Old frame - 27 1/4 " or 700 wheels ?? how do you tell ??

[fishermanjoe]

Hello Guys

Is there a formula or such to figure out if your old bike was built to run on 27" or 700c ?

My reason for asking is i have got my hands on a white Joe Waugh frame and forks , no wheels, no brakes etc i think its late 80's as its got columbus steel stickers on it very pretty lugs and the rear brake cable goes inside the top tube. I saw a photo on the web of a very similar one that had been aged to 1988 so figure mine must be around that ?

Being late 80's i guess it to be 700 wheels however the rear drop out gap is 126mm , i had an old 700 wheel laying about with a 28 tyre on it it will not seat as the tyre is tight against the seat tub !! :facepalm:

Now i'm confused, is it simply that is was designed to run on the likes of 700x23 and the like and not anything as big as 28's ?? or was it built to run on 27" ??

I want to order a wheel set for it but am now confused any one help ?? Is there a measurement of seat stay and or chain stay that tells you what size wheels an older bike was built to run on ??

regards Joe

 

[Excel]

Re:

if a 700c rim (sometimes referred to as a 622) with a 28mm tyre is too close to the seat tube when fitted then most definitely a 27" rim won't fit as that measures 630mm, most likely your frame may be be a close clearance frame meaning a 23mm or 25mm tyre would be suitable fitted to 700c rims

Griff

 

[47p2]

Most likely the frame was built to run 18mm or 19mm tyres

 

[Old Ned]

A late 80's frame is very unlikely to have been built for 27" wheels, especially one from someone like JW. As has been said above, it is probably a frame built for race purposes and narrow section tyres. I had a couple like this BITD and the only way to get the wheel in or out was to deflate the tyre.

Any photos?

 

[mrgumby]

Measure the distance from the where the brake fixes to the centre of the back of the drop out's.

It either be about 36cm or 38cm i think..

~36 --> 700c
~38 --> 27"

Ill double check in a bit what the exact measurment is.