Touring - Touring On 27" wheels??

I recently bought a near mint Miyata Mixte frame touring bike with cantilever brakes and triple crank. It is circa 80's and as such, has 27x1/18 tyres. Would it be practical to tour on the existing wheel (with New Pasela TG tyres) or could I possibly find brake arms which woulf adjust far enough to accomodate 700c wheels?

I love this bike and want to tour pulling a Burley Nomad Trailer. Is it an unrealistic notion to want to do this with the original wheels? Will I run into a problem with the obsolete tyre size or finding spokes or tubes?

H E L P !!

Andrea Bertin

You found a great bike. The only thing of its type that is sold currently in the USA is from Rivendell, and is mega-expensive.

The 27 inch tire was the standard road tire in the USA from about 1950 to 1985. About fifty million bikes were sold using those tires, and a couple million of those are still on the road.

Sheldon Brown currently stocks the Pasela TG, the Continental Sport 1000, the Conti Top Touring, the Conti Ultra GatorSkin, and several other models in both 27 1/8th, and the beefier 27 1/4th size (etrto 630-32).

www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/630.html

Most large road bike stores stock 27 inch tires, and any good shop will order them (and you can order them yourself from Nashbar.com and Performance.com). The size 27 tires use the standard size inner tubes used for a 700c/28mm tire (be sure to check your rim to see if your rims use the thick Schraeder valves, or thin Presta valves).

Spokes are available at any good bike shop. Touring wheels are very sturdy. with wider rims and 36 or 40 spokes on the rear wheel. If you have your wheels trued by an experienced wheel tech, they will be "good to go" and will hold up to hard touring.

So, get your wheels trued, and a tune-up, and you will be ready to roll. And get a good lock - your bike would be hard to replace.

Actually, a 27" wheel might be an advantage... K-mart and Target both carry 27" el-cheapo tires that would do in a pinch; none of the big chains carry 700c tires of any kind, so far as I know.

Not too sure about the large chain advantage in Canada, but I wouldn't see any real limitation about touring with 27" wheels, as long as you tour in Canada and U.S.. I have no idea about the supply in U.K. or Australia, and I think it's limited to non-existent in Continental Europe.

Other limitations:
1. No studded tires (not a problem for touring).
2. If you ride with a group and carry a spare tire, you can't share your resources with the group.

just to reiterate what the broken robot said, on my tour there was three or four instances when i was in a wal mart or small town harware store looking at the ample stock of 27 tubes and complete lack of 700s. i feel like for that reason 27s may be preferable. would have saved me and my partner some lousy hitching days. (i know so would have carrying three spare tubes, but how were we to anticipate no bike shops from mobile to austin? or the trouble with west texas thorns?)

just to reiterate what the broken robot said, on my tour there was three or four instances when i was in a wal mart or small town harware store looking at the ample stock of 27 tubes and complete lack of 700s. i feel like for that reason 27s may be preferable. would have saved me and my partner some lousy hitching days. (i know so would have carrying three spare tubes, but how were we to anticipate no bike shops from mobile to austin? or the trouble with west texas thorns?)

700c and 27" tubes are basically interchangable. 27" tubes are 8mm bigger. In fact most if not all 27" tubes are just rebadged 700c tubes.
Interchanging these tubes works great when you are using large touring tires, but it probalby won't work if you are using small racing tires.

700c and 27" tubes are basically interchangable. 27" tubes are 8mm bigger. In fact most if not all 27" tubes are just rebadged 700c tubes.
Interchanging these tubes works great when you are using large touring tires, but it probalby won't work if you are using small racing tires.

The 27 inch tires currently sold in the USA come in widths equal to about 25mm, 28mm, 32mm, and 35mm. Tubes labeled 700c are sold for each of those widths. I like to buy tubes labeled one size down. I put a tube labeled 20mm/25mm in a 28mm tire. Most tires labeled 28mm are a REAL world 25mm, so the smaller tube is a perfect fit.

It IS rather strange that almost every discount store and hardward store in America seems to stock 27 inch tires, yet NONE of them seem to stock 700c tires. It is as if Wal-Mart and K-Mart are living in some alternative universe where 27 inch wheels are the only road bike wheel. But, it does mean that I can get a spare tire for my touring bike in some of the smallest villages in the USA where no bike shop is in sight.

It IS rather strange that every discount store and hardward store in America seems to stock 27 inch tires, and NONE of them seem to stock 700c tires. It is as if Wal-Mart and K-Mart are living in some alternative universe where 27 inch wheels are the only road bike wheel. But, that does mean that I can get a spare tire for my touring bike is some of the smallest villages in the USA when no bike shop is in sight.

Perhaps 700c tires are not very popular in China.....

Perhaps 700c tires are not very popular in China.....

bingo !!