bikemig 

70s era road bikes that came stock with 27 inch wheels are likely to give you good clearance with 700c. That said, 38c is a tall order for a vintage road bike.

I'm running 35c tires comfortably on my 1979 Trek 510 (full ishiwata 022 frame). If you really want fat tires, you will want to think about a 650b conversion or fix up a drop bar vintage mountain bike.

fishboat

Not "classic" in terms of 25 years, but pretty much a classic in any other way..Lemond Poprad. I run 38mm Panaracer GK slicks on mine. Bike comes in at just over 22lbs(55cm, with a triple crank and rear rack mounted), 853 tubing..FUN!, fast..do everything bike. I believe the Lemond Wayzata is the same frame as the Poprad, only with flat bars. I also remember reading the Gary Fischer Presidio (of that era) was also the same frame as the Poprad. It was a popular bike, so there are used ones around if you look for them. Earlier years they had canti's, later years had disk brakes.

Lascauxcaveman 

Another early 70s data point - 1973 Nishiki Semi Pro, absolutely maxed out on 38mm tires, no fenders. The chainstays are the tight point, followed by the bridge for the rear brake.

Marylander

Phew, I'm not hurting for things to search for.

As this is my first foray into checking craigslist for bikes I've learned some things: wash dc has lots of bikes added every day, baltimore a whole lot less (no idea why the difference between 2 cities so close together), and rural areas have slim pickings.

The reason I'm not interested in a bike that'll take no more than ~32mm tires is that I've already got one set up that way (a black mountain cycles road that I've got panaracer gravelking slicks in 700x32 on) and I don't want to essentially duplicate it. There's no good reason for me to not accept a touring bike except placing some imaginary importance on weight.

thook

man, you should look for a mid 80's to early 90's bridgestone 27" model. my wife's '85 300 mixte has lots!!! of clearance. it has plenty of stay clearance for a 700x40 and no sidewall rub. and, the fork can fit a 40, but it's tight under the crown. 38's fit quite easily. no fenders, of course, but some tektro 559 (539?...don't recall offhand) calipers and it's golden. so, maybe a men's 300-500 ??? somewhere along those lines

edit: meh...had posted a web image close to what my wife's looks like....or so i thought. discovered it was actually a 650b conversion. no matter, the 300 will fit terravail cannonballs 38 no prob. i did have some conti speedride 40's on it at one time, though

thook

okay...here we go. web image of a small men's 300. one image has a good shot of the stay clearance....



further details....
https://bikeindex.org/bikes/658673

Lemond1985

One idea that occurs to me, since maximum tire width is at such a premium in this thread, is that differing widths of rims could be used to fine tune your last mm of clearance.

For example, I have a set of Belgian HED rims that are I think 23mm inside width. I know from experience they will turn a 28 mm tire into a 30 or 31. Therefore with my Raleigh Competition, I could put some 35 mm tires on those rims, and probably turn them into 37.5 mm's or thereabouts. And they might be useable, whereas a 38 mm tire would not be.

jamesdak 

Well, if you can find one a mid 80's Orbea Cabestany may fit the bill. By coincidence I've been messing with mine again this morning putting on better brake pads. This is a Frankenstein build with the original crank and Simples DT shifters, 9 speed Ultegra RD, 10 speed cassette on a modern wheelset, and dual side flat/SPD pedals. Tires right now are Michelin Cyclocross Mud in 700 x 30 size. At low pressure just now they still measured as 33 in width and there's still room for even bigger on this frame.


Today's configuration, saddle change, $9 repo hoods from France and new brake shoes

Hard to get the right angle with the cellphone, there's more room than this shows around the chainstays

Rear brake/bridge area

Front brake/fork area

This bike in road configuration was really fast, I just keep changing how I run this one. I also keep thinking I need to sell it and then repurpose it. I guess there's something about it I like.

John E

My son put 700C x 35 on my old 1980 Peugeot PKN-10. Delightful bike, and extremely versatile.

Marylander

So, I went to a local vintage shop (velo classique) and he had a 54cm roberts frame there that he hadn't started working on yet. 531 tubes, says "chas roberts" on the top tube, has good tire clearance, looks like it'll take my 559 brakes, etc. I bought it. He's going to do a little prep on it and I'll pick it up next week. Looks like I'll just need a stem and bars.

beicster 

We'll all be looking forward to pics.

kroozer 

In my experience the older (pre-1975) road bikes tend to have larger clearances, along with slacker angles. I have been trying to fit the largest tires possible to some of my vintage road bikes to make them more suitable for commuting. Actual tire sizes seem to vary among brands, for example, my Schwalbe’s are much fatter than my Deli’s despite both being marked as 700x38/622-40.

1967 Atala Record: Tons of clearance in the rear (650Bx42 or Schwalbe 700x38, with fender). Much less fork clearance: the Deli 700x38 barely clears the fork crown.

1972 Motobecane Le Champion: this has massive clearances front & rear. 700x42 (!!), 650Bx42, w/fenders. If you want to get one of these frames for a fat tire conversion, remember that later Le Champion’s had much tighter clearances.

