Originally Posted by
Road Fan
Well, recall the UK at least had a “lightweight” tire option at least back into the 1950s, the 27 x 1 ¼ “high pressure” up to 90 psi. My 1952 Rudge has those as new, with nice, elegant Dunlop rims which perfectly held the old tires, and perfectly hold a pair of modern Specialized Road Force in that designation - wired beads on rims designed for them. So at least in UK such tires were once avjailable widely enough for folks to use them on daily bikes.
Chris was talking about Europe, not the UK.