Originally Posted by
greatbasin
The very essence of a rim design hinges on compatibility. There is nothing about the 19th century 28" rims that would be compatible with 700c tires of today, but the 1975 Mavic Module E's would absolutely fit. Those early American 28 wheels would have been fitted with solid rubber tires. It wasn't until 1887 that Dunlop first applied the pneumatic tire to tricycles and bicycles. Pneus in the early 20th century would have distinguished pneumatic tires from solid rubber, not clinchers from tubulars. While Michelin did introduce clamped tires with a separate inner-tube as early as 1891, the 700c clinchers we have today started with the 1975 Mavic and Michelin combination. It is this design and nothing prior that would be compatible and interchangeable with what is sold on the overwhelming majority of road bikes today.
I'm well aware of the Mavic/Michelin pairing that revolutionized the industry in 1975... but I will repeat that 700C (622mm bead seat diameter) existed well before that. There are a few examples from the 1950s and 1960s on Velobase, the 1966 Cyclo-Pedia catalog lists 700C
rims and
tires (with a special note that they're distinct from 27"), and there's a
Canadian Dunlop flier from the 1950s floating around that lists "F13" tires. No reason you couldn't put a new 700C clincher on one of those pre-1975 622mm BSD rims, just don't pump up to 100+ psi...
The French term "pneus" may well have started as a blanket term for inflatable tires, but it seems to have became shorthand for wired-on tires pretty quickly.
Here's a 1913 Peugeot catalog page for a track bike. Stock, it came with 28mm tubulars ("boyaux"), but could also be had with "pneus demontables". That "Pneus a talons" ("beaded tires") are specified for only a few models leads me to be pretty sure that wired-on tires are meant for their other uses of the term "pneu."
The 27 inch wheel was not introduced as a new standard in an attempt to get people to buy new hardware, but it was introduced to get British consumers to buy Dunlop tires rather than Michelin. Dunlop introduced a domestic standard in an effort to retain domestic sales rather than give way to foreign imports. It should be noted that at the time of its introduction, the British weren't buying 700C tires, but primarily 26" tires. A larger diameter, narrower wheel with high pressure tire was essential for greater performance. The British could have adopted a French standard for tubular tires, or made their own standard for clinchers...
I feel like you're mostly restating my point here: the Brits introduced a new standard to make sure British riders were buying their products when they bought a new high-performance bike instead of someone else's. Totally logical move for them.
