Originally Posted by
TransitBiker
So the catch is the rim brakes would need to be taken off for the taller wheels, and some other braking setup employed??
The brakes have to be moved. There were some caliper brakes back when they started the transition from 27" to 700c that had enough up/down adjustment for the pads that you could just tweak them,but most modern brakes won't do this. Also,you have to check that the frame/fork have the height clearance for taller wheels. My 1x1 was designed to take really wide tires,so 26x2.3"(what were on it when I bought it) and 700x42(those 700's in the pic) fit no prob. But while my BBU's can handle 26x2.1" knobbies,700x28's are close,and most 32's won't fit under the fork.
Originally Posted by
TransitBiker
I'm going to have to do some research on this, because i'd love to put 700c wheels on my uptown. I think it'd give me better high end ratio speed without doing much to the low end.
Nope,going from 26" to 700c will raise your gearing across the board. Plug in your numbers and see:
Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Gear Calculator
The thing about IGH's is you can only raise or lower the entire gear range. On a derailleur bike,swapping an 11-28 cassette for an 11-34 will lower your granny gear but leave the high untouched. Swapping your big ring for a bigger one will do the opposite. But you can't change the gears inside a hub,you can only swap the rings and cogs to move the range up or down.