender and wide tire clearance.

I like my 27" wheels and I like my 700C wheels.
The 27" are steel rims and the 700C are aluminum. Can't tell too much diff in the feel of them, but the steel ones are a lot shinier (sp?).

And I be a lot heavier?

Bolo: when you tried the 700c, was it just as simple as popping a 700 into the fork? Did you actually try to move the brake pads down, or did you just eyeball it?
I'm thinking of converting the singlespeed to a fixed, and there are far more 700c track wheels available. (In fact, I think Harris Cyclery is the only shop to offer a 27" fixed wheel.) I won't need a rear brake anymore, so that won't be a problem. But how off would it be to run a 700c rear and a 27" front?


Thee is no real up and down adjust of the cantilever brakes I have due to the position of them. I took the 700c wheel off of my newer road bike and put it on the old trek. The brakes did not line up where they needed to be. Although I admit to not spending alot of time on this.

Switching to the caliper style brakes found on most new road bikes will likely work, may need long reach, but may not.

I love 27"s !!
The best wheel since Wheel of Fortune !! :eek:
You can get these great cheepo Kenda or cheng Yang
ribbed tires for them in the bike section of K-Mart too !!
8.00 !!

I have 27" wheels on my SS beater. My old touring bike took 27" wheels, too. There's no problem finding tires, unless you want really big or really skinny ones. I don't really like them any better or worse than 700C wheels - they're bigger, yes, but only marginally. It doesn't end up amounting to much.

I have never seen so much hoot'in and hollering over 8 mm since.....

I run mine at 90 pounds. Rims sorta have ridges. not real definitive.

I use 27 x 1 1/4 Continental UltraSports on the Falcon and 27 x 1 3/8 Tioga Bloodhounds on the Bianchi.
The Falcon rims (Weinmann) are unhooked and I've blown tires off the rim at 90psi so I run them at 80psi. The Bianchi rims are hooked and I run them at 100psi + with no problems.

Larger tires & lower pressures = smooth as silk ride.

Dude, the difference is what, 5/8ths of an inch?? How do you feel "up there" with 5/8ths of an inch?

I actually feel very "up there" now cause my track bike has a higher bb and the seat is like, almost an inch higher off the ground than my road bike.

Now if I were 5/8ths longer, maybe. :p

Dude, the difference is what, 5/8ths of an inch?? How do you feel "up there" with 5/8ths of an inch?

I actually feel very "up there" now cause my track bike has a higher bb and the seat is like, almost an inch higher off the ground than my road bike.

Now if I were 5/8ths longer, maybe. :p

Not even close. You get a 4mm boost from 27-inch tires. You'll get a bigger bump from racking your crotch on the top tube than 4mm! :eek:

What makes me feel "up there" are the orange lenses on my sunglasses. I have no idea why, but they give a distinct sensation of being higher off the ground. Why, I don't know - a 50cm frame with a low BB puts me pretty close to Mother Earth most of the time.

Bike Nashbar has new 27" hooked alloy rims and a good selection of tires. If switching to 700c your brake pads will need to move down 4mm. Some calipers will allow this, some will not. I just rebuilt my old wheels with new 27" rims.

Dude, the difference is what, 5/8ths of an inch?? How do you feel "up there" with 5/8ths of an inch?

I didn't say it was logical. No way to explain the princess-and-the-pea effect. But I have to say that the mechanic who helped convert the bike to a ss took it for a ride and said the same thing.

Perhaps I should mention that we were both on mushrooms at the time.

Bike Nashbar has new 27" hooked alloy rims and a good selection of tires. If switching to 700c your brake pads will need to move down 4mm. Some calipers will allow this, some will not. I just rebuilt my old wheels with new 27" rims.
Hmm. Thanks for that. Very interesting. I wonder how much it would cost to build 27" wheels. Would I need special spokes? I don't mind the limited tire choices, really. But I also wonder whether what I like about the wheels is that I'm running them at such a comfy pressure.

My LBS just ordered a 27" alloy front wheel with a QR from the Cycle Lambert catalogue and are charging me $50CDN.

Last year I bought a 27" rear nutted for $60CDN. I have 27x0.125 conti's on them and I run them at 110PSI. I could probably find a better price but there are only 2 LBS's in my neck of the woods. One I don't really like all that much, and the other ripped me off.

