Originally Posted by
Bull Winkle
I think I want to do a 700c conversion, but am concerned with rear spacing and the cantilever brakes.
First- figure out what Voyageur you have. The 1983 Voyageur came with sidepull brakes. The 83 Voyageur SP came with cantis. The VSP was a better bike. The wheels on the VSP were really nice, high quality, Class A, wheels.
I have a bunch of old touring bikes, most with 27" wheels. My personal opinion- if you've got really nice 27" wheels- it would be best to try out good 27" tires with 'em. I like the Pasela PT/TG tires as well as the Sand Canyon tires.
If you don't like them- or you just really want to switch to 700c you may have enough reach on the stock sidepulls on the Voyageur- the DiaCompe 960s on the VSP probably won't have the adjustment necessary, so you'd need different brakes.
If you're going to get new wheel regardless, go with 700c and get good wheels. I don't see getting new 27" wheels unless you've got a good reason.
I changed over my Trek 720- and I'm glad I did. But I like to eff with stuff and my intention was to change the wheels, brakes and pretty much everything on the bike. My Trek 620 and Voyageur SP are sporting 27" wheels- and they're great. I'm in the process of getting some really nice 27" wheels rebuilt for the 620...
Any Voyageur is a great, upper level bike and worthy of putting effort and work into.