Help with Panaracer Paselas.
 

To those of you who may own or have used both, is there much of a difference in profile between Pasela TG's in 1 1/4 and 1 1/8 inch sizes? In other words, height from rim edge to top of tread? I figure it can't be much but I'm having a bit of a tight squeeze with these 1 1/4s I ordered and thinking maybe I should have tried the narrower tire. I was kind of surprised how much "fatter" and taller than the old Hutchinsons that came off the rims. Narrower by an eighth of an inch aint much but it may just help me out. Anybody have both for a side by side comparison?
Thank you.

Tight squeeze where? I've not used the 1 1/4" but I have both 1 1/8" and 1" and they are different but not much. Maybe, oh, an eighth of an inch, I'd guess. :) It has been said in BF more than once that most tires tend to run smaller than labeled, but Paselas are closer to true. But where is the tight fit? Just between brake pads when mounting or removing the wheel from the bike? That's not a good reason to choose tire size, I'd say, unless the bike was meant for much smaller tires.

Thanks Jim,
The pivotal question. Where? I should have mentioned it but was thinking I'd attract derision, scoffs, finger shaking and , well ... you know.
This early 70's French bike , Gitane, was originally designed for, and sold with, tubular 700c wheels. However, when I got it 20 years ago it had a set of Rigida 27 X 1 1/4 rims on it. I should just get rid of them but they're laced to a nice old set of Nuovo Tipo hubs so I was loathe to ditch them. And, I wanted to keep the bike sort of "period correct" but not revert back to sew-ups. Got those on other bikes. Thing is, the old tires fit under the fork crown, though just, and so did the replacements I had on there for a while, some Serfas 27 X 1 1/4's ...but I never liked those tires so decided to get some Paselas for it. Turns out the Paselas are considerably larger in diameter than the Serfas 1 1/4s. Go figure. I know, I should probably just try to find some clinchers in 700c size and rebuild the wheels using these hubs. Someday soon. If I can get an actual 1/8 of an inch in lower height, tho, this tight squeeze might work.

Ah. So the problem is using 27" wheels on a frame meant for 700c. What to do with 4 extra millimeters? No derision from me. (Of the four bikes in this house, one has 700c, the others 27".) Why not re-string (or have restrung) those hubs to 700C rims? That's what it "ought" to have anyway.

My Pasela TG 27 1 1/8's are as big as most 27 1 1/4's. My TG 27 1 1/4's are huge!

You may try lowering the pressure in the front tire. That gave me a little clearance with 700/28s that rubbed the fork crown on my Bridgestone RB2.

Yeah, I know. trying to do something here that technically shouldn't be done. I didn't want to sink much money into this bike and thinking , well, since it had 27's on it maybe I could keep them and just put some nice tires on it. Brake shoe adjustment seemed to work Ok, but just. Turns out these Paselas DO seem to be very true to diameter, more so than even the rotted old Hutchinsons that were on it. I was hoping I didn't have to buy some period 700c rims but, may have no choice. Thanks.

I know! I was quite surprised how "fat" these 1 1/4 TGs are! Too fat, it seems, for this application. Thx.

I know what you mean. I have Pasela 27 x 1 1/8 (non TG) on my Centurion Pro-Tour and it does not clear the rear chainstay bridge (while installing the rear wheel) with the tire fully inflated. This is a 57 cm sized bike and the original wheels. Once installed everything is OK.

On my Gitane SC I can fit 27" wheels under the fork crown no problem. I understand that Gitane may suffer from greater production variations than most companies in the civilized world. I'd say your fork is a bit of a runt, so to speak :rolleyes:

I can try a comparison between 27" rims with Michelin Bib Sport (a nice vintage gumwall) vs the 27" x 1 1/8 Paselas on the SC and report back. I will get a measurement of the fork crown clearance.
Jim

That was a thought, and I did see a bit of relief when I lowered the pressure, but was kind of leery of running these with too low a pressure in them, especially on these funky, no hook rims. I should probably just S**tcan these old rims and start over. Dang...

I have used several sets of Paselas in both 27 x 1 1/8" and 1 1/4". My experiences with these is consistent. Measured on various vintage 27 x 1 1/4 rims @ 80psi the average width (6 measurements per tire) has been as follows.

Pasela 27 x 1 1/8": 25-26mm
Pasela 27 x 1 1/4": 29-30mm

I have not taken the time to measure the height or profile of the tires. Suffice it to say that by switching to a 27 x 1 1/8" tire the overall diameter of the tire mounted on the wheel will decrease. Will it be enough for your purpose? I can't say.

If a trade works for you, I think I have at least one pair of 27 x 1 1/8 and prefer 27 x 1 1/4... My primary rider is a Schwinn Voyageur that does fine with the fattish Pasela TG tires. If you want to trade, drop me a PM.

My Gitane TdF does not have enough clearance below the fork crown for 27 X 1 1/4 tires. In fact, it's pretty tight with 700 x 28 mm tires.

Thank you Jim, that would be very kind and helpful of you. I think you're right, this fork may be a bit on the "runt" side. These wheels/tires seem to fit Ok in another frame I have that was built, I think, for 700c tubulars, but not in this old Frenchy.

Thank you. PM sent.

Thanks GB. Yep, that's what I'm finding too. Odd that they seemed to work Ok until I put these Paselas on. These TdFs were never meant for "city" ride wheels, though I'd like to make it work somehow. Sigh.

Thanks Colonel. That's VERY helpful. An extra 3 mm just might do it, if it affects the height as well as the diameter. Worth a shot, thanks.

Sorry folks..
for all the individual response posts. Haven't figured out how to do multiple quotes yet but wanted to say thanks to everyone.

c'mon guys. use metric and ISO/ETRTO already.

The troll returns!

Neal

troll?

and how exactly does recommending ISO/ETRTO constitute "trolling?"

Boy that's funny. I never even considered that all other tires could be on the small side....I just always figured that Paselas were just larger than labeled :lol:

I abide by the Pasela corollary - Order em a size smaller than you want and they will be correct.

well and good but it doesn't address the OP's issue that a Pasela 630-28 is fatter than a Vittoria 630-28.

paselas tend to run small, in my experience (622-28s are more like 26s, for example). so wouldnt you want to order a size up?

I measured my Paselas and the widths came out as described. However someone, noglider I think, has said that the width marking isn't meant to indicate the true width, but rather some calculation based on a measurement of the casing when flattened.

Whoever suggested running a lower pressure... All that will do is make the tire flatter on the bottom side! The expansion of the rest of the casing due to pressure probably isn't enough to be significant.

Dang, I just ran out or troll food... :)