RecordAceFromNew
Swinging Member
- Location
- West London
Angelfish is right, you will be able to find brakes with the right reach, if that is what you want to do, especially if you find 27" wheels aesthetically more pleasing with your frame.
However I would go the other way myself because I know the best and lightest wheels, tubes and tyres are available in 700c while top quality 27" rims/wheels haven't been mass produced for donkey years, and these components happen to have very significant implication on the performance of a bike. Imho there is no advantage in a suck-it-and-see approach because accurate measurements made on forks and frame with a couple of simple sums will tell you what your choices are.
In case there is any misunderstanding, wheels don't come in 27 1/4" btw irrespective of what that ebay ad says, however 27 x 1 1/4" tyres were extremely common tyres for 27" wheels - such tyres being 1 1/4" wide.
I noticed you said on your blog you returned the brakes because they wouldn't fit due to bolt lengths? That is a common issue with vintage frames and modern brakes, you might want to read post #8 and the link I gave in this thread for solutions.
However I would go the other way myself because I know the best and lightest wheels, tubes and tyres are available in 700c while top quality 27" rims/wheels haven't been mass produced for donkey years, and these components happen to have very significant implication on the performance of a bike. Imho there is no advantage in a suck-it-and-see approach because accurate measurements made on forks and frame with a couple of simple sums will tell you what your choices are.
In case there is any misunderstanding, wheels don't come in 27 1/4" btw irrespective of what that ebay ad says, however 27 x 1 1/4" tyres were extremely common tyres for 27" wheels - such tyres being 1 1/4" wide.
I noticed you said on your blog you returned the brakes because they wouldn't fit due to bolt lengths? That is a common issue with vintage frames and modern brakes, you might want to read post #8 and the link I gave in this thread for solutions.
