27" a thing of the past?!

[helsinkifox]

After a break of about 25 years (marriage & kids!) I'm getting back into the world of cycle touring. Having bought 3 bikes with 27" wheels I now hear a nasty rumour that 27" wheels are a thing of the past and that tyres for them are hard to find.... what's this all about?! There may be other messages, but this may be a good opportunity to sum up the subject? One bike I have has 28" wheels/tyres - I read somewhere that you can still buy 28" tyres in Holland - what about 27" tyres, are these available in Holland?!
Why has the 26" made the 27" obsolete?

[thirdcrank]

27" tyres are still available in a limited range but decent quality. Rims are a different story, I fear.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=59883

[horizon]

My first brush with 700c was in the middle of France in 1977 when I had a 27" wheel collapse on me and had to get a replacement, along with tube and tyre. My philosophy of cycling is that things should be kept simple to facilitate accummulated knowledge and easy access to spares. On that basis, the change wasn't welcome. But the universality of both where bikes are made and where we ride them means that it is now no bad thing. In fact, if a group of manufacturers (rim, tyre, frame etc) seriously came out with an international standard for a wheel size in between 26" and 700c to replace both (like A4 replacing foolscap and quarto), I would be the first in the queue.

[AndyK]

What - you've just bought three new bikes with 27" wheels? That's highly unlikely. Check the tyres - they'll have a pair of numbers looking something like this: 32-622 or 38-630 or similar. If the second number is 630 then yes, you've got 27" wheels there. If it's 622 then you have industry-standard 700C wheels. (If it's 559 then they're mountain-bike-style 26", the other most common size.)

Of course if you bought them second-hand (or you've had them in the garage for 25 years) I would strongly suggest selling them on to a collector and investing in a new bike - you'll enjoy riding it a lot more. Modern bikes have better gears, better brakes, better saddles, better frames than their 25-year-old equivalents. [Dives to avoid incoming flames]

28" is just an old-fashioned way of describing the 700C size. Again check for that pair of numbers on the tyre - I bet it'll end in "-622". If so then you can safely buy any modern tyre marked with the same numbers.

[peterh11]

I suggest you take a look at this web page which has pretty comprehensive explanation of wheel and tyre sizes:
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Basically, the standard for touring and road bikes is now a metric equivalent of 27" and about 8mm smaller in diameter. It goes by a few names, usually "700C" but also sometimes is referred to as 28". If the bikes you bought are new or less than about 15-20 years old, they probably have 700C wheels. You can tell by looking at the tyres, if the size as given on the sidewall is xx-622 they are 700C and if it is xx-630 then they are 27".

The sizes are not generally interchangeable, because of factors like clearance for mudguards and brake positioning or reach. Switching a frame from 27" to 700C is possible because you're putting in slightly smaller wheels so no mudguard issues but you will have to check if your brakes can be adjusted to work on the new rims - essentially moving the blocks down 4mm. Also check axle length for the rear wheel (new bikes and therefore wheels have wider spacing at the rear for the extra gears), and front dropout axle diameter (some old frames are sized for 9mm but modern standard is 10mm). All fixable but takes work - I have done it on a nice old touring frame.

Hope this helps.

PeterH

[hubgearfreak]

Modern bikes have better gears, better brakes, better saddles, better frames than their 25-year-old equivalents. [Dives to avoid incoming flames]

28" is just an old-fashioned way of describing the 700C size.

when i read your post, i thought that this chap clearly doesn't know what he's on about . the bit in blue proved it.

28" in the UK means 635. it's another size entirely from 27"(630) and 700(622). until you've rolled on 28s with some laid back geometry, you're missing something

aashta....http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

as for 27s not being available, it'll be decades away. just a quick look at SJSC shows up 10 in all qualities....http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres-27-%28 ... pt203_pg1/

even wilkos sell them

[AndyK]

Modern bikes have better gears, better brakes, better saddles, better frames than their 25-year-old equivalents. [Dives to avoid incoming flames]

28" is just an old-fashioned way of describing the 700C size.

when i read your post, i thought that this chap clearly doesn't know what he's on about . the bit in blue proved it.

28" in the UK means 635. it's another size entirely from 27"(630) and 700(622). until you've rolled on 28s with some laid back geometry, you're missing something

aashta....http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

as for 27s not being available, it'll be decades away. just a quick look at SJSC shows up 10 in all qualities....http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres-27-%28 ... pt203_pg1/

even wilkos sell them

A little tale. My neighbour brought her bike over for me to look at last year. She'd gone to the local bike shop to buy new tyres; they'd told her they were 28" so she wouldn't be able to get new tyres so she'd have to buy a new bike. I had a look - sure enough both tyre and rim bore the label "28in"... but the tyres also carried the ETRTO code "32-622". Back she went to the shop, and the next day we fitted the brand new 700C tyres to her wheels.

