Bklyn

Ah, I don't know if that's true, but on my singlespeed conversion (a 1982 Fuji), I have 27" wheels. And I love them. The ride is comfortable and quick, and you feel up there. I understand that 700c has forever supplanted them, but what is the downside?

Anybody ride 27" wheels?

MikeR

My commuter has 700c My beater has 26' My Sunday joy ride has 27' I don't notice the difference in the wheels - just the tires.

BigMacFU

schwalbe marathon plus is the difference. If you want the plus or supreme, they don't make 27, only 700. But, you can get your conti gators. Tire selection is the only thing I've found.

Gusboh

Lack of choice for tyres.
Longer spokes = less strong wheel (marginally).
Less choices for rims if you ever need new ones.
Rims are more likely to be steel, which is crap for braking.

Other than that...

Phantoj

Are the rims hooked?

Bklyn

Alas, no. That's the real drag. Can only inflate tires to around 75 psi. (Which is maybe why I like the ride?)

squeakywheel

I'm enjoying the 27 inch wheels on my summer commuter. The tire selection is small, but they are the tires I would want anyway.

Given a choice, I would pick 700c just because it is the modern standard. I'm not in any hurry to get rid of my 27 inchers, though. For the same width, I don't think I could tell the difference.

HardyWeinberg

Can you just swap in 700c's for 27" wheels? Or are there drop or whatever issues?

noisebeam

27x1-1/8" tires have the exact same outside diameter as 700x32c tires.

Al

kemmer

The brakes won't always line up, you might have to get long reach brakes.

fender1

I have a set of 27" Wobler Super Champion rims laced to some Specialized (Suntour) 36 hole Sealed hubs. They ride very nicely. The only issue I had so far was that I broke a spoke in the rear wheel and the closest shop did not have any replacements long enough to fit the wheel. I have never had a problem w/ tire selection though. Schwalbe still makes a number of offereings in 27 inch as do others. I run them at 90 psi and they work great.

Bolo Grubb

I have an old 1984 Trek 720 that still has the original 27" wheels and 1 1/4" tires. Rides pretty nice and just as fast as my road bike with 700 x 23. Or at least I can't seem to tell a difference in speed. The wider tires of the trek are a little more plush though.

When it comes time to replace the wheels on the trek I will likely go with 700 x 32 or so. Manly for the tire selection. I will have to replace the brakes though as the current cantilevers will not work with 700 wheels, I tried.

Bklyn

Bolo: when you tried the 700c, was it just as simple as popping a 700 into the fork? Did you actually try to move the brake pads down, or did you just eyeball it?
I'm thinking of converting the singlespeed to a fixed, and there are far more 700c track wheels available. (In fact, I think Harris Cyclery is the only shop to offer a 27" fixed wheel.) I won't need a rear brake anymore, so that won't be a problem. But how off would it be to run a 700c rear and a 27" front?

clancy98

my local lbs had SS wheels in 27" for $65 all day. And i've had no problem running them at 100 psi, or finding tires. in fact they're usually easy to find for cheap as well. If you have your sights set on a specific tire, they might not make it but to say that 27 wheels and tires are elusive is altogether incorrect.

BTW, damn near all my rides are 27s


edit -- the shop i got it at -- www.baerwheels.com

Bklyn

The problem with older 27" rims is that they're not hooked, and therefore can't take high-pressure tires. New or recent 27" — like the kind you must have — are the same as 700c. Just a little bigger.

clancy98

ah, I see. I just checked sheldon's site to make sure i wasn't going to die. Whew, I feel betta.

Bklyn

Yeah, I had been running them at 85, 90, whatever. A bunch of retrogrouches in the vintage forums scared me straight.

GTcommuter

And longer reach brakes will sometimes help give awesome tire/fender clearance. 27"-wheeled frames offer great opportunities to switch to 700C rims and get great fender and wide tire clearance.

ModoVincere

I like my 27" wheels and I like my 700C wheels.
The 27" are steel rims and the 700C are aluminum. Can't tell too much diff in the feel of them, but the steel ones are a lot shinier (sp?).

Bklyn

And I be a lot heavier?

Bolo Grubb

Thee is no real up and down adjust of the cantilever brakes I have due to the position of them. I took the 700c wheel off of my newer road bike and put it on the old trek. The brakes did not line up where they needed to be. Although I admit to not spending alot of time on this.

Switching to the caliper style brakes found on most new road bikes will likely work, may need long reach, but may not.

-=(8)=-

I love 27"s !!
The best wheel since Wheel of Fortune !!
You can get these great cheepo Kenda or cheng Yang
ribbed tires for them in the bike section of K-Mart too !!
8.00 !!

grolby

I have 27" wheels on my SS beater. My old touring bike took 27" wheels, too. There's no problem finding tires, unless you want really big or really skinny ones. I don't really like them any better or worse than 700C wheels - they're bigger, yes, but only marginally. It doesn't end up amounting to much.

balindamood

I have never seen so much hoot'in and hollering over 8 mm since.....

squeakywheel

I run mine at 90 pounds. Rims sorta have ridges. not real definitive.