Bicycle Mechanics - Tires for 27 x 1 1/4

Hi all,

I recently bought myself an old Peugeot Tourmalet to renovate as a project. All the parts on it are decent but it badly needs new tires. The bike has the original Rigida 27 x 1 1/4 rims and I've been wondering what is possibly a very stupid question:

I have a new-ish racer that I've been cycling for the last 2 years and it's fitted with much narrower, racing style tires which I prefer both the look and feel of. I'd quite like to put something similar on the Peugeot to modernise it a bit as the tires that are on it at the moment are quite large and bulky in comparison. The bike in question has 700c rims and my question is, does this have an impact on the width and style of the tires?

Could I swap the wheelset onto the Peugeot or does this require a massive amount of adjustments? Or is it possible to buy a slimmer, more modern style race tire for 27 x 1 1/4 rims.

Sorry, I'm sure this is a very obvious question but it's easier to ask here than be scoffed at by a local bike shop!

Thanks!

If your local bike disrespects you find another shop to patronize. The only stupid question is the one which is unasked.

There are threads on this board about the availablity of 27" tires on-line, there are still lots to choose from, wide and skinny.. though not pro racing tires. Changing tires is simple, changing from 27" rims to 700c rims is not simple.

This will give you a flavor for a few of the choices: http://www.biketiresdirect.com/search/27in-road-tires

The difference in diameter between 27 and 700c is 8mm. Most brake can handle a 4mm adjustment. Bigger question is the width of the dropouts. Old frames are a bit narrower than new standards. My old Univega had 126mm spacing. I installed a rear rim with 130mm. I just pushed the frame apart by hand a bit. Not sophisticated, but it worked.

+1,

Flying Merkel covered the basics. The key issue is the 4mm drop in rim height at the brakes. You can look at the brakes and see if you have the extra room in the slots to lower the shoes. If it's border line, you can try lowering he shoes to confirm. The front wheel is a easy swap, but the rear might require spreading the frame, and the closer spaced gearing may be a bit sensitive for friction shifting (or incompatible with the current indes system, ie 8s vs 6s).

Otherwise there are still decent narrower 27" HP tires available, though they won't help with the look of your wider rims.

You should also know that if you switch to 700C wheels (which is a perfectly fine thing to do and I have done it several times in the past), moving the pads to the lowest point on caliper style brakes will noticably decrease braking power.

However, if the bike has steel rims and you switch to aluminum, this will increase braking power. The net result will be a wash.

You can also usually fit wider tires on 700c rims than those that the bike was originally designed to accomodate with 27" rims.

there are decent 27" tires,,AKA 630-32mm

The difference in diameter between 27 and 700c is 8mm. Most brake can handle a 4mm adjustment. Bigger question is the width of the dropouts. Old frames are a bit narrower than new standards. My old Univega had 126mm spacing. I installed a rear rim with 130mm. I just pushed the frame apart by hand a bit. Not sophisticated, but it worked.

+1 Good answer. I agree with the part about the frame on the old bikes being more narrow than newer wheel hubs/freehubs. This is especially true if your 700 cm wheelset has a 7 sprocket freehub.

You can try to spread the chainstay/dropouts a little bit with a car jack. Unfortunately, it isn't really that easy because you can spread the frame apart and still have interference with the chainstay tubes rubbing against the freehub.

You can give it a whack - you don't have much to lose.

Oh yeah, I went from a 6 speed freewheel to an 8 speed freehub style. Since the bike used friction shifting, the only adjustment was to the upper & lower limit screws.

You can find 27" x 1" tires that look & ride very well for the bike, & not have to do anything else to it. Panaracer makes some . No more than tires cost, try that first before spending a lot on that bike.

You want skinny sexy looking tires on that 27" (630mm) wheel? The Conti Gators look really good on a vintage bike, super modern but don't look out of place. The 630x32mm run about 30mm actual.
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productimages/images450/cog273-1.jpg

Hardshell
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productimages/images450/cogh72-1.jpg

The Pasela TG (http://harriscyclery.net/product/panaracer-pasela-tourguard-27-630-kevlar-belted-wire-bead-1734.htm)is available but has gum walls which I don't think you want (but it's what your bike came with) and goes down to about 26mm.