[CR]Re: CR]27" sew ups???

(Example: Framebuilders:Rene Herse)

From: <RDF1249@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 14:44:04 EDT
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, louiss@gate.net
Subject: [CR]Re: CR]27" sew ups???

In a message dated 5/21/04 3:31:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Louis Schulman writes: < Hi all,

Take a look at this item:

http://ebay.com/<blah>

The seller insists these are 27" sew-ups, not 700c.  I sent him an e-mail, and he says he measured them and compared them to 700c wheels, and they are indeed 27".

Could this be true?  I didn't think there was such a thing.>

Continental, and others, sometimes still call their sewups 27". This is an historical designation, from the days when there were 28" tires that were on what we now call 700c rims. 27" was smaller. But actually, if you measure some sewups, like the obsolete Clement Campionato del Mondo, and even the current Challenge Paris-Roubaix, and some cyclocross sewups, they do indeed measure 27" in diameter, if not a little larger. Has nothing to do with the rim size, which is always the same as 700c.

Bob Freeman
Ridin' large on del Mondos in Seattle