27 inch tires make a comeback

"When Steve Flagg reviewed his inventory reports recently, one item
jumped off the page-27-inch tires. "We were totally unprepared for
the demand in 27-inch tires," said Flagg, president of Quality
Bicycle Products.

"Wayne D. Gray, vice-president of KHS/FreeAgent Bicycles, noticed
the same trend. "We're seeing a lot of demand for them. It's people
taking their old Schwinn Varsity out of the garage and to a shop for
new tires and a tuneup." "


Sent to me by Bob Matter (who posts on a lot of sites, but not
r.b.m.)
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/...tail/1558.html

ZBicyclist wrote:
"When Steve Flagg reviewed his inventory reports recently, one item
jumped off the page-27-inch tires. "We were totally unprepared for
the demand in 27-inch tires," said Flagg, president of Quality
Bicycle Products.

"Wayne D. Gray, vice-president of KHS/FreeAgent Bicycles, noticed
the same trend. "We're seeing a lot of demand for them. It's people
taking their old Schwinn Varsity out of the garage and to a shop for
new tires and a tuneup." "

They could always convert their bicycles to ISO 684-mm (aka 650B)
instead.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

On Jul 11, 8:10 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
ZBicyclist wrote:
"When Steve Flagg reviewed his inventory reports recently, one item
jumped off the page-27-inch tires. "We were totally unprepared for
the demand in 27-inch tires," said Flagg, president of Quality
Bicycle Products.

"Wayne D. Gray, vice-president of KHS/FreeAgent Bicycles, noticed
the same trend. "We're seeing a lot of demand for them. It's people
taking their old Schwinn Varsity out of the garage and to a shop for
new tires and a tuneup." "

They could always convert their bicycles to ISO 684-mm (aka 650B)
instead.

650B is ISO 584 mm (not 684) bead diameter which is a considerable
jump from the 630 mm of the "27 inch" size. Conversion to 700C (622
mm) is frequently feasible, but hardly economic for most owners of an
old Schwinn Varsity.

It is an encouraging trend though to see that many are taking the old
bikes out of storage and putting them back to use. And this should
lead to continued availability of the 27" tires I have on our tandem.
Ironically, when I built the wheels for it many years ago I
deliberately chose 27" instead of 700C because of the greater
availability of tires at that time.

Peter Rathman wrote:
On Jul 11, 8:10 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
ZBicyclist wrote:
"When Steve Flagg reviewed his inventory reports recently, one item
jumped off the page-27-inch tires. "We were totally unprepared for
the demand in 27-inch tires," said Flagg, president of Quality
Bicycle Products.
"Wayne D. Gray, vice-president of KHS/FreeAgent Bicycles, noticed
the same trend. "We're seeing a lot of demand for them. It's people
taking their old Schwinn Varsity out of the garage and to a shop for
new tires and a tuneup." "
They could always convert their bicycles to ISO 684-mm (aka 650B)
instead.

650B is ISO 584 mm (not 684) bead diameter

Why do they put the "5" key next to the "6" key?

which is a considerable
jump from the 630 mm of the "27 inch" size. Conversion to 700C (622
mm) is frequently feasible, but hardly economic for most owners of an
old Schwinn Varsity.

Have you missed all the discussion about Grant Peterson promoting the
ISO 584-mm size?

It is an encouraging trend though to see that many are taking the old
bikes out of storage and putting them back to use. And this should
lead to continued availability of the 27" tires I have on our tandem.
Ironically, when I built the wheels for it many years ago I
deliberately chose 27" instead of 700C because of the greater
availability of tires at that time.

Bring back ISO 587-mm (700D)!!!

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

On Jul 11, 8:44 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Peter Rathman wrote:
On Jul 11, 8:10 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
They could always convert their bicycles to ISO 684-mm (aka 650B)
instead.

650B is ISO 584 mm (not 684) bead diameter

Why do they put the "5" key next to the "6" key?

which is a considerable
jump from the 630 mm of the "27 inch" size. Conversion to 700C (622
mm) is frequently feasible, but hardly economic for most owners of an
old Schwinn Varsity.

Have you missed all the discussion about Grant Peterson promoting the
ISO 584-mm size?

I don't think even Grant advocates conversion of frames made for 630
mm and long-reach brakes to 584 mm. Doing it for frames made for 622
mm and short-reach brakes is bad enough, but at least it's frequently
rather straight forward.

"ZBicyclist" wrote in message ...
| "When Steve Flagg reviewed his inventory reports recently, one item
| jumped off the page-27-inch tires. "We were totally unprepared for
| the demand in 27-inch tires," said Flagg, president of Quality
| Bicycle Products.
|
| "Wayne D. Gray, vice-president of KHS/FreeAgent Bicycles, noticed
| the same trend. "We're seeing a lot of demand for them. It's people
| taking their old Schwinn Varsity out of the garage and to a shop for
| new tires and a tuneup." "
|
|
| Sent to me by Bob Matter (who posts on a lot of sites, but not
| r.b.m.)
| http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/...tail/1558.html

The "story" isn't about 27" tires making some sort of a comeback. Rather, it's about people taking old bikes out of the garage and wanting to ride them again. A noble gesture, but most of these bikes are way past their shelf life, and usually aren't worth bringing back to life. You could spend a whole lot of money fixing up some of those old relics, and usually still not have something as practical or comfortable as a common hybrid.