1975 Motobecane Grand Jubile: 650Bx42 with fenders, but it’s a pretty tight fit. Deli 700x38, but not Schwalbe.

1974 Raleigh International: 700x38 in front, but not in the rear, because the chainstays are not indented. Probably the next sizes down, 650Bx38 or 700x35, would work.

Lemond1985

A couple of times in this situation, I have played around with clamping the front wheel in the fork dropouts a few mm's short, to create more fork crown clearance. Works better on some forks than others. I don't think it would be a very difficult fix, to fill that gap in permanently with brazing rod, or even some JB Weld.

Marylander

I'm not sure why I didn't think to take pics in the shop. It looks very much like this one that was posted here, including the gold detailing on the green, world champion decals on the seat tube, chas roberts on the top tube, shifter cable stops, and rear brake cable braze ons:

Bianchigirll 

Someone did mention the Bianchi Volpe yes? I didn't see a pic but someone mentioned it right?

The Volpe is a great all arounder so it doesn't have a true road bike geometry but it isn't really stretched out and relaxed either. Most of them (at least in the '80s/90s) came with 700x38 tires. I only used x28 tires on mine but there was plenty of room for these enders off a Milano.



My Volpe looks much cleaner with Woody's "Surfer Variation" fenders


While more mountain bike oriented the Bianchi Project 3, 5 ,7 will take a fatter x41 and maybe bigger tire. My '93 feels pretty spritely on the road with some ancient Avocet x32 Slicks



Most any of the nicer hybrids from the early '90s would make a OK rodie with fat tires, somethign like the Bianchi Boardwalk, the Uniega Via Carisma, Via Montega and the seldom seen Via De Oro (with Deore XT kit) are fabulous bikes. here is my '92ish Via Montega, unfortunately just a tad too big and sold off

ollo_ollo

Forgot to mention my 1966 Schwinn Super Sport. Currently has 38c front and 42c rear with good clearance.

Marylander

I picked up the frame today and threw the wheels with the 38s on it. Phew, tight fit. Seems I should have brought the wheels when I went looking. Ah well, this is dipping my toe into the classic side of things and is intended to be a learning process. The paint could definitely use some work but I'm just going to build it up and ride it and see if I like it. While it seems to have lived a tough life, paint-wise, there are no dents and it's straight. Looks to be from 1984.

tpadul 

Sweet looking frame!!! I'm sure it will look great when you are done with it!!

Whit51 

Here are a couple of pandemic builds I moved on - an early 80s Trek 61x and a Specialized Crossroads hybrid converted to drop bars. Both were fitted with 700c by 32 s.
The geometry of the Specialized required a bigger saddle to bar drop than I like. The Trek needed mid reach brakes to work with 700c wheels. Both were fun and effective on gravel and pavement.

jlaw

Cool bike!

Be not afraid of 650b! If you measure 320mm from the front and rear axles....and then measure the distance between the fork blades and the chain stays, respectively...this will provide the approximate max. 650b tire size that will fit. Leave yourself about 4mm clearance on each side.

650b is also an opportunity to learn how to build your own wheels if you are not familiar - mostly because reasonably-priced 650b rim-brake wheels are not common. Expect to spend around $400 for decent wheel components plus another $200 or so on wheel-building tools if you don't have access otherwise.

Your Tektro 559s will likely provide the reach you need for the smaller diameter 650b rims.

gugie 

As you can see, there are a ton of vintage bikes that would work for you. There's one thing missing from this discussion: availability, and your size. A much more useful question would be, "in my size, what bike can I find in the area I'm willing to shop in?" Give us that info, and we'll be happy to go shopping for you.

justcynn

I fit Maxxis Rambler 700x38's in the rear of a 1978 Schwinn LeTour III. 700x40 in front, my 1980 all chrome Schwinn Voyageur has gravel king 700x35 in front and 700x32 in rear, just picked up a 1987 schwinn voyageur and hoping to put the maxxis 40's on it

Marylander

I just dropped the frame off at a local powdercoating place that I've used for some motorcycle stuff. They do not in any way specialize in bicycles but I asked them if they could keep the powder thin to maintain the lug lines/details. I don't think I'll be too put out if it a little smoothed over, I know it's taking a chance. I had thought I'd just build the thing up as it is but it was too beat and I thought I might be unhappy about that. It's going to get ridden a bunch so it doesn't need to look like a show bike but I'd like it to look good (not in the sense that a purist might mean).

I went with yellow:

polymorphself 

Hm, to most of us we woulda considered what you have to be good paint. A thorough wash with soapy water follows by a polish and wax would have worked wonders on that frame. Many small blemishes come out and the paint would pop. Such a nice green too.

Oh well, new paint is always cool too! As for tire size, you fit 38s on there, not bad for not being 650b. I don’t think you’d find an 80s bike that could do much better at 700c.

Marylander

I received the decals from the UK this afternoon and got all the mechanicals set up so I took my maiden voyage this evening. I've got a tall/short reach stem on there allowing a pretty upright position, which was my goal for this bike. It may be sacrilege to just go straight to redoing the appearance of the bike but I'm very happy with how it's turned out.