Question:
The tires say 32-630 (27×1 1/4). Embarrassingly tire sizes have always eluded me. I guess it’s because I don’t know what parts of the tire the various numbers refer to. Nobody says “Are your tires 27 inches in diameter” they just say “Are your tires 27′s” and all I can do is read the numbers on the tires. If you can point me to a good reference about bike tires I might be more helpful. Yes I’m originally from Fort Smith. I moved to San Francisco last summer. I love it out here, so many great places to ride. I hope to ride back home someday. Ozark Bicycle Service, is that in Fayetteville?
Answer:
-The hardware store Osh has some cool 27×1 1/4 knobbies from Cheng Shin that should work fine if your current ones are 1 1/4. -Bicycle history and it’s quirks. Long story told short: there were (still are, a bit) two competing standards, the “English” (inch based) , so-called 27″ size and the Euro (metric based) system, of which “700c” is the most common. A 27″ system rim has a bead seat diameter of 630mm (that’s the 630 in the 630-32 you mentioned earlier) and a 700c has a bead seat diameter of 622mm. So, yes, they are close in size and just different enough to be totally non-compatible (in terms of tires on rims). Once upon a time, the 27″ size ruled in the US, but it has given way to 700c in the past 20 years or so. Anyway, if your rims are okay, keep using them. They are wide enough to take any tire your bike will accept. You will have a narrower choice of tires (in 27″ as opposed to 700c), but there are still good options available (I’m partial to the Panaracer Pasela line, especially in terms of price v. performance).