700 x 38c tires on a vintage bike?
 

Anyone running 700 x 38c tires on a C&V bike? I picked up a nice set of of 700 x 38c Hutchinson tires and now I'm jonesing to buy a frame or a bike that can handle these tires. I know that's so wrong (using new tires as an excuse to buy another bike) but I figure C&V is a safe space when it comes N + 1, :)

I also know there is a lot of variation on tire width and volume depending on how manufacturers measure, rim width etc. But show me what you got. Oh and I don't want any crazy long brakes either because I want the bike to stop eventually. So I guess I'm willing to go as long as Weinman/Dia Compe 750s.

Or were there touring bikes with cantilevers that could take that fat a tire back in the day? I don't really want a touring bike so I'm hoping to get away from cantilevers.

Pics would be helpful if you have them.

Is 2014 vintage yet? (My 38mm Compasses fit with mm to spare.) I was able to cram 28mm tires into my 1987 Bianchi frame.

You've got a better chance they'll fit on bikes that were originally equipped with 27" wheels. Converting to 700c gets you a bit more wiggle room.

I'm not sure about frames without cantilevers, I believe a Super Course might have room for 700x38c if you crimped the chainstay. I had 700x35c and fenders on mine.
Touring bikes don't have to just "tour," I've used my Univega Gran Turismo for some singletrack and gravel grinding. It just clears these 700x43c (actual width around 40mm on Sun CR-18 rims) Panaracer GravelKing SKs.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7819/4...351fbeb2_c.jpg

My '69 PX-10 fit 35mm CX tires. Sorry, no pics.

I'd guess touring or randonneur bikes would be your best bet... but it's not like vintage rando bikes just pop on CL every day... or ever... in the U.S.

I remember a thread on here where someone set up up a Schwinn World Sport with 700x42? tires.

I know an 88 Letour clears 700x32 easily, but never got around to checking any bigger.

1971 Raleigh Super Course - recently repainted and reconfigured with 81 speeds and 700c x 38mm Panaracer Pro-Tites. They ride quite nicely.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...92b79457fb.jpg

I am running 700x38 on my '73 Schwinn Sports Tourer. On skinny Wolber rims they measure out to 35mm, which is probably the max I'd go. 38 would fit but pretty close to the chainstays. I needed to use long reach Dia Compe centerpulls on the back to reach the rim. They work fine.

Fitting 38s usually means a 700C or 650B conversion on a 70s bike, with long reach brakes. If you don't want to use long reach brakes, a dedicated randonneur frame is your best bet. I will be building up a Japanese randonneur bike soon that was originally made to fit 650Ax42mm with cantilevers.

Just did a couple of thousand kilometers, or more, on my 1982 Bianchi Touring which I had to fit with the only tires that I could find in Jamaica. Less than $30.00 US for the set. They just barely clear the chain stays and are a near bullet proof treat to ride (for cheap tires, that is)...
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...689884a050.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ec5b86f06d.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5a8bc30b2b.jpg

32’s not big enough? That is what I am running on that sweet Gitane. I even have room for some tight fitting fenders with minimal toe overlap.

32c is pretty easy to fit on a lot of vintage bikes. I'm thinking of making a gravel bike with 700 x 38c tires. The alternative is to go 650b.

Depends on the chainstay lenght, rear brake bridge placement & fork crown design I guess. This 1984 Marinoni is now back to full Campy 12 speed with drop bars but at one time it was a great single speed with flat bars and 35mm 700C knobby tires:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...64976de946.jpg

Trek 420
 

I've run 700c x 37 CONTIs in a 56cm TREK 420. The tight point is the chainstays.
I've also run a 700Cx38 in an old NISHIKI. The limit there was the brake bridge.
A great deal of the fit depends on the rim width. A wider rim is going to make the tire "taller", as in closer to the brake bridge.

If you are looking for a bike to run your tires on, the TREK 420 will soon be posted FOR SALE in the C&V pages. (on eBay i see them selling for thousands and thousands of dollars!! .... no, not really....)
Here's some pics. The one with the 'DETROIT BIKES' headbadge is the NISHIKI. It could be for sale, but it's in another city waiting for me to visit the in-laws, so more complicated....

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e1b8048261.jpg

trek
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...63eef3c8cc.jpg

trek
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0e3e9e4ffc.jpg

trek
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...64fbbd0f7c.jpg

nishiki
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b362230af2.jpg

nishiki

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...700c-650b.html
- if that helps.....

The eponymous '63 Rickert was used a lot with Challenge Grifo (now labeled Almanzo) clinchers that stretched out to a measured 35mm. Still good clearance all around. Was necessary to deflate rear tire to remove or install back wheel. That was a completely normal road bike. Tight spot with 38 would be the rear brake bridge. It would make it, not sure I'd do it. Real 35 as opposed to 35 label is a big tire.

Current 1950 Bates has older single spring Weinmann 750 with pad at bottom of slot. Stops fast. The Bates would not take 38. Or 35.

Look at older frames. Old means old. Not 70s or 80s production frames.

Yeah, I was thinking about this as well. It might mean a really old bike . . . which is kind of cool, right?

Isn't it the other way around?

Nice pics. Yeah I am thinking that an older Japanese bike originally built around 27 inch wheels might be the way to go. I like vintage Fujis.

ProTour15 with Conti GP4SII 700x28c. If there were a wider one I would have tried.
Don't have pics, but I think the narrower spot is between the the bar connecting the chain stays close to the seat tube and the tire.

On my Tri-A I couldn't fit the 700x28c because it was rubbing the seat stay bar where you attach the rear caliper.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3fce2a921f.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8fbf9dfdce.jpg

Whoa, whoa, whoa, 81 speeds?

Front 3, rear 9 + 3 speed IGH? Thatsa lotta shift levers in the cockpit!

Compass 700x35 on my 71 International and my wife's 84 Lotus Eclair:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a497e0d48.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b9ac290b5e.jpg

I'm about to put 700c x 37mm tires on my 1971 Raleigh Super Course.

I already have 650b x 38mm tires on my Lemond which previously had 700c x 25 tires. It's fun, because I can roll over bumps and ask myself if I really rolled over them.

Not really. If you think of cross-section of the tire/rim system as a circle, then the rim contributes a portion of that circle's circumference.

When the rim gets wider, it causes the circumference to larger and therefore the circle to get bigger. Thus a larger diameter and effectively a taller tire.

N.B. - Once the rim is contributing as much to the circumference as the tire, this simple analogy falls apart

I have a not too vintage '96 Trek 520 touring. It came with a 7-speed cassette but the rear dropouts are 135mm spacing. I'm running a 9-speed cassette now.
I have 700x28 Marathon Plus tires on it that measure 27.75 actual width. There is a minimum of 15mm clearance on each side as well as on the outside diameter of the tire, front and rear, on this bike. I'm sure you could run tires even larger than 38mm on it easily.
I have a Miyata 610, and an '86 Schwinn Voyageur fhat I could measure if you want me to, but while they fit 27x1-1/4 Paselas, they don't have a ton of extra clearance.