I have a set of Araya rims and the old faded labels clearly indicate 27 x 1 1/4 but the inner width measures 14mm. I am confused.

BTW, these are from a 1981 (year via sn) Nishiki International and I've seen references indicating the original rims that year were Araya 20A - 27 x 1.

I know, I know I really should change to 700, but I would really like to keep the bike as original as possible since it is in really good condition.

Assuming they really are 27 x 1 rims, can anyone suggest a source for tires in that size?

They were probably intended for standard 1 1/4" tires.
Sorry, missed your question- I get my tires for the old 27" rims from my hardware store. Usually only one avail. in 27" and usually just 20 US dollars. In fact, they haven't upgraded their stock to 700c yet either. (small town) And we have a lot of riders on Hwy 101

There aren't really dedicated 27x1 vs 27x 1 1/4 rims. With a 14mm inner width they can handle either. Only a significantly wide road rim couldn't fit those sizes.

Panaracer makes good tires:
https://carsoncitybikeshop.com/pasel...UaAjfbEALw_wcB

1984 Trek 610 came stock with 27 x 1 ⅛ tires, I think marked IRC. That was “off the rack “ equipment for that bike.

Thanks for the input on the tire brand.

I remain very concerned that a 14mm inner rim width would be a problem for a tire with section width 32mm, especially since my other old bike with 27 inch rims has 1 1/4 inch wide tires on rims with an inner width of 18-19 mm.

In the early '90s, lightweight MTB rims were made from narrow road racing rims rolled down to 26". They had 13mm inner widths and had 2" wide tires mounted on them. Matrix, Mavic, etc.

What, in your experience, tells you that 14mm is too narrow for a 1 1/4 road tire?

That was a frequently used combination in the 1980s and thereafter. No problem at all. It's the opposite---narrow tire on wide rim---that's a bad idea.

A wider tire (32mm) on a small rim (14c) will roll a bit sideways when cornering. Personally I don't like that feeling. Similar to how I don't like too low pressure in tires, for the same reason.

While I agree about the low pressure, I don’t agree with you on using wide tires on narrow rims. I’ve experienced no problems while using up to 43mm wide tires on a 14mm rim…even when carrying a 50 to 60 lb touring load on high speed curvy downhills. I regularly run 55mm tires on 17mm wide rims on mountain bikes without issues as well.

What, exactly, is your concern? How do you square those concerns when multiple experienced people, including at least two shop mechanics, tell you it isn't an issue to be concerned about?

Any particular reason? I have done quite a few conversions but I have done quite a few centuries and longer on 27" tires. As a matter of fact I have been meaning to build a "cheater" wheelset with modern cassette hubs/sealed ball bearings on 27", so I can take my vintage bikes out without the yearly overhauling of loose ball bearing hubs.

To answer those that asked, there are (4) reasons why I am concerned:

1. I've come across many on-line references tables that indicate 14mm rim width and 32mm (1¼ inch) are not really compatible. In fact, https://www.betterbybicycle.com/2014...of-wheels.html states "The ideal relationship between tyre and rim section is about 1.8 times, but any tyre from 1.4 to 2.2 times should fit – always provided that the bead diameters correspond." The calculates out to 19.6 to 30.8mm tire for a 14mm rim.

2. Knowing a lot about automotive tire sizing, the accepted ratio even for narrower tires & rims (e.g. 5 inch rims) is in the range of 1.22 to 1.44. Even the vintage VW beetle, a car noted for narrow tires or (for the day) large diameter rims had a tire to rim width ratio of 1.4. ......Yes, yes, I know car tires and bike tires are different animals.

3. I tried a 27 x 1.25 tire on one of these rims. Admittedly not a very good tire, but the tire was labeled 85 psi max. When inflating to anything over 70 psi, the tire bead separated from the rim and popped the tube.

4. My other bike that uses 27 x 1.25 tires has 19mm rim inner width.

The 700 size offers a much better tire selection. That's all.

I say split the difference, go with 1-1/8 and see how it goes. Why overthink it? If you need to adjust later, you can. Ride the bike and have fun!

If your rims are straight walled and not hooked, then high pressures can do that. Maybe go with lower pressures.
Sheldon Brown notes "... Many cyclists use slightly wider tires with no problem."
In the end it's your decision though.

It doesn't really matter if you already have a tire you like in 27". I like Continental Gatroskins and Panaracer Panacelas. i have tried the Schwalbe Marathon and they were nice. Getting into fatter tires is where choices get skimpy.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a fan of Challenge tires and I wish they made them in 27"

Those charts are wrong and unnecessarily conservative. The idea that there is some kind of control issue is overblown and unsubstantiated. Additionally, don’t get hung up on the numbers. A 30.8mm tire is 1.2mm narrower than a 32mm tire. That’s roughly the thickness of a dime. In other words, not much.