The most-common issue with the Schwinn Varsity, as seen a couple times/week at the shop? People not understanding that the pressure listed on the sidewall of the tire relates to installation on a decent-quality rim with a hooked edge. The old Schwinns had smooth sidewalls on the rims, and a tire rated at 90psi will likely blow out at 60psi.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

The "story" isn't about 27" tires making some sort of a comeback. Rather,
it's about people taking old bikes out of the garage and wanting to ride
them again. A noble gesture, but most of these bikes are way past their
shelf life, and usually aren't worth bringing back to life. You could spend
a whole lot of money fixing up some of those old relics, and usually still
not have something as practical or comfortable as a common hybrid.

The most-common issue with the Schwinn Varsity, as seen a couple times/week
at the shop? People not understanding that the pressure listed on the
sidewall of the tire relates to installation on a decent-quality rim with a
hooked edge. The old Schwinns had smooth sidewalls on the rims, and a tire
rated at 90psi will likely blow out at 60psi.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

Amen! A neighbor hauled out an old Schwinn and asked how much it would cost
to get it up and running, and after I got over $200, she decided to look
into newer technology. Plus, it weighed about 60 pounds!

Pat in TX

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
"ZBicyclist" wrote in message
...
"When Steve Flagg reviewed his inventory reports recently, one
item
jumped off the page-27-inch tires. "We were totally unprepared
for
the demand in 27-inch tires," said Flagg, president of Quality
Bicycle Products.

"Wayne D. Gray, vice-president of KHS/FreeAgent Bicycles, noticed
the same trend. "We're seeing a lot of demand for them. It's
people
taking their old Schwinn Varsity out of the garage and to a shop
for
new tires and a tuneup." "


Sent to me by Bob Matter (who posts on a lot of sites, but not
r.b.m.)
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/...tail/1558.html

The "story" isn't about 27" tires making some sort of a comeback.
Rather, it's about people taking old bikes out of the garage and
wanting to ride them again. A noble gesture, but most of these
bikes
are way past their shelf life, and usually aren't worth bringing
back
to life. You could spend a whole lot of money fixing up some of
those
old relics, and usually still not have something as practical or
comfortable as a common hybrid.

The most-common issue with the Schwinn Varsity, as seen a couple
times/week at the shop? People not understanding that the pressure
listed on the sidewall of the tire relates to installation on a
decent-quality rim with a hooked edge. The old Schwinns had smooth
sidewalls on the rims, and a tire rated at 90psi will likely blow
out
at 60psi.

Yes, you need a different tire. I think they were S-7 (not 27). I
think the equivalent 26 inch was an S-6. You can still get these
tires, but they are hard to find. Plus those rims are likely to be
steel.

In article ,
"ZBicyclist" writes:

The most-common issue with the Schwinn Varsity, as seen a couple
times/week at the shop? People not understanding that the pressure
listed on the sidewall of the tire relates to installation on a
decent-quality rim with a hooked edge. The old Schwinns had smooth
sidewalls on the rims, and a tire rated at 90psi will likely blow
out
at 60psi.

Yes, you need a different tire. I think they were S-7 (not 27). I
think the equivalent 26 inch was an S-6. You can still get these
tires, but they are hard to find. Plus those rims are likely to be
steel.

Schwinn and their proprietism (proprietarity?
proprietariness?)

I'm up to my neck in salvaged alu-alloy 27" wheels.
Many are in practically new condition, and some bear
those lovely Suzue one-piece hubs.

I dunno if they're interchangeable with old Schwinn
wheels though. Oddly enough, we don't get to see many
Schwinns here in Vancouver BC. Most of our bikes (that
are seen actually in use on the street) are of Canadian
mfg or imported from Japan. And the occasional Raleigh
or Peugeot antique.

Those inexpensive IRC 27x1/4" tires are good enough
for workaday use, and readily available in Canada
from Mountain Equipment Co-op and other enlightened
suppliers.

Anyway, a vast quantity of '70s Bike Boom imports
from Japan are still in service here, and I expect
they will be for decades to come, as long as
replacement parts are available for them. It's
unfortunate that so many USA'ans are so deprived
of these Japan-built beauties (mostly Sekines and
Apollos,) many of which sport wonderfully sculpted
lugs and other interesting design features. For
example, my early '70s Sekine mixte has a handlebar
that looks like a GMO experiment between MTB flat
bars, North Road bars and moustache bars. But it's
actually quite ergonomic. It also has Shimano's
One-Key-Release[tm] crankset, where instead of a
crank puller, you just need the appropriately sized
allen key. I've previously mentioned its Front
Freewheel System[tm] which allows a rider to change
gears by backpedalling while stationarily leaning
against a pole and waiting for the traffic light to
change.

At any rate, 27" wheels are not dead yet.
Nor should they be. The only thing wrong with the
size: 27" is, it's in Imperial rather than metric
units. And y'know what? I don't even know if
700[C|D|whatever] is in SI units -- the One, True
Metric System.

I even now derive pleasure from the ol' green-gold
spackle-ish Apollo paint jobs, even though they are
a bit '70s Kitch. At least it's more aesthetically
appealing than shag carpet, shag haircuts, panel vans
decorated on the inside like bordellos w/ CB radios,
and wide lapels & ties.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats wrote:
...
At any rate, 27" wheels are not dead yet.
Nor should they be. The only thing wrong with the
size: 27" is, it's in Imperial rather than metric
units. And y'know what? I don't even know if
700[C|D|whatever] is in SI units -- the One, True
Metric System....

27-inch is ISO 630-mm.
700C is ISO 622-mm.
700D is ISO 587-mm and is an abomination (orphaned proprietary GT tire
size).

Sheldon explains all: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.