It may be frame geometry. I had a 1984 frame I converted and when riding it I felt very high - independent of pharmaceuticals.

I also had a 27 front and 700c rear and never had much difficulty riding uphill all the time.

Al

The older ones sport schrader valves so you have to stock more tubes.

A presta tube will fit in a schrader hole, of course. (But Rob — and this is for another thread — why do we prefer presta tubes anyway?)

The rims on my commuter are drilled for schrader valves, but I use presta tubes with no problems. I have not replaced a tube for any reason in 730 miles, including valve damage.

It's a pretty good deal. I find presta valves easier to deal with in general, but my commuter is also my touring bike - it's nice to have rims compatible with whatever I happen to find, should I need to purchase a new tube out in Nowhereville, USA or lots of other places in the world, for that matter. Rim strength isn't an issue - they're 27mm wide!

Hmm. Thanks for that. Very interesting. I wonder how much it would cost to build 27" wheels. Would I need special spokes? I don't mind the limited tire choices, really. But I also wonder whether what I like about the wheels is that I'm running them at such a comfy pressure.
I just checked bike nashbar and they have 27 X 1 1/8 alloy rims on sale for $6! You may be able to tape the new rim to the old rim and swap the spokes between rims IF the new rim diameter is the same as the old rim diameter where the nipples contact the interior of the rim. I've been very lucky so far! If your not good with spoke adjusting just get it close and let your LBS finish the job.http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/NS-404.gif

A presta tube will fit in a schrader hole, of course. (But Rob — and this is for another thread — why do we prefer presta tubes anyway?)
I use Wal-mart Bell Airtight 27" tubes in my 700 X 38 touring tires with Shrader drilled rims. There thick with added weight penalty but they only lose 5 Lbs a month and are almost bomb proof. No flats at all with them over the last year covering 5,000 miles and 3 pairs of worn out tires.

I just checked bike nashbar and they have 27 X 1 1/8 alloy rims on sale for $6! You may be able to tape the new rim to the old rim and swap the spokes between rims IF the new rim diameter is the same as the old rim diameter where the nipples contact the interior of the rim. I've been very lucky so far! If your not good with spoke adjusting just get it close and let your LBS finish the job.http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/NS-404.gif

Wow. $6! It's almost throwing money away not to buy them. But my singlespeed is at home (rode the geared bike today). And I can't measure the rims. The tire size seems to be the same on the Nashbar rims as mine (1 1/8 and up). Is it really a gamble just to buy them and hope for the best? (These rims are 25 years old! Though they've been ridden only for about a year since I saved the bike from my parents' garage.)

I got a specific designed rubber grommet that fits in the schrader valve hole to make it presta size. Takes away the concern that tube could push thru around valve stem and get damaged.

Al

I got a specific designed rubber grommet that fits in the schrader valve hole to make it presta size. Takes away the concern that tube could push thru around valve stem and get damaged.

AlThey well metal ones at most LBSs

All my bikes are equipped with 27" wheels. For the most part they have the extra space on the break calipers to accomodate 700c but I've not had to replace too many wheels thus far so it's not been an issue.

I like the 27" x 1 1/4 wheels, as opposed to the wider 26" MTB wheels. I find it rolls smoother and there's less overall drag. I've not used 700c before, but I don't think I'd notice the difference of 4mm in ride height.

One of my bikes came with 27" Araya rims. The front started braking spokes (it's old) so it was replaced with a 700c wheel with 28 size tire front. Now with a new 1 1/4 rear tire, it works just fine. Eventually I'll get all the spokes from the front 27 incher replaced and put it back on.

hey, I have both 700c and 27.
got an accident a few days ago while riding my 1980 racer with 27 chromed steel rims.
a motorbike hit me from behind.
the hit was not too hard, since I wasn't thrown off my bike.
I thought the bike was okey.
but....
wtf, I couldn't roll my bike.
I looked down, and realized the rear rim was twisted.......real bad.
I put my bike by it's side on the asphalt.
put my feet in doc martens boot high......
and.........
BOOM!!!!!
I hit the rim.
once, and repeated two more times.
and yes,
I have fixed the rim without even removing it from the frame.
can imagine if that happened to my alu 700c rims.