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Wheel size confusion.

 39 my 1980 peugeot has original rigida rims, rigida chromage superchromix,(28x1.5/8x1.1/8 700c 1982. stamped on). The tyres are 700/23, does anyone know would I be able to use 27 inch wheels, what's the difference of 700c and 27 inch?.. are my wheels 27, though they are stamped 28?  7

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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are you looking to replace your wheels then?

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pandeiro replied to dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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Well the worst thing about my peugeot is the braking performance. The rims are the old dimpled effect braking surface, they are ok in the dry but in the wet are suicidal  20 I fancied getting some wheels off ebay, or cheapish new,  3

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pandeiro | 14 years ago
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Thanks, so I need to stick to 700 wheels, that's cleared that up!  1

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TheHatter | 14 years ago
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If the tyres you have are 700c then the wheel you have is 700 and not 27 inches.

The difference isnt huge and you may be able to get a 27 inch wheel in there though there's another problem with the spacing between the dropouts as 27inch is older and the space is a few mm's narrower.

However as 700 is the modern standard why would you want to go back to a 27inch wheel?

www.sheldonbrown.com is a great resource for this type of stuff

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DaSy | 14 years ago
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A 700c is smaller diameter than a 27", it's a very confusing situation as you would think that 700mm would equate to around 27.6", but it appears that at some point in history one was based on the circumference of the wheel and tyre (700c) and the other based on rim only (27").

Basically, if your bike is built for a 700c and has tight clearances, you will probably not get a 27" in (and why you would want to I'm not sure as 27" is a ever decreasing option).

The other way round works okay (27" frame clearance with 700c wheels), you need brakes with a longer drop to allow the pads to be dropped low enough to sit correctly on the smaller diameter rims though.

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