[QUOTE=hiero;113
As for why 27" happened in the first place (which is another excellent question!), didn't we get that size from the English bicycle imports? I need to go check what Sheldon has to say about that. Or there might be an old post in the rec.bicycles.misc archives.[/QUOTE]
I don't know why 27' clincher wheels began in Britain, but one of the reasons they took hold in America, was that British bicycle imports had a foot in the door early. After WW II, British bicycle manufacturers had a preferential tarrif over other countries. Therefore Raliegh had a dealer network already established when the bike boom of the sixties came along. Their ten speed bikes had 27" wheels, and pretty soon 27' tires became common and easy to get. When French and Italian bies were imported, they had 27" wheels on models that would have 700C wheels at home. Then the Japanese started sending bikes built to English norms.
Maybe if French manufacturers had got here before the British, 27" wheels wouldn't have become dominent, and 650B would be a lot more common.