apflan

Gentlemen,
I would like to spruce up my fuji for a triathalon i have coming up, specifically, I need better tires. My current tire size is 37 630 27x 1 3/8.
What kind of flexibility do I have in sizing? can I run a 27x 1 1/4 without a problem? I would like to get a blue colored tire, so I look cool when I'm the last one crossing the line. Bottom line, do I have to be dead balls with the tire size listed on my existing tire?
Thanks in advance

operator

Yes, you are limited to 630 (which is 27" x blah) tyres. You can probably mess around the width, which means 1/4 shouldn't be a problem coming from 3/8's. I'd be surprised if there was.

There aren't that many high quality 27" tyres around. What exactly are you running now? Off the top of my head the only ones that are better than generic walmart quality is the schwalbe marathon and serfas seca. Of those two only the latter I would recommend if you're looking for speed.

sonatageek

If you are looking at racing, I would be thinking of a narrower tire, perhaps a 1 1/8" or a 1" if you can find it. You just have to make sure the tires is larger then the size of the rim. If you go to Performance Bikes website and pull up any tire they have a picture that shows what size tire width works with what size rim width.

The other thing that you could do, if our brake calipers have enough reach (and you have the budget for it) is to swap out the 27" for 700c which would give you a much wider world of tire choices.

sch

And www.nashbar.com has 6 tires (none blue) in the 27" size range, one high end
Continental Ultragator others sub $18 but mostly name brand tires. Agree that
27 1 1/8" tires should fit fine. Might check to be certain rim is hook bead and not
straight bead, unlikely but possible. IIRC Fuji as such was not around in the pre
hookbead era in the US but 27" is a cross over size. If the rims are straight, no
tires are available in the US.

jgedwa

1 1/8 is noticeably thinner than 1 1/4 (in every brand, I have seen recently). Go with that. There are still some good 27" available. Not a lot of choice, but there are some. Go surf through C&V and see what they run, and where they get them.

On the other hand, I think it is safe to say that there has never been a decent road bike that came spec'ed with 1 3/8 tires. Maybe you have a sweet old frame that someone put larger tires on. But more likely, this thing is really being asked to do something it can't deliver well on.

What kind of bike is it?

jim

reverborama

Go over to the Classic & Vintage forum and post pictures of the bike.

If we're talking about a 70's or 80's 10 or 12 speed bike with drop bars, you should be able to use a 27x1-1/8 tire with no problem. You will need new tubes because your old ones will be too big. I like the Bontrager's for 700c 18-23mm with Schraeder valves. They are really common and have worked well for me. Whatever you get, don't go bigger than a 25mm tube or you'll be stuffing it in there.

This concept is a huge favorite of mine, BTW. My wife does triathlons and I see way, way, way too many people on comfort bikes or mountain bikes. I desperately want to say to them, "For $100 bucks we can get you a thrift store bike that will make you 5mph faster!!!!!" I think an 80's road bike is the perfect beginner's tri bike. You can get into the sport for cheap and you will be as fast on that as you would be on anything that costs under $1,500. Want to spend some more money? Throw a $50 pair of clip-on aero bars. You can use that bike for 2 years before you actually get good enough to benefit from buying a real tri bike.

dperreno

I put 27x1-1/8" tires on my Fuji Special Road Racer in around 1975, so I don't think you'll have any problem doing it now.

apflan

Thanks much, I did find some vittorias in my size, no color but good tires...
thanks again for your input.

apflan

Thanks for the reply, I did find some vittorias in my size. As you mentioned, I did get some clip on aeros, profile design, for about 80.00 and some new shimano pedals with clips. I did have to spend 100. for the appropriate shoes, but all in all I got out of the deal for about 300.00 and I think the bike will be great. I will post pictures asap. A friend of mine actually grabbed the bike for free from the side of the road, and it is in really good shape, definately stored inside most of it's life, and it's a big frame, i'm 6'4 and it fits me fine. Life is good. Thanks again for the tips