I'm restoring an old road/touring 6 speed bike that my father hasn't ridden for 25 years (and even when it was ridden, it was hardly ridden at all). I currently commute on a MTB, but I'm interested in doing some longer rides on the weekends and decided to try the road bike out. Currently I can't afford to buy a new bike, so I've been scrounging parts to upgrade this old bike. I've added some 8 speed Sora brifters and new front and rear derailleurs.

My last dilemma is what to do with the wheels. The rims do not have hooked edges, which is problematic, as I'd like to run my tires at a higher pressure than 75 PSI (I weigh around 88kgs). I'm hoping I can run around 100PSI with hooked edge rims. The wheels are also well out of true, and by the time I get them trued and serviced, I figure it's probably just easier and better to buy a new wheelset. I'm considering three options.

1. Buy a new 27" wheelset, price around the $140 (Australian)

2. Buy a NOS 126mm rear hub then get a 700C wheel built around it - I envisage slightly more expensive than option 1 by the time I buy the hub, get it built up and then also buy a cheap front 700C wheel

3. Buy a cheap 700C wheelset with modern (130mm) spacing and then buy a 8 speed cassette. Probably run around the $160 ish mark. (would involve either forcing or cold setting the frame).

Brakes aren't a problem - I have enough reach with my brakes to accommodate 700C wheels.

The guy at my LBS recommended the first option, saying that I didn't really need to run my tires at much higher pressure than 90PSI and made the point that the bike might turn into a 'nice sports car' but it was never going to be a 'Ferrari'. I think he has a valid point, but I'm still intrigued by the 700C idea and running some nice thin tires at high pressure.

Incidentally, I have a brand new 7 speed freewheel that I was intending to use on the project so options 1/2 wont require buying another cassette.

So, what do you think the best way to go is?

Thanks
Tim

I have a bike that has 27" straightwall rims. I use Panaracer Pasela Tourguard tires (27 1 1/4") on it which have a maximum inflation pressure of 95 psi. No problems so far. I also have a bike with 700C straightwall rims with Michelin 700Cx28 Dynamic tires that support only 87 psi which works fine. When I replaced the Michelin Dynamic with a Michelin Krylion 700x23C tire and ran the pressure up to 100 psi, it worked for about 1/2 hour before there was a loud bang. The inner tube had a five inch longitudinal hole in it.

Truing a wheel is one of the easier jobs on a bike. I just flip the bike over, tighten the brake pads, spin it, check where the rubbing occurs, and tweak the spokes a bit.

700C wheels do have a much greater variety of tires available for them. They are available for 27" wheels but I usually have to order them online.

If you have 8 speed shifters, you've committed yourself to an 8 speed cassette, which means a new hub.
It doesn't make sense to respoke a questionable rim to a new hub.

Going to 700C means your brakes have to have 4MM more reach for the smaller diameter rim. 630 vs 622MM.

I believe that 8 speed indexing is close enough to work with 7 speed systems (unleast that is the advise on sheldonbrown's site)

Be sure to consider the potential axle breakage with freewheels vs. cassettes. Definitely don't think about an 8 speed freewheel (you didn't mention this option so I guess you've figured it out). I'd think you could find a decent set of hook-bead 27's for less than $140, but maybe not in your market. There are still some good 27" tires around. I'm partial to IRC Road Duro II.

I have both 27" wheeled bikes and 700cc wheeled bikes. I'm not really sure if its due to the wheels, but my two favorite bikes are the only two that are 700cc. Coincidence? I think not!

To me, it depends on the roads you ride on... If you ride on extremely nice roads only, I would probably opt for the 700c to get the narrower tires. Otherwise, I would stick with the 27" for the wider tires. On my old touring bike with cantilever brakes, I had 27" wheels built on modern hubs... So, I lean toward 27s on the roads I ride.

If I were to go with 700c, I would go with option 3. No need to go through the expense of custom to save 4mm on the hub width. Plus you would gain an extra gear.

Nothing wrong with 27s. And some of us spend time finding the _widest_ tire we can run.

Karl

You can get narrow high quality tires in the 27" size. These 27X1 Panaracer Pasela Tourguards for instance. Personally, I think they're too narrow and I plan to replace them with wider ones. I switch 700c and 27" wheels between my road bikes and I haven't noticed that the 700c's ride any better. The brakes should actually work better with the 27" wheels because of decreased effective brake arm length, but I haven't noticed that either.

You should'nt have any problem indexing a 7 speed to an 8 speed shifter. I did the same thing. I was using 8 speed bar-ends and just set the shifter at the first click before pulling my cable at the derailleur. I've never set up a brifter but I would think the same theory is correct. You're a smart man checking Sheldon first. He was the man!!

Thanks for the info so far. To complicate matters, the 27" wheels I was looking at buying, which are made by Velocity, are only available in 130mm spacing anyway. I guess that will be the case if with any new wheels as I assume no one now makes a 126mm hub? It looks like going to 700C might be easier for me.

People have mentioned in other threads that you can most likely just jam a 130mm hub into a 126m drop out. I just measured my drop out without the wheel, and it only measures about 123-124mm. Do you think I will be able to fit a 130mm hub in there with out cold setting the frame? (frame is steel, so at least cold setting is an option)

Tim

You may be able to fit a 130 hub into a 126 frame without doing anything. It's only two MM's per side, and most steel frames can do that by gently spreading the drops while installing the wheel. I've done it a dozen times at least, with no problems.,,,,BD

And you can always look for used wheels. I bought a nice Giant Cadex used earlier this week and included in the sale were four 700cm rims (two matched sets). Total package cost me $100. I needed a set of rims so the timing was excellent.