Len-Taylor

Hello! Have a 1987 Peugeot Tourmalet. I recently found a photo of the original catalogue page and noticed that the stock wheels were Rigida 700x23c. However, the tires on the bike now are Continental 1000, 27x1-1/8. The wheels look exactly like the catalogue, right down to the black rims. Is it possible to run this size tires on the rims? Just not sure what i have for future tire/wheel repair scenario. Thanks!

Velo Dog

Tubes are interchangeable between 700 and 27, but not the tires. Most bikes sold in the U.S. until about the time yours was made came with 27-inch rims, while most European bikes used the slightly smaller 700s. By the '90s, I think (I forget exactly when) 700 had pretty much become the road standard. If your tires are marked 27-inch, that's what you'll need to buy.
There's no particular advantage to either size, though as 27 fades, the range of available tires has shrunk. If you ever have to replace wheels, you might check the brakes to see if the pads can be moved enough to allow you to use 700C rims--it's a minor adjustment if they can, and you'd greatly expand your range of tire possibilities. Probably not worth spending the money unless you need new wheels anyway, though.

crispy010

No. 27" and 700c tires are NOT interchangeable. 27" tires go on 27" wheels, and 700c tires go on 700c wheels.

As Velo Dog said, you can use a tube spec'd for a 27" tire in a 700c tire and vice versa. However, you still need to pay attention to the tube diameter - it will have a range of sizes it's supposed to fit printed on the box (e.g. 700 x 21-25, or 700 x 23-28, or 27 x 1.25-1.75)

Len-Taylor

Thanks to both of you for the information. In regard to the 700 wheel switch, aside from moving the brake pads (I looked at the mount and seems to have loads of room top and bottom), are there other considerations? Chain? Cage length?

prathmann

No, as long as you can move the brake pads down by 4 mm you should be able to use 700c wheels instead of 27" ones. When getting new wheels of either size you'd also want to check your current hub width between the frame dropouts and either verify that the new wheels are the same or that you can spread the dropouts enough to fit.

You might also check the tire sidewalls to see if there's an indication of the actual rim size: 700c is 622 mm whereas 27" is 630 mm. Since your tire width is 1 1/8" (28 mm) you'd look for either 622-28 or 630-28 to confirm the actual size.