Originally Posted by
jet sanchEz
Also, maybe y'all can provide some insight for me....I have an old Raleigh bike that has 27inch wheels on it and I was thinking that if I put some 700c wheels on it and some CX tires, I could have a ghetto CX bike for commuting this winter. Does that sound nuts? It has these old Weinmann centre-pull brakes on it and I think that they will provide some pretty good clearance for knobbies, especially if I go with 700c wheels.
The thing is a beast but I think that once I get these steel 27inch wheels off of it, it might provide a pretty decent ride.
27" wheels are 8mm larger in diameter (4mm in radius) than 700c so it helps clearance wise. Plus those old bikes tend to have good clearance to start with so I'm certain you'll be fine. And also you should check that you can move the brake pads down a bit (by 4mm).
I had an old Panasonic frame. I'm not sure if it was originally spec'd with 27" but I fit 700x30c with fenders on it.