Originally Posted by unworthy1

Even in the US, the idea of keeping the 27" wheel for Tourists stuck around for much later than you'd think (certainly after 700C was well established for Sport bicycle use) among brands such as Trek as well as some Japanese makes.
The idea being you could find 27" tires (and tubes too but that's a little silly) out in the smallest town with any shop that sold bikes (drugstore, lawnmower repair, Dept. or Toy store, Auto parts, etc.) but you'd have to get to a real bike shop if you needed to replace a 700C tire.