Help with tyres/wheels

[franjae]

Hi guys,

Hope someone can give me some idea how i should tackle this. I have an old Indy500 racer and last weekend I decided to replace the tyres. All was well until I tried putting the new tyres on.......the wheel appears to be too big, bigger than the usual 700. From what info I can find, 700s come in different sizes. There are no markings whatsoever on the existing old tyres.
Ok, if I decide to replace the wheels as well, will any modern 700 wheels fit? The bike has 10 speed Shimano Altus gearing. Can the gears be transferred to the new wheel? Sorry, I'm completely new to these sorts of things..... Any help would be most appreciated.

thanks,

Frank

[mitzikatzi]

Do you have 27 inch rims?

When you fit 700c wheels to a frame built for 27 inch wheels/rims you have problems with the brakes not reaching the rims. Some frames work with 700c wheels if brake calipers with longer "brake arms" are used.

A good place to start http://sheldonbrown.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[franjae]

Thanks for the reference. Well according to the site, my wheels should be a 27 inch. So I need to work out if the brakes will reach the rim of the smaller 700 wheel......assuming I can get around this issue, how do i work out if the gears can also be transferred over. Will most wheels accept Shimano cassettes? or will I be better off building a new wheel using the old hub? Sounds like one thing leads to another... $$$

[DarrylH]

Why not just buy some 27"tyres? From a quick search many of the major companies still produce them.