Originally Posted by
ClydeClydeson
Not my experience at all. The adjustability in cantis was not meant to accommodate switches between 27" and 700C - just so the same brakes could be used on frames with slightly different dimensions. Frames were never intentionally made to be easily swapped between wheel sizes.
That being said, it is certainly possible that there are some cantis that have the required adjustability, but if the brake pads are close to the bottom of the slot in the brake with 27", you're either going to need to find different brakes or just stick with the 27" wheels. In fact, the tires I prefer above all others, Panaracer Paselas, are available in 27".
I have done numerous 27" -> 700c conversions, but all with caliper brakes. I have seen a few canti-equipped bikes that I thought would make good candidates for the switch, but the existing canti brakes always lacked the required adjustability.
I have to disagree. Back in the day, Miyata, for example, didn't make a bike frame for the 27" market in the US and the 700C market in the rest of the world. Nor did Diacompe, for example, make brakes for the 27" market and the 700C market for the rest of the world. When 27" bikes were the "US bike" there was never a brake for one or the other. There were just brakes.