uprightbent

As I mentioned in a prior post this 78' grand prix I picked up for $14 at a thrift shop recently has original Raleigh tires with almost no tread wear. I plan to ride the bike and remove these tires to save for later. I know its not a show piece but I'll be able to say it's 100% complete and original right down to the bar tape and valve stem caps. I'm also cautious about riding 30 year old rubber.

My question is where to buy the proper tire, gumwall I suppose since I'm new to this. I see that Harris sells what they refer to as the english 10 & 12 speed sized tires which I guess are all Panaracer 630's. Any other choices out there including some colored tires with some blue?

pastorbobnlnh 

Nice looking bike! Probably the steel rims do not have hooked edges and thus will not be compatable with the more modern better 27 inch tires (some work better than others but it is hit or miss). Kenda 27" gumwalls might be your best option. They have that traditional look. Harris also sells a Michelin World tire that is quite wide but should give you a good ride and I had luck with on an old set of steel rims. Best of luck.

awc380

You just keep asking questions in order to post pics of the bike, don't you?
: )

jgedwa

Nice bike, and it is in excellent condition. But, does it really merit keeping the original tires in new condition? I rather doubt the bike will ever be of significant interest or value, and so I might suggest that you consider it purely for its riding characteristics.

jim

redneckwes

I'd hit the thrift store again and find a cheap 10 speed from the 70's/80's with alloy wheels, (Just for the wheels) Put some Panaracer Pasellas on the Alloy wheels and put em on the Ralleigh.

Again, that is one beautiful bike.

tolfan

My local shop has white walls in 27x 1 1/4 . May also hve colores I will look tomorow.

roccobike

+1, I'd save those original wheels and do exactly what redneckwes says. I've recently found 2 old Huffy's with nice 27' alloy rims. One of them had QR's on both hubs. Many mid 80's, friction shifting road bikes are showing up at yard sales around here with alloy rims.

roccobike

For tires, once again, I'd leave those tires on the original rims. Even if they hold up during a ride, separating them from the steel rims could cause damage. Been there, done that. Besides, new tires on alloy rims can add to the quality of the ride. For a 27 inch quality ride, I go with Continental Ultra Sports.

zowie

Why? Is there some reason not to toss ca. 1980 tires if they're no longer useful? For that matter, why save lower end steel wheels?

redneckwes

Because they are factory, There are no more Grand Prixs coming out of The Carlton factory at Worksop England now, and most of the survivors are far from their factory condition.

History asks us a small favor, save a few of the best as they were.

roccobike

Three letters, O E M. He's got a real nice, original bike, including original Raleigh lettered tires. I would keep all parts I remove so that I could return it to original if so desired. I'm doing exactly the same with a 1978 Raleigh Sport that I own. I'm keeping the aged, Raleigh lettered tires. Some may disagree, but I think being that original is worth something. If I could find new Raleigh tires at a reasonable price, I'd buy them instead of the Kenda nock-offs I'm going to use.

stringbreaker

+1 on the Paselas. I have them in two sizes 27"x1 1/4" on the Varsity and 27" X 1 1/8" on the Continental. They really give my old Schwinns a nice ride.

Little Darwin

If the bike is so rare or pristine that it is worth preserving the steel rims, then why risk the paint job and other components by riding it?

I agree in supporting people in whatever they want to do, but there are so many bikes around, that trying to save a relatively low end set of wheels seems counter-intuitive to me.

I would either get it into riding condition and ride the heck out of it, or polish it up and put it in a climate controlled room and enjoy it as a museum piece. Anything in between is pretty meaningless.

But, it is a nice looking bike, and I hope the OP gets a lot of pleasure from it no matter what decisions are made!

redneckwes

Just because it's dead easy to put another set of wheels on it and get some use out of it without a huge risk to it's condition. Alloy wheels will solve most of the drawbacks of an old Raleigh in one quick, and completely reversable upgrade. Me personally, I'd never trust those 30 year old O.E.M. tires to my 212lbs, and, I don't care for the weight of steel rims. But I value the option of making it factory again.

uprightbent

I really appreciate the advice. Dumb question: I have 2 sets of alloy wheels from modern Schwinns. They are 32-700 tires which I think means 622's? wheelsets. I guess these 27's are 630's? These tire sizes are confusing to newbies even after reading Sheldon Brown's tire page.

Can I place these alloy 700 wheelsets on the old Raleigh and expect only to drop the brake shoes down to cover the 8mm difference in diameter, and adjust the caliper for the new width?

zowie

If you were to visit my house you would have no doubt that I totally get that. But I just don't see how ordinary mass-produced steel wheels and tires (that will degrade on their own) fit into that.

redneckwes

You should be able to just drop the pads a bit and make it work, how modern are the schwinn wheels? If they are 6speed you can probably swap them in without spreading the frame. Since you have a later Grand Prix, it might allready be 126mm spaced.


I understand what you are saying, and thats the stance most of humanity takes, but for the ease of the swap, and as much of an improvement as it makes. Why wear out the stock tires that have not been produced in 25 years? Yeah, I know stock G.P. wheels/tires are nothing special.

The benifits of the alloy wheels and modern tires are enough for me.