marius.suiram 

I bought this Maserati bike a few wheeks ago. It came with a set of steel Rigida wheels, 27" size. They were flat. I know that, original, the bike had tubular tires. I had the same bike in blue three years ago.
I had laying around a set of 27" Benelux Ambrosio which looked to be ok on the bike. I put a set of new 27 x 1 1/4" tires.
Now the problem is that is not too much room left between the tire and the frame, as you can see in the last picture.
Probably some 27 x 1 1/8" wide will resolve the problem (hard to find), or a set of 700C wheels?
Pictures:

Velo Mule

Yea that is tight. Nice bike though. It reminds me of when Road & Track did their 1974 Aprils fools road test on a Maserati bicycle. For me and people that were into both cars and bikes at the time, it was interesting to see what car guys thought of this bike. I was 14 at the time. Cars and a Maserati bike were both aspirations. Here is a link to the article.

The Retrogrouch: That Time Road & Track Test Drove A Bicycle

Narhay

Remove or back out the adjuster screw and put the wheels further back in the dropouts for more clearance.

LittleGinseng 

I have a set of NOS Michelin hi lite road 27x 1 1/8. I'll see how much I have invested in them if you're interested.

Velo Mule

What? How did I miss that! Although the derailleurs and many other parts are Campangnolo, it has a Stronglight crankset. Nice.

Tires, you have little clearance for 1-1/4" tires. 1-1/8" would provide more clearance for sure. No doubt, the bike came with 700C wheels, I'm sure you are correct in that they were tubulars. So, 700C clinchers might be a better fit. It is only a 4mm difference from 27" 630mm to 700C at 622mm. If you also move the axle rearward, you could eek out a little more room.

Why do you think it had steel rims when you acquired it? Did someone want the tubular wheels for a Peugeot and swap wheels?

Are you willing to buy new wheels to get to 700C? If it were me, I'd be tempted to even though there is only a small return just so that I could feel like the bike is on the right size wheels.

marius.suiram 

what did you miss?
When I bought this bike it had Rigida steel wheels with Campagnolo skewers.
Three years ago I had the same MT5 in blue with tubular tires on Campu hubs. Beside the color, that bike had bar end shifters

Salamandrine 

"You stupid American! You want what? Clincher wheels, instead of beautiful tubular? OK take these. Pure steel. Dumb English size."

Bike boom bikes that would have normally come with sew ups sometimes subbed steel 27" clinchers. It was a thing. 700c clinchers didn't realistically exist yet in N. America.

Stop torturing yourself and put 700c wheels on it. Or convert it back to sew ups.

SurferRosa

It needs a 700c wheelset so the brake pads can sit at the bottom of the caliper arms ... Rustines for those sweet Modolo brake levers and clips and straps.

randyjawa 

Those 27" wheels will negatively impact ride quality. I just went through the 27" wheel thing on a bike that was made for 700c tubulars. I no longer put tubulars on my bikes but I do opt for 700c wheels. This old Torpado showed up with a set of 27" hoops and worked just fine...


But, fitted with a set of 700c wheels, it worked just finer....

Miele Man

I had a bike that I tried to use 27" wheels on. The rear was extremely close to the chainstay and brake bridges. Also, the front tire was very close to the bottom of the fork crown. I decided not to risk something getting caught between the tire and the frame and went back to 700C wheels with it. Fortunately I was able to get a pair of NOS wheels for $30.00 Canadian.

How much clearance do you have between your front tire and fork crown?

Cheers

marius.suiram 

Thanks for all your replies.
Unfortunately I don't have a good set of 700 wheels.
I will wait for now till I get one

squirtdad

bike co-op close???

marius.suiram 

It is open. When I was 3 weeks ago, they were selling at the door some stuff, but no possibility to go inside and pick what you need. No volunteers