I wanted to convert my 85 Bridgestone T700 to 700c wheels but can't adjust the shoes low enough to contact rim without coming in contact with the tires. The bike uses Dia-Compe 960 canti's with a 23mm reach. Is there a way to do this or am I out of luck.

My guess is they welded the bosses at a height that will only allow the use of 27" wheels.

Different cantis have different reach, try another model. Or there's an ultra-adjustable v-brake(Paul's?) that should be able to do it. Or you may have better luck with caliper brakes, which have the added benefit of being available with the reach stated.
But why? There are still decent enough 27" tires out there.

Cause I can never leave well enough alone. LOL... I was just messing with the idea, and found it would not work. The wheels are like new as is the whole bike, but I had an idea and well, you know.

Maybey some V-brakes might have more adjustablity ?

OnZa HOs, I've heard rumors of a v-brake with enough adjustment, or those grey tandem brakes that are similar to HOs should do you good. (forget the name)

If you want to do permanent, have a framebuilder move your bosses.

HTH

M

This was discussed in another thread here a while ago.
These Shimano's have the most adjustment of any canti's.https://www.cyclocrossworld.com/shima...locross-brakes

I ,personally, have no experience with them.
Pauls linear BMX brakes are another option.

Don't know if the 960's will tolerate it, but sometimes you can file the slot slightly lower to allow brakes to reach a 700c rim...

Oops- I was thinking of 986's... I see on Velobase that 960's don't have a slot...

The only thing to do is to lower the straddle cable to rotate the canti's out and adjust the pads inward. But you've already tried that I assume. Plus that will change the pull ratio.

It occurs to me, the 960s are usually mounted closer together than modern cantilevers. The bosses on a bike using 960s are a good cm or so closer together than modern brakes.

You might actually be stuck.

Depending on how much overlap you're looking at, the quick and dirty fix might work: just cut, file or grind a chamfer off the top of your pads.