due ruote 

I have a 1985 Ross 294s that will take 32mm tires and fenders. It’s Ishiwata 024 and has race geometry. The other one that comes to mind is the RRB frame that was Taiwan(?) built. Those have very nice clearance for what was designed as a race-oriented frame. Maybe hard to find one outside the Midwest.

Salamandrine 

Many if not most road bikes from the 70s will take 32mm tires. I think they'll even fit on my Masi, at least in the back. I'd have to check. Clincher tires bigger than 32 didn't really exist till the mid 80s, so that is a typical limit. I do remember putting 35c cross tires (sew ups) on my early 80s Univega Specialissima, FWIW.

To be safer, pick a frame designed for 'normal' reach brakes (47-57). Yeah, this is many center pulls, but also earlier campy record and other sidepulls.

Regarding the original now undead post, a high quality touring bike from the same general era will only be a few ounces heavier than a racing bike of the same quality.
(not counting racks and stuff obviously) The problem is people compare low/mid level 'touring' bikes to (for example) all campy race bikes that cost 6x as much BITD. Yeah they are lighter.

Scottybigs 

Since we're building a database that I wish I'd seen years ago:

1983 Schwinn Voyageur SP, frame is full Tange #2 and the 58cm is 6.4 lbs

Came stock with 27 1-1/4 wheels, but converted to 700c (with Shimano CX070 canti's), the frame clears 35c Compass Bon Jon tires with full fenders. Without fenders, I expect it could do up to 40c.

63rickert

Old bikes needed broken spoke clearance. The rims were much lighter and wheels were most often built much looser than current practice so wheels went far out of true when a spoke broke. Nothing theoretical about this. Any who rode back then came home a few times with a wheel that would have locked in the frame if there were not nominal clearance for 700x35 at least. Greg LeMond won world championships with two broken spokes in his front wheel. No one who raced had one frame for skinny tires and another frame for racing on 700x28. Any race bike would take a Clement P-R or Campionato and still have broken spoke clearance. If the search is limited to 80s and newer then many fewer bikes have clearance.

Even with modern rims and well built wheels operating a bike with "see, the wheel turns" clearance is not a good idea.

ollo_ollo

Probably too heavy for OP, but posting info from my 1966 Schwinn Super Sport:

Fillet brazed, straight gauge chrome-moly frame. Got total weight down from original 32.2 pounds to 26.4 by converting to 700c, using modern parts + a lighter SLX steel fork. Returned to original fork for the huge clearance & fit a Specialized Nimbus 700 x 41c (measured 39c inflated). Appeared to be room to go a little larger. With the original fork & Brooks saddle, large tires + skinny Honjo alloy fenders, bike is likely back to 28-29 pound range, but I haven't weighed it . Don

ramzilla

Tange 2 frame bikes. Centurion Elite, Shogun 2000

palincss

Well, sure: if it didn't come with tubulars, in the US that 1970s bike came with 27 x 1 1/4" tires, 32x630 (although of course it wasn't called that then).

Ghrumpy

Coulda been. Shoulda been. ETRTO standards came into being at the end of the 1960s.

It's funny: ETRTO standards happened maybe about 35 years after 27" rims and tires were invented, but it's been almost 50 years since ETRTO standards happened. So, very few people who were born before 27" tires were are still alive. It's a fair guess that nobody who was actually riding 27" tires when they appeared are still alive.

And yet we STILL call them 27".

What's even funnier is that 630mm doesn't even match up to a nice inch fraction or decimal. It's about 24.803", which is closest fractionally to 24-13/16". You'd have to have a 1-3/32" tire to make that add up perfectly to a 27" OD. That's just under 28mm, not far off 28.6mm or 1-1/8", so maybe that's what they started out with and the "real" rim diameter is 24-3/4" (628.7)?? That's the only thing that almost makes any sense. (I assume that it all made sense to someone when it was invented.)

bikemig 

I'm curious what drove manufacturers to build bikes with ever tighter tolerances. It seems that today the trend is in the opposite direction as even racers are moving towards wider tires. It looks like some of the wisdom of the past is being reinvented.

By and large bikes I find that my 60s and 70s era bikes have generous clearances and my 80s and 90s bikes do not. When Grant Peterson--retrogrouch that he is--designed the 90s RB 1 with eyelets and clearance for 28c, he was pushing against the conventional wisdom of his day.

GravelGuy

I have fit 35mm Kendas on my 73 Colnago Super. It was a tight fit, had to fool around with the horizontal adjusters and had to insert the wheels deflated to get past the brake pads.

since6

P1060472.JPG

Here's my Nishiki Cresta restored with 700c rims and 32cm tires. The move from 28cm to 32cm surprised me in how much better the ride was, rootlet humps, bridge edges and the missed fallen stuff on the trail were no longer a shock to steering, and speed didn't drop off at all, but comfort really improved. This is a dedicated vintage grand touring frame, so it may carry a little extra weight, but then so do I.

Road Fan

1984 Trek 610 supplied new with 27 x 1 ⅛ tires. Some folks have converted to 650x36c or 38c.

bear_a_bug 

My 1983 Trek 620 (non-canti) came with 27" rims. 700c gave me up to 35mm without fenders, 32mm with.

650b wheelset worked with Dia Compe 750 centerpulls and I could fit up to 42mm with a smidge of clearance at the chainstays. A little dimpling and clearances are great all around.

mestizoracer310

I've done the same on my 70s KHS mixte Gran Sport......... 700c conversion, 35 tires fit fine with the original Dia Compe center pulls.

but now it's got 28s and i'm using a set of full fenders from a 70s KHS Tri-Cruiser.....

ollo_ollo

Further inf. on the fillet brazed, Schwinn Super Sport bikes of the late 60's-early 70's era: Early years had easy to remove, bolt-on, not welded on kickstands plus down tube shifter bosses. Sellers do confuse them with the much heavier electro forged models, so they can sometimes be cheap. My two were $20 and $25 respectively, and had salvage-able Brooks B15 leather saddles. One even nice track bars. Don

bnewberry

Please don't look for a 21inch Trek 640, as I want it! I think this is the same or similar frame to the 614. Both were built for 27 inch wheels. I am not sure about weight, but only the main tubes are 531.

This is the 19 inch version with 700c wheels, 32 tires and fenders. Without fenders you could run bigger tires.