Touring - 27 inch Wheels

My Trek 520 came with a really nice 27 wheelset, but tires are just not as readily produced for the 27 wheels as the 700s, so I would like to change them. Is there any problems I would have changing the wheelset from 27s to 700s?

Your brake calipers will most likely be too short.

try to fit a 700c wheelset on first, before you buy, longer caliper brakes can probably be fitted. you might be better off sticking with the old wheels unless you plan to tour europe. 27 inch stuff is hard to find there but in the states not so much. you can find replacement tires and tubes in walmart which can come in handy in small town USA

schawbe makes marathon tires in 27, i know because i have one on my beater bike.

Your brake calipers will most likely be too short.

Does that bike have calipers?

If it's old enough to have 27's it probably has cantilever brakes. I just put 700c wheels on a bike with cantilever brakes that was built for 27's. No problem making the adjustment.

Speedo

27 inch stuff is hard to find there but in the states not so much. you can find replacement tires and tubes in walmart which can come in handy in small town USA


+1

While in the middle of Texas on an x-country tour I whimsically took a look at the walmart bike stuff. No 700c but gosh darn it they have 27in folders. I took a pic at posted it in my journal.

As long walmart is stocking just keep wheels until they are toast.

My Univega commuter has 27's and I considered changing the wheels but ultimately decided if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

There are a number of nice tires made in 27's. I had Continental Gatorskins for awhile; now I'm using Pasela Panaracer Tourguards. Also, places like Nashbar and Performance always offer 27-inch tires at cheaper prices.

I decided to ride my current wheelset into the ground before switching, but these wheels are doing very nicely after I had a pro true them, so I may never switch.

Harris Cyclery also sells replacement wheels for 27 inchers and also the Sun CR18 rim comes in 27 inches if you have to rebuild.

The only real reason I can think of to switch to 700c's is in case you are going on an extended tour and are worried about tire/wheel availability out in the boonies. Even then you could always have Harris send you what you need via FedEx and you'd be on your way in a day.

What kind of hubs are they? For a few years in the early-mid 80s Trek used Maillard Helicomatic hubs (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html) which tended to break spokes and wear out cones faster than usual, and replacement cones are unavailable. They also use a non-standard freewheel puller.

My 1983 620 originally came with the Helicomatic hubs but somebody swapped out the wheels relatively early as it came to me with 700C wheels with a 6 speed freewheel.

try to fit a 700c wheelset on first, before you buy, longer caliper brakes can probably be fitted. you might be better off sticking with the old wheels unless you plan to tour europe. 27 inch stuff is hard to find there but in the states not so much. you can find replacement tires and tubes in walmart which can come in handy in small town USA

schawbe makes marathon tires in 27, i know because i have one on my beater bike.

My worry is not about being able to find tires, but being able to find decent touring tires in a pinch, I work at a huge bike shop, and we have a very poor selection of 27 inch tires, the tires I currently have on the bike I special ordered from a trek store for a different bike and just switched the tires over because we didn't have anything decent in my shop. There is just a much greater selection and you can really find anything you want or need for a 700 wheel. For me the only thing I really want to put any money towards is my bikes so I would rather have what works best instead of just something that works.

The wheels I have on it are actually really nice, its a matrix wheelset, and I couldn't say what the hubs are, but they are sealed. If they were 700s I wouldn't have this discussion, but the tire selection has me worried.

I also do have cantilever brakes, and they seem fairly adjustable and it didn't seem like it would be much of a problem, but at the same time almost nothing on a bike seems compatible with anything else so it seemed much safer to ask.

Panaracer, Shawbe, Conti.....gosh, doesn't your shop have a QPB catalogue? Really, tires aren't really a worry. Get back ups and have them ready for FEDEX if you're in trouble on the road. And those super cheap but still worthy Sun CR 18 rims in 27 inch (high polish no less!) You're going to be fine.

Don't worry! Just tour.

Keep in mind that, changing wheels will also lower the ground clearance of the pedals.