I have a 33mm cross tire on old bontrager racelites that are around 14mm. Never had an issue and the prior owner of said bike raced on it. I still have older 26in mtbs with 18mm internals and run 2.2in tires. I used to race on that setup and it was the best griping tire for hardpack I have used. Maybe me and the thousands of 90's mtbers were just lucky. Thee only time I exploded a tube was with a compressor and me giving a little too much pressure to the tube.

1. The fact that anyone can own a website is why you have websites with false information everywhere on the internet.

2. These aren't car tires.

3. Not a good tire. Good tires blow off the rim at nearly double the recommended max pressure regardless of how narrow the rim is.

4. So?

I've used a 38c Pasela on an Mavic Open Pro and 35c Pasela on a Velocity Aero. That was 2017 before there was a lot of talk about wide rims. And those rims were not new. Took those wheels down the Trask River Trail on the coast range of Oregon. (17% down and 1 1/2" "gravel".) Perfect for the job. That the rims were perhaps "too skinny" never crossed my mind.

I went to look up the widths of those rims. Quickly realized the manufacturers' widths are for their new wide rims and finding actual width for my old ones was going to be hard. So I just went onto my cold garage and hastily measured two wheels without tires. Open Pro and Velocity Aero. Both 14-15mm inside width. So I did that crazy ride with nice big tires on seriously skinny rims. Get some Paselas in any width you want and toss them on. Ride and enjoy.

I've been running 27x1 1/4" wire bead Pasela's at 55 to 75 psi on Mavic MA-40's (13.5mm inner width) for many years with never an issue. They ride great. It never feels like the tire is rolling sideways on the rim.

Keep in mind that many of the discussions about tire vs rim width seen today are referring to bikes (used primarily off-road) where a tubeless tire is likely going to be run at the limit of low pressure, for both traction and bump absorption. These discussions don't really apply to our vintage road bikes at all!

A narrower rim will reduce the mounted tire's width by almost half of any rim-width reduction, and also slightly reduces the mounted tire's height.

In the 90's, I raced XC on 700c Mavic MA40 rims measuring 13mm inside, with 700x45 Panaracer "Smoke" tires fitted. I had no issues at all with this setup, other than some difficulty fitting tires and some difficulty getting said tires past the pads of the centerpull brake calipers.
Shown below ripping a corner at speed on those very wheels, following which I almost struck a photographer who had strayed too far into the outside line of the corner!

Narrow, double-walled Araya rims from roughly the 1980's weren't actually hooked, but had semi-hooked sides featuring but a semi-circular nub instead of a sharper-edged feature found on their contemporaries from Mavic, Wolber and etc.
As such, these rims can release a tire while riding, particularly when the tire is somewhat aged with the rubber surrounding the bead having lost it's flexibility and it's grip.
I have had two such blow-outs using these rims with aged tires, one of which had a wire bead and the other having a folding bead.
In both cases, the blow out followed sustained, hard braking following a descent, with a few thumps against a fork leg before the actual explosion. Neither tire suffered damage and a fresh inner tube got me home, and I never fell off (due to the warning thumps).
In another case with these rims, a thrift-store Bridgestone 500 model blew off an aged tire after having been re-inflated, again with no tire damage.

High spoke tension is another factor in whether such a rim might release a tire's bead, and my own spoke tensioning goes beyond what typical production bikes came with, reducing the rim's diameter slightly.

Continental tires tend to give a more reliable bead retention on the few bikes I've had where a rim tended to let go of tire beads due to poor diameter tolerances and other factors.
Thicker rim tape, laid wall-to-wall inside of the rim, is known to prevent any section of a tire's bead from rising up near to the rim's edge.

My thanks to you all for your inputs and suggestions on this. A set of Panaracer Paselas (27 x 1.125) are on their way to me for use on the subject rims.

Btw, running a lower pressure on the cheap 27 x 1.25 tires I previously tried on these rims isn't an option. Because of the combined weight of bike, rider and touring accessories I've found on my other road bikes that I have to run tire pressures near or at the max rated pressure.

Sounds like an excellent choice of tire.

The inch-sized Paselas are about the truest to size (i.e. widest) tires to be found among 27" offerings, even my 27x1" Paselas measure a plump 26mm on touring rims, where other tires in this stated size measure as small as 21mm on slightly-narrower rims.

I've bought (China-direct) foreign-market, all-black, 27x1-3/8" CST "hybrid"-style treaded tires (inverted "hybrid" tread kind of like the Pasela?) that measure all of 36mm wide on 27" touring rims, but they are budget tires nowhere near as lively or supple as the Paselas.

As shown below, with Chinese-text label, mounted on i16mm 27" rim:

dddd, thanks for the inputs. Some very valuable information.

I have to winder how many people who indicate above that 1¼ inch tires on 14mm gap width rims are ok actually measured the tire width. Notably, an old set of IRC "Road Winner Duro II" 27x1¼ tires that I have on another bike actually measure 27.9mm (1.1 inch) wide at max inflation on 18-19 mm (70's steel Ukairim) rims. I also wonder how many who mention that they have been running the referenced combination are at or near max inflation pressure.