Apologies if my practical experience doesn't fit with your preconceptions. Perhaps the late great Sheldon Brown can convince you where I can't? See http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html and check the "decimal sizing" table. (He refers to it as "German" but I think it was used more widely on the continent - e.g. in Holland where the OP's 28"-wheeled bike came from.)

Anyway, the important thing is to find those ETRTO numbers (if they're there) and base your tyre-buying on them. (The other important thing is to check your facts before you tell someone they don't know what they're talking about. )

II don't think anyone said you couldn't buy 27" tyres at all, but I still think it unlikely that the OP has bought three new bikes with 27" wheels.

[hubgearfreak]

Apologies if my practical experience doesn't fit with your preconceptions. Perhaps the late great Sheldon Brown can convince you where I can't? See http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html and check the "decimal sizing" table. (He refers to it as "German" but I think it was used more widely on the continent

i'll repeat myself.......i've emboldened the bit you didn't read first time

28" in the UK means 635.

it's not about preconceptions, it's about knowing these things. i ride 635, 630, 622, 590, 584, 451 and 406. i've yet to be caught out....because like you say, it's the etrto numbers that matter.

Holland where the OP's 28"-wheeled bike came from.)

did it?

as for better frames, saddles, gears, brakes....that's subjective. you know nothing about what bikes the OP has, nor the budget he may have to replace them with. if he's got a lenton, a sunbeam, a PX10 and he's going to take your word for it and replace them with a £100 asda bike he'll be well dissapointed wont he?

the question was; "are 27s available?" not "should i replace my bikes."

[Brucey]

nice etrto table here;

http://www.harwoodcycles.com/tyre_size.htm

a fair number of 27" tyres still made....

BTW in the USA they often call all 'normal' 700c tyres 28" ones, hence the nonsensical '29er' and even dafter '27.5er' names which have cropped up recently, just to confuse everyone worse than ever.....

In the UK 28" tyres means 635mm bead seat diameter. These wheels and tyres are actually very close to 28", unlike many other ' 28" ' tyres.... mental....

cheers

[531colin]

28 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/4 is 700c (622)
28 x 1 1/2 is 28 inch (635), and MUCH LESS COMMON

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#fraction

[AndyK]

Holland where the OP's 28"-wheeled bike came from.)

did it?

Nope, you're right, I misread that bit. Or at best, rashly inferred it from the comment about 28" tyres being available in Holland.

[meic]

I would say that 28" used to be 635 in the UK.

Possibly a few UKIP types would like that to continue.

However I have a whole pile of Schwalbe 622 tyres in my garage and each one proudly proclaims itself as a 28" tyre. As the Germans call 622 by the name 28" and they make most of our tyres I think that we have on the whole lost that battle.
Also we are increasingly buying our 28" (622) wheels from their websites.

Though a few Island Apes will fight on against all odds.

[hubgearfreak]

As the Germans call 622 by the name 28" . . . . we have on the whole lost that battle.

Though a few Island Apes will fight on against all odds.

island ape or not, that's an irrelavence. you either bought the tyres as etrto 622 or are wreckless and lucky.

[Edwards]

Having bought 3 bikes with 27" wheels I now hear a nasty rumour that 27" wheels are a thing of the past and that tyres for them are hard to find.... what's this all about?!

I notice that you do not say when you bought these bikes and how old they are.
While 27" tyres may be available these are now in reality a thing of the past. From when this country had an Empire and Raleigh made and sold a lot of bikes.
All that has happened is that the rest of the world decided to use less tyre and rim sizes and thus had a standard.
A few of the old colonial types did and still do not accept that the British cycling industry is not as it was. Thus they try to convince the unwary that the old British sizes are just as available as they once were. But if anyone checks the bike shops they will find for 700c and 26" MTB sizes there, these are now the industry standard for the vast majority of bikes sold in the world.

The world moved on and this country is playing catch up.

[531colin]

We have a chap who is trying to decipher whats written on his tyres.
Some of us are not helping.
28" can mean 2 things, although one of those things is very unusual.

28 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/4 is 700c (622)
28 x 1 1/2 is 28 inch (635), and MUCH LESS COMMON

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#fraction

27" tyres are available, but are less common than 700c, and theres less choice.