Originally Posted by
doughavlin
The tires that are currently on the wheels are 26 x 1 3/8. Well, I hope that they used to be 27" wheels, because that would be loads easier.
But, when I was looking around at old Free Spirits, I found this one that seemed to match pretty closely to what I have and it says it had 26" wheels.
http://oldtenspeedgallery.com/owner-...s-free-spirit/
That's weird. I have an older version of the same bike with 27" wheels, and from what I've gleaned from looking at catalogs they only sold one frame size.
If you have some space between the tire and the fork crown, you should be able to install 700c without any problems: The brakes can be adjust upwards to reach the rim. If you don't, you can go for some decimal 26" wheels and adjust the brakes downward, or swap them out for something with a longer reach. Then you're looking at decreasing the rim diameter by maybe a centimeter or so.