Originally Posted by
nfmisso
700c is now marketing gobbly gook. Once upon a time, it referred to a tire that had an outer diameter of 700mm when inflated, and fit on a rim with a 622mm BSD. In ISO/ETRTO terms; that is a 39-622 tire. The 'c' represents the width/height of 39mm. There were 700, 700a, 700b, 700c and 700d and similar for 650.
I agree that the 700C, 27", 28", 650C, 26", etc are all confusing marketing terms. Even the way we "measure" tires is silly. The "measurement" is for the outside diameter of an inflated tire of
some width. We really should drop all this foolishness and just go by the ETRTO designation which is an actual measurement.
On an rather unrelated note: The new Oregon sales tax law isn't applicable to bicycles that have "700C" wheels. The law states
“(5) ‘Taxable bicycle’ means a new bicycle that has wheels of at
least 26 inches in diameter and a retail sales price of $200 or more.
The only bike that the tax could possibly apply to would be something like the
Coker Monster Cruiser. The "wheel" of a "700C" bike is only 24.4" in diameter. The "wheel" of a 26" bike is only 22" in diameter.