Originally Posted by Bianchigirll

I agree with Kuromori, if all things equal with the wheel the only difference is the tire. If you shod both with a good basic tire like say a Panaracer Pasela which is great for most all riding then there is no noticeable difference. The big difference would be if you put some super fancy tire$ on the 700c wheels you might feel a difference in the handling and overall ride quality.

However there is simply a better selection of higher quality 700 wheels and rims simply because the industry turned that way in the mid to late '80s. More and more 'racing' bikes came with 700c wheels and when hybrids were introduced they also had 700c wheels. As lower end "10 speeds" left the market place the OEM market for 27" wheels dried up so did the aftermarket eventually.

Does anyone even make a high quality 27" rim these days?