700c and 27 in. Clinchers

[curyam]

In the 60's and 70's most road bikes had 27 in. Clincher rims.
When did the 700c size take hold? Nowdays many shops don't even stock 27 in. Tires. I'm helping my son restore a 60's vintage Raleigh Grand Prix and he posed the question.

 

[hamster]

I guess from the mid 1980s when the industry decided not to fly in the face of a global standard. The death of most local bike manufacture probably helped!

 

[Excel]

still available easily online:
<< http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Ralei ... 1c2ee43b8a >>
if your local shop says no to 27" then just ask if the have any 630 tyres as that is the modern metric terminology (Etrto)

 

[bugloss]

I bought some Continental Gatorskin 27" x 1 1/4" clinchers the other day from Er.................¶§∞€! I cant remember but they came in a large brown box.... Wiggle or Evans online.

 

[Old Ned]

A mate of mine certainly had early Michelin 700c's in 1977.

 

[BobToo]

My 1981 Carlton Criterium has 700C wheels that are original, but my 1985 Raleigh Royal had 27" wheels from new according to the catalogue, as did all the other Raleigh models on the same page.

 

[curyam]

Thanks for the feedback. We found some tires but the choices are really limited. It seemed to me sometime in the late 80's 27 inch wheels just disappeared.

What wheels did Raleigh spec on their international and professional models in the early 70's?

 

[Excel]

Thanks for the feedback. We found some tires but the choices are really limited. It seemed to me sometime in the late 80's 27 inch wheels just disappeared.

What wheels did Raleigh spec on their international and professional models in the early 70's?

according to the 1970 catalogue they had Campag Record L/Flange hubs on either AVA or Weinmann rims
<< http://sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/c ... g-1970.pdf >>

 

[torqueless]

I can only speak for the UK, and there, I guess you would have to go back to a time (before my time) when competitive riders started using sprints and tubs imported from continental Europe. As far as I know, the 700c HP rim is the same size as those, in as much as you could change between sprints and 700c HP wheels without moving your brake-blocks in their slots.

The original faux sprint/tub combination of Mavic Module 'E'/Michelin Elan dates from about 1975- probably took a few years to catch on. IIRC before that, in the UK, unless you were using sprints/tubs, the narrowest option was 27"x1 1/4", so, for anything other than racing, that remained the standard into the '80s, especially on mass produced bikes.

 

[pigman]

weren't sprints and tubs always 700C? I only started late 70's and then it was just as kids on "10 speed racers"

If so, then no standard bike is incorrect with 700Cs