Tom wrote:
If I recall the text correctly, "The Custom Bicycle" quotes Cino Cinelli as opining that the larger 700c/27 inch wheels were used in the old days to allow the wheel to better traverse pot holes and other large pavement imperfections endemic in the "early years", on the dirt and primitive paved roads.
Presumably, smaller wheels would fall more deeply into the holes, and were more likely to cause a crash. And I suppose racers used the bigger tires as compared to touriste types because the racers went faster and had less opportunity to dodge the holes.
As roads got better, Cinelli felt that the "big" wheels were obsolete, and advocated smaller wheels for better aerodynamics. He had some special sized rims, hubs and tires made up for testing, but I don't think the items ever went into production. Does anyone recall what size Cino went with? He also advocated narrower hubs.
I BELIEVE THE NEED FOR LARGER WHEELS WAS MORE RELATED TO SHOCK ABSORPTION OVER THE BAD ROADS AND NOT THE FALLING 'INTO' HOLES. THE LARGER WHEEL DOES OFFER GREATER SHOCK ABSORPTION. ALEX MOULTON WAS PERHAPS 'THE' MAJOR PROPONENT OF SMALL SMALL WHEELS. HE GOT AROUND THE LACK OF SHOCK ABSORPTION QUALITIES OF THE WHEELS WITH SUSPENSION. HIS BIKES HANDLE VERY WELL ONCE YOU GET USED TO THEM. I AGREE THAT IF YOU WERE TO DESIGN A BIKE FROM SCRATCH TODAY WITH ALL THE AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY, THE 622 SIZE WOULD NOT BE YOUR FIRST CHOICE. THE FRAME BUILDING LIMITATIONS ARE SIMPLY TOO GREAT.
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Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