27" or 700c

I've been contemplating whether to buy a rear wheel with a fixed hub at 27" my current size, or to just buy a whole wheelset(which is way more expensive, but possibly not in the long run) at 700c.

should there be any concern? There wouldn't really be any problems with clearance or anything, even have room in my brakes to adjust possibly.

is there a specific advantage either way?

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Permalink Reply by chainwhipkink on December 21, 2008 at 7:56am
700c, depending on the size of tire you use, can have less rolling resistance and have more of a variety of tread and tire size. 27s are larger and are more resistant to flats but no tire is flat proof. if you are interested in faster riding and versatility in tire choice go with 700c. there shouldn't be any problem with brake reach. if you want a flip flop hub i would suggest alexrims r450. they are very good entry level wheels that are very durable and easy on the wallet. there is a bike shop at division and milwaukee that can get them for you pretty cheap. the shop is called lugs.
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on December 21, 2008 at 11:26am
27's are most likely going to be steel, 700's will be aluminum. So if weight is a concern......
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on December 21, 2008 at 11:55am
should i go with a flip/flop or just go straight fixed?

I've heard that people rarely use the ss side once they go fixed anyway, and i was also thiniking i could just keep the large tires as a spare set or something along those lines.
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on December 21, 2008 at 12:23pm
my knees are ok i suppose, you're right thouhg that an on the fly change would be better.
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on December 21, 2008 at 1:07pm
my flipped side is empty and my flopped side is fixed (or is it the other way around?). I was in your shoes when I was building, and decided to start out fixed, but got the free for piece of mind. See for yourself, but my freewheel remains in the shoebox of bike parts in my closet.

RodimusPrime said:
my knees are ok i suppose, you're right thouhg that an on the fly change would be better.
Permalink Reply by JT on December 22, 2008 at 1:44am
There are plenty of 27" alloy/aluminum rims out there...

GabeW said:
27's are most likely going to be steel, 700's will be aluminum. So if weight is a concern......
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on December 22, 2008 at 4:57am
Tires too - Performance sells 46 different tires for 700c, and only 2 for 27" - a kevlar and a non kevlar, but they are cheap.

ridedirty said:
....there will be a larger selection of wheels to choose from, so you're more likely to find a good deal.
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on December 23, 2008 at 4:34am
my schwinn has 27 alloy rims which i bought after i had a ride home in the rain and realized that my brakes weren't working at all. . and the front of my bike currently has a alloy rim.

my brakes right now are about half way up the caliper to reach the 27s, They're center pull brakes thouugh so i've also thoght about upgrading those while i'm at it. THey're not super expensive.

JT said:
There are plenty of 27" alloy/aluminum rims out there...

GabeW said:
27's are most likely going to be steel, 700's will be aluminum. So if weight is a concern......
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on December 23, 2008 at 5:15am
My experience with 27 is that they're heavy as lead compared to my 700s. But if you already bought new wheels, why not just replace the hub on the rear? A budget flip flop hub is cheap, and if you make sure the flange and #holes is the same as the one you already have, you can reuse the spokes too.
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on December 23, 2008 at 5:25am
the current rear wheel is steel.
Also as a matter of convenience with versatility I was considering the 700s
Permalink Reply by spacemodular on December 23, 2008 at 6:23am
27" wheels made a major comeback from garages and storage spaces this last year. This was the unexpected big seller of 2008 in bike shops.

There are a number of quality tires available still for 27" wheels. These include: Schwalbe Marathon & Marathon Plus, Continental Gatorskin and Panaracer Pasela tires as well as the ever popular Kenda K35 (the Kenda is popular because it is cheap).

A quality rear replacement wheel (Shimano Hub w/Sun Ringle CR-18 Rim) runs about $130 at Rapid Transit. This is not a track hub. A wheel with a flip-flop hub (Formula) would run around the same price.

To convert to 700c wheels would require new brakes - because longer brake arms are needed to reach the rim. Depending on what you wanted, this could add $100 for both brakes to be replaced. Used is an option, but you have to find them. The wheelset will run you at cheapest - around $200 - and these would be cheap wheels. Weinmans with a generic hubset. A good wheelset starts at around $300 and goes up from there... It depends on the rims and the hubs that you want. If you are desiring high quality wheels - you should have them hand built. Machine built wheels are never tensioned as well as hand built and tend to wear out or break much sooner than quality hand built wheels.

Lawyer Jim teaches a wheel building class at West Town Bikes if you are interested in doing the work yourself. He is a very good teacher.

700c wheels give you a far greater variety of tires to choose from. The clearance provided by the smaller wheels can also make fenders a more viable option.

So it really comes down to how much you want to spend. A replacement 27" wheel is much cheaper than a new set of 700c wheels and brakes.

If you purchased everything new, the price of a new wheel set and brakes would go a long way towards a complete new bike that was purpose built for the application that you appear to desire. Unless you can find some good deals or scavange some quality used parts, you might think about just getting a replacement wheel and going for a new bike. Its always great to have a second bike...

Good luck in your wheel decision!
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on December 23, 2008 at 7:02am
thanks for the info spacemodular,

The wheelset size has been part of the many things I've thought about changing on my current singlespeed. For instance, the crankset is cottered, and i'm considering a switch to cotterless.

However, the concept of just saving up for new bike has also occured. But then the conversation over the buying or converting a fixie made me want to do that to mine.

I keep going back and forth on the whole thing.

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