brian_rides

Hey,

I hear a lot about switching from 27 to 700c and the pros and cons of both sides. One opinion, which I appreciate, is the old "Why switch? There are still a lot of great 27 inch wheels". My question is WHERE?

I'm currently tuning up my new 84' Fuji Touring Series IV and realize the difficulties that may come along with swapping size (possibly need new brakes etc) so I would love to be able to stay 27".

What should I be looking for? What are these "decent 27 wheels"?

J.Higgins 

It is my opinion, and perhaps mine alone, that 27" is a bygone format. Whenever I get a bike to rebuild, a new set of 700c wheels are the first modification on the build list. Why? Because there are more choices for better rim/tire options available. Like I said - before anyone else gets snarky - its my opinion, and its a personal choice for me.

mstateglfr 

I see it mentioned fairly often that 27" TIRES are readily available.
quality 27" wheels though?...those would probably need to be handbuilt.

I would agree that 27" tires are available which are good quality- relatively light, relatively supple, relatively flat resistant, etc.

An inexpensive 27" rim that is still pretty good quality is the Sun CR18. It has a traditional box shape that fits 80s bikes, double walled which is better quality than old single wall, and I found they built up easily.


Here is a 4 page thread with 27" tire options.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-thread-4.html

Basically- any folding 27" made by Panaracer or Schwalbe will be good quality.
Panaracer Pasela is light and soft, but doesnt have great protection. The Pasela PT has a puncture shield of some sort.
Most 27" tires are 1", 1 1/8", or 1 1/4". But this tire is 1 3/8", if you want something a bit wider and comes in black sidewall or tan. ---> SwiftTire 27? x 1 3/8? Tire ? Made by Panaracer ? SWIFTTIRE



I prefer 700c because of rim and tire options, but have a 27" wheel bike still and if anything it looks better since the slightly larger wheels blend with the large frame. But with an '84 Fuji, the canti brake mount height might not allow for a smaller size rim. A good double walled handbuilt wheelset will work incredibly well in this case.

andrewclaus

It might depend on how you define "decent."

If you don't like what you see on eBay, one option would be to salvage or buy some decent rims and lace good hubs into them.

But then you're faced with good tire selection, which is another question I'm sure you're familiar with.

And with a different hub, you're faced with dropout spacing and drive train compatibility issues, which are relatively minor but need to be considered. And if you add more cogs, you might want indexed shifting, etc. If you can't tell, I just did this, on an '83 Trek.

brian_rides

Oh, I can tell

I know. It raises all the smooth-mount canti questions...

I guess that's my question, what are these people defining as "DECENT"?? I have no idea...

I respect this opinion.

I should mention I'm not at all concerned about choice of tire. I've seen plenty that would suit my needs. It isn't AS good, but it's alright. My focus is on the wheels themselves.

saddlesores

what wheels do you have now?
why are they indecent?

mstateglfr 

Ok, so i just wanted to make sure you werent mixing 'tire' with 'wheel' since many do.
I really havent heard the claim that there are a lot of great 27" wheels.

Make em.

https://www.amazon.com/Sun-CR-18-36h.../dp/B002DMRBY6
-or-
VO PBP 27" Rim


Then grab some 126mm and 100mm hubs(or use what you have already.


The other option is to buy some wheels and have them hand tensioned and trued properly- Sun CR18 27 5,6,7 Speed Freewheel hubs Road Bike Wheelset [72274726665] - $115.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

fietsbob

Bike shop wholesale suppliers still make the 27" wheels for repairs.. freewheel hubs most likely.

Tourist in MSN

Last year I donated my 27 inch 1972 Raleigh Gran Prix to charity. A lot of the 27 inch wheels do not have hooked rims, that never bothered me but I never had high pressure tires on it.

The bike manufacturers resurrected 650b and gave it a new name, 27.5. That way they could convince people that if they wanted to be cool, they would have to buy a new 27.5 bike. Maybe if you wait long enough the bike manufacturers will resurrect the old 27 inch size and give it a new name. If that happens, there might be a lot of new tires to choose from.

fuzz2050

My main problem with the 27 inch wheel size is the lack of variety of tire width. You can buy some great 27X1 1/4 tires, and that's a great all around tire size, but I tend to like them wider and those can be hard to find.

Barabaika

There are plenty of 27" wheels here.
You can also buy rims, spokes and hubs there and build wheels yourself.
https://www.niagaracycle.com/categor...eatured&page=2

Here is a CR-18 freewheel set for $117.
I don't know why they say that is is 27x1 when the CR-18 rim is 27x1 1/4".
https://www.niagaracycle.com/categor...d-fw-qr-silver

Barabaika

Kenda makes some 1 3/8" tires.
https://www.niagaracycle.com/categor...ire-27-x-1-3-8

mstateglfr 

Its like people dont read the threads before posting.

brian_rides

I'm not sure what this is in reference to...