Once again , I'll write about this whole concept of the history of tire sizes .
I find this COMPLETELY fascinating and amazing .
Pneumatic tires , good old Dr. Dunlop , how grateful we are to you !
And yes , the whole idea of pneumatic tyres ( tires ) was invented for BICYCLES !
There was experimentation way back at the beginning . I have no idea what the size was for the very first pneumatic tires for-retail-sale . But very quickly a "standard-adult-size" was established .
If you buy a brand new , made in the year 2004 , "tubular" or "sew-up" tire today . . .
It STILL has the same inside diameter as those standard adult-size tires from 1890 !!!!!!
They called them "28-inch" based on OUTside diameter . As tires got skinnier , and overall diameter became smaller , they still called them "28-inch" .
The 700 c tire size was developed so that a wired-on tire could be interchangeable with a sew-up .
And all of this explains why , if you read the sidewalls carefully , you can STILL find tires today which are SMALLER than the old 27 x 1 1/4 inch size , but which clearly state on them that they are "28-inch" tires !!!!!!
And , I can go downstairs , grab my 1893 Sterling bicycle ( "Built Like A Watch" ) , with its original 1893 all-wood rims , and pop some brand-new made-in-2004 tubular tires on it !!!!!!
Same inside diameter !!!!!!
I'm kind of sorry that 27 x 1 1/4 inch tires are almost completely gone now . Nostalgia . And I really liked the big-big diameter of the late-1980's 27 x 1 3/8 inch tires !
But , basically , what we now think of as 700 size tires , are the original size , from at least 120 years ago !!!!!!
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas U.S.A.
> Were tubular, or I think the Brits say "sprint" rims ever 27", or were
these
> always 700C? If sprint wheels were 700C at the time Raleigh "invented"
27",
> it does indeed seem an odd decision to introduce a rim only 8 mm larger,
> just different enough to make it difficult to switch between Sprints and
> clinchers.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bob Reid" <robertrreid@tiscali.co.uk>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 3:59 AM
> Subject: [CR]more on correct rims for 50s British bikes
>
>
> > To add to what Mick wrote ;
> >
> > 26" ( x 1.1/4" & x 1.3/8") continued well into the mid 1980s and later
in
> > a few instances - but generally only on a flat bar sport's / utility
> > machines and not "racing" bicycles notably from the bigger manufacturers
> > like Falcon / Elswick-Hopper et al... rather than the small lightweight
> > builders where choice was everything.
> >
> > I once heard from what I'd consider a reliable source, that Raleigh
> > (euphemistically) "invented" the 27" size in conjunction with their once
> > buddies Dunlop, as yet another 24 / 26 tpi effort by Raleigh to
> > non-standardise everything - perhaps in competition with the
"continental"
> > 700 size, that was to ultimately fail as other manufacturers in the UK,
> > small and large took up and ran with 27". I've never followed up just
how
> > true or not that was - anyone else like to comment ?
> >
> > Bob Reid
> > Stonehaven
> > Scotland