Originally Posted by merlinextraligh
700c wheels on small frames often leads to toe overlap of the front wheel. Not a big problem because you only turn the wheel enough to hit your toe at low speeds. But it's something a lot of riders are not comfortable with, and designers try to avoid it.
Personally, I'd would tend to favor a bike with 700c wheels if, and its a big if, you find one that fits. Riding 700c's its a lot easier to find tubes, and to borrow tubes on group rides. Its just nice to have equipment that's compatible with 98% of the rest bike world.
If your happy with your 700c bike then thats good but the fit issues aren't just a matter of toe overlap. The biggest problem is that wheel size limits the minimum size that a manufacturer can make the top tube length wise without bodging the geometry completely by giving the bike a steep seat tube angle so that on paper at least it seems to have a short top tube length. This is the approach that 95% of the manufacturers take and it results in a bike thats uncomfortable to ride because the rider has too much weight placed on their hands. The only small production bike I've seen with a vaugly relaxed seat tube angle was the Merlin Camina at 73.5º. All the rest are 75-76º which is too steep.
Regards, Anthony