But if you want to do it I say go for it. I agree with speedo that if the bike is old enough to have 27s "most likely" the brakes will reach far enough for a 700c wheel to be introduced.

All you would need is to make sure that if you decide to use a different cassete or freewheel, its compatible with your shifters.

First off, I have never been able to find a good, or the right, or the one I wanted touring tire in a pinch. I once had to ride for a day or two on a bontrager select I got at a smaller shop before I found a decent tire. that was on a 700 c bike. lots of flats.

The advise to grab a 700c wheel and see if it works sounds good. I did that with my univega GT and found that on that bike I can switch back and forth from 27 to 700 with barely any adjustment of the pads, but I still run 27s on it.

On my fifteen or so 27 inch wheeled bikes I have about seven different types of tires. Specialized, Bontrager(better than the select), pasela, vittoria, Contenental, ect.. there are a lot of tires that work pretty good for me. I actually like to tour with 27s just because of the the better availability at small town hardware stores, wall marts, and damn near every bike shop I have ever been in. A cheng Shen tire can last out a tour, in a pinch.

What works best is sometimes what is working now. Running what a bike was made for is what works best for me. 700s can work, might be easy, but I think that some research into tires beyond what wherever you work stocks might not be a bad idea.

Just curious, what kind of huge bike shop is it that can't get decent 27s? Or help out with your project?

Hope that everything works out with it.

There's only around 4 millimeters difference between 27 inch wheels and 700c wheels, so it doesn't affect the BB heigth or petal clearance much.

700 wheels may or may not fit a frame made for 27 in wheels. It depends on a bunch of factors, like the frame design, type of brakes, rear drop out spacing and type.

Its not that I'm not capable of getting tires, it is that there is a considerably smaller selection of tires, I'm a picky person and don't want to just throw on a tire. I don't want to have to order tires if I need to replace one, and 700s are quite simply a more readily produced tire, especially with the growth of cyclocross it is possible to find a more dirt oriented tire if I should find the need. I know it is possible to get by on 27s, but I can finance a set of 700 wheels, and to me, it seems to offer a much greater tire selection, and is more readily available and far less likely to be needed to be ordered from a bike shop. 27s might be more readily available from wal-mart, but I'd like to believe I can deal with bike shops and not wal-mart.

Drop in a 700 to see if your brakes can adjust enough. That's the only potential gotcha. I've heard lots of canti's have enough adjustment but I would check before getting new wheels.

27s might be more readily available from wal-mart, but I'd like to believe I can deal with bike shops and not wal-mart.

I respect any decision a thoughtful owner makes with his or her bike.

However, when it comes to bike shops -- I say a "huge bike shop" that doesn't stock 27's has their head stuck in the clouds.

I respect any decision a thoughtful owner makes with his or her bike.

However, when it comes to bike shops -- I say a "huge bike shop" that doesn't stock 27's has their head stuck in the clouds.

Dude's in Tampa.

Do you recon there might be a difference between a huge bike shop in Tampa, and one, say in Seattle?

I respect any decision a thoughtful owner makes with his or her bike.

However, when it comes to bike shops -- I say a "huge bike shop" that doesn't stock 27's has their head stuck in the clouds.

We have 27s, but we have maybe 15 sets, none of which are good touring tires. We stock well over 200 sets of 700s ranging from high end road to cyclocross tires and even 29er MTB tires. No bike comes with 27 inch wheels anymore, the cycling community is moving away from them, and this is a pattern that will be found in availability of tires. I'm not saying I couldn't get by with 27s, just from the research I have done, 700s are more available and have a much greater selection.

Dude's in Tampa.

Do you recon there might be a difference between a huge bike shop in Tampa, and one, say in Seattle?

Yes, I would call it "a small bike shop" that isn't investing in pretty common products that are still needed by a fair number of cyclists.

Just to be clear - I imply no criticism of the OP. Just surprised that a "huge" bike shop in a big city (Tampa ain't Podunk) would not stock 27's.

