Originally Posted by fsor
I think that another nail in the 27" coffin was that there were a lot of bikes with tubular wheels....the ability to swap into and out of clinchers was attractive and that worked best with 700c.
Good thought and I'm sure that was a factor. Again, "serious riders" used tubulars and 700c clinchers so they were copied by everyone who wanted to look serious.
There have been lots of wheel standards over the years but I never quite got why 27" got started. I wonder if it wasn't some marketing ploy to produce an answer to a question no one asked....
I think 27" wheels were developed in England, probably before or at least contemporary with 700c. The Brits always go their own way and didn't care what the Europeans were doing. Ever see the headline reported to have been in a British newspaper: "Fog Covers Chanel. Continent Isolated."