sloar 

I’m a little confused on this one. Original 27” wheels with new 1 1/4” Paselas and the tire rubs the fork. I never would’ve imagined this would be a problem.

repechage

appears to me that this bike is a road racing Paramount and was designed for tubulars.
earlier road racing spec bikes btw came with eyelets and later by request.

I would spend the $ at Waterford and get a report.

even if it was sold originally with 27" does not mean the factory shipped it that way.

the lug lining and brake gives away much that was not mentioned.

79pmooney

Paselas (at least the 700cs I've used) tend to run the actual labeled size so a 1 1/4" 27" tire is gong to be pretty big at the top. If repechage is right 1) good eye! and 2) yeah, the higher end and more "performance" bikes got, the less fork crown clearance. (I'm assuming this bike precedes the now big tire trend.) My Peter Mooney could handle those tires with fenders but only because I requested exactly that.

Looks to me like you have plenty of brake slot to use 700c wheels with what you've got. (Can't see the rear.)

sloar 

Continental 1 1/8” tire fits fine, must be the bigger Paselas.

repechage

reference a touring Paramount - 27" wheels standard and more room for fenders, mudguards.

cudak888 

Got a picture of the whole bike from the side?

-Kurt

dddd

Without any doubt, inch-sized Paselas are among the truest to size and thus the widest/tallest 27" tires available.
They are millimeters wider than even some tires labeled as 1-3/8" wide!
1-1/4" is about 32mm.

Michelin World Tour is another huge 27x1-1/4" tire, measured 33mm wide on my touring rims.

My 27x1" Paselas measure a full 26mm wide on touring rims, which is close to what the narrowest 27x1-1/4" tires measure.

Specialized 1-1/4" tires from some years back (oughts) had sizing numbers molded into the sidewall that read "26-630", which was their true size.

ThermionicScott 

If it weren't a special/valuable bike, a big half-round file would probably help.

cb400bill

smd4

Very nice!

79pmooney

Paselas run considerably larger than Continentals for the most part. The 38c Paselas I ride are radically bigger than my 37c Continental ice tires. (I run both on my fendered bike. Fenders really emphasis differences, especially as things get close.) The Paselas I've measured run pretty close to true.

Most of my tire purchases were a few years ago before manufacturers were sizing tires after mounting them on the new wide rims. That has introduced an additional flavor of variability.

cudak888 

Top tube cable clips and no fender eyelets - that's a P13 built for 700C's. Was never intended to run 27's. Is it a '70 or early 1971?

-Kurt

sloar 

1970

gugie 

Do the right thing and rebuild the wheels to 700c as a P13 was intended to run with. Those brake pads can move down at least 4mm, which is the difference in radius between 700c and 27" rims as I recall.

tkamd73 

I’d just keep the original wheels, and run the Continentals. Also Continental 1 1/4 tires may clear, I’ve had luck just switching brands, when having clearance issues. Beautiful Bike by the way!
Tim

alexihnen 

This is interesting, as it appears that the front would work just fine with a 700c wheel, I’m not sure about the rear. It certainly looks like it was made for a 27” back there.

jiangshi

Just spitballing, but would a star washer or two in the front help?

dddd

Since the caliper is situated over the top of the tire, adding washers really can't really add any clearance vertically.

sloar 

It was rubbing the bottom of the fork crown, not the brake caliper.

cudak888 

Most second-gen Paramounts - whether they're the ones made for 27" or 700C - tend to have ample rear bridge clearance; sometimes more than the front.



Your frame should be same as the one in the foreground. If you have a spare Nuovo Record standard-reach rear caliper, install it in place of the Weinmann, set the pads for a 700C rim, and check it against this.

-Kurt

RB1-luvr

oof, that's a pretty bike.

52telecaster

Awesome bike and I'd just go 700c. My son's paramount from 71 think, has no eyelets and closer clearances. He runs gravel king 35s. It's fairly close but no rub.

sloar 

I like the idea that the bike left the bike shop with the 27” wheels. Maybe one day I’ll build a set of 700’s with the original hubs, but I’m fine for now.

52telecaster

In this forum that is completely understandable!

bwilli88 

I would get out my Dremel and grind off a bit of that crown and run those Paselas.
I have done that with a couple of bikes to run fatter/taller tires.