I guess I'm spoiled...to repeat, the OP oughtta do the right thing for his bike. Sounds like if not this set of his tires, then maybe his next ones need to be 700's if the selection is dropping that much and he doesn't want to buy online.

Yes, I would call it "a small bike shop" that isn't investing in pretty common products that are still needed by a fair number of cyclists.

Just to be clear - I imply no criticism of the OP. Just surprised that a "huge" bike shop in a big city (Tampa ain't Podunk) would not stock 27's.

I guess I'm spoiled...to repeat, the OP oughtta do the right thing for his bike. Sounds like if not this set of his tires, then maybe his next ones need to be 700's if the selection is dropping that much and he doesn't want to buy online.

To tell you the truth I don't see many people come in looking for 27 tires, and the people that do usually are just looking for something cheap, since most people that have bikes with 27 inch tires got them because they were cheap bikes they could commute on. Tampa has almost no commuters, most of the people here are road riders and have fairly new road riders, or are mountain bikers. For a big city, it is built outward and is dangerous and inconvenient for most people to commute. I don't have a car, but I am in the vast majority. For most people they just get themselves a fairly new bicycle and ride on paved trails in the various parks. The reason we have a poor selection of 27s is because there is a poor market for them, and perhaps that is not the case everywhere, but it is a shrinking market regardless.

To tell you the truth I don't see many people come in looking for 27 tires, and the people that do usually are just looking for something cheap, since most people that have bikes with 27 inch tires got them because they were cheap bikes they could commute on. Tampa has almost no commuters, most of the people here are road riders and have fairly new road riders, or are mountain bikers. For a big city, it is built outward and is dangerous and inconvenient for most people to commute. I don't have a car, but I am in the vast majority. For most people they just get themselves a fairly new bicycle and ride on paved trails in the various parks. The reason we have a poor selection of 27s is because there is a poor market for them, and perhaps that is not the case everywhere, but it is a shrinking market regardless.

Thanks for clarifying. That makes sense.

I see a fair number of 27's on the road here - great 80's Japanese bikes that people actively use for commuters, primarily. I sometimes check the bike racks - some people convert 'em to 700's, some don't.

As I said, I'm spoiled. I get to South Florida frequently on business and I don't see lots of commuter there, either.

I hope you didn't take my comments as personal criticism.

I didn't mean to drum up any conflict regarding which city is better, and I'm glad that there hasn't been any. Thanks.

I guess to clarify my post, the cyling/cyclist population is different, as bengeboy/captain have written.

I've found similar differences between Boston and the Portland area. Out here in Portland, you can find all kinds of bikes still in like new condition, ridden all the time.

Back in Boston, you can still see older bikes being used but seeing nice condition ones is much less as frequent. Finding inexpensive ones for sale in New England, ones you would like to build up and use daily, is getting pretty hard. I think it might be due to the use of road salt? Sure there are a few excellent shops in Boston which carry old school parts/wheels/tires, but a huge portion of that business for them is internet based (ie Harris Cyclery in Newton).

I figure down Florida way, that after the "bike boom" of the 70's/80's was over, folks just garaged up there bikes then finally took them to land fill (without a continuing strong bike community). Shucks gasoline was cheap again, why get all sweaty running errands?

Whereas up in the Pacific Northwest, folks either are still riding them, or had garaged there old bikes then finally donated them/sold them/gave them away. (where there is a continuing strong bike community, with a cycling infrastructure).

Thanks for clarifying. That makes sense.

I see a fair number of 27's on the road here - great 80's Japanese bikes that people actively use for commuters, primarily. I sometimes check the bike racks - some people convert 'em to 700's, some don't.

As I said, I'm spoiled. I get to South Florida frequently on business and I don't see lots of commuter there, either.

I hope you didn't take my comments as personal criticism.

No problem, its easy to forget trends and things vary from region to region, I assumed everything had the same availability as it did in Tampa.