Upgrading to 700 wheels from 27" - likely cost?

rodgers73

I'm considering this as the tyres available for 27" wheels are pretty limited. I'm not bothered about the weight particularly and would only do this if the price were reasonable. So, any ideas what I could/should pay for a bog standard set of 700 wheels?

Thanks

Tom

paul_smith_srcc

Before you do anything make sure your brakes will reach the smaller diameter 700c rims

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

rodgers73

Yes, they will - I checked using wheels off a mates bike.

Thanks

Tom

daviesee

Take your pick.......

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en& ... d=0CB4Q_AU

lae

Do you want to keep your current screw-on cassette or do you want to change to a modern freehub?

Freehubs are lighter, have better bearings and generally better quality than hubs designed for screw-on freewheels. But they do have the added expensive of buying a new rear cluster. You'll also have to spread your rear dropouts a bit - old rear spacing is usually 120mm and modern freehubs are 130mm - a steel frame will happily bend this much. If your bike is really old (like mine) it'll have 115 rear spacing, I'm not sure if I'd be happy bending my frame this much, I'd have to do some experimenting first.

Also if you go for a freehub you'll need to consider your gearing. You can buy freehub sprockets separately and use spacers to re-create your current rear cluster if it's a 4-, 5- or 6- speed. Alternatively you can buy freehub clusters off-the-peg in 7 speeds or more, and upgrade to modern derailler that can handle that many speeds.

If you do want to stay with the screw-on design, you'll be able to re-use your rear cluster. There are plenty of good quality wheelsets that use screw-on hubs with nice cartridge bearings and decent rims and whatnot. My wheels are Mavic Open Pro rims on Zenith double-sided hubs and I've found them to be excellent, and they were under 200 quid handbuilt. If you see hubs advertised as 'fixed' or 'double sided' or 'flip flop' that's fine - it just means they have a reverse thread for putting a lockring on. A normal freewheel will still screw on just fine!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Pair-Fixed-Wh ... b6ff5adf14

These would be a good option. You might prefer them in silver if you can find them.

rodgers73

Great stuff! The bike I'm on only cost £30 off ebay but its nice to ride and I think I'll gradually upgrade it with a view to keeping it as a training bike.

It's a 10 speed, although the front deraileur doesnt seem to want to co-operate today leaving me stuff on the high gear front cog. I coped ok on the work commute with 5 gears so I expect 10 will be fine for the forseeable future.

I'm all about budgeting with this one so if I can avoid any difficult work (such as stretching the rear of the frame) and just slot in the new wheels that would be best for me.

It's a late 80s Falcon cycles model.

Thanks

Tom

lae

Glad to be of help!

Screw-on wheels will almost certainly be the cheapest way of doing things. If you hunt ebay you can find some bargains - I got 700c screw-on wheels for my old commuter for 50 quid new IIRC, and two years later they're still holding up fine. A bit heavy and they need a bit of truing every 6 months, but for the price you can't complain.

Swapping over the cassette is pretty easy if you want to DIY. You'll need a freewheel extractor (take the bike to a bike shop to make sure you get the right one) which is about a fiver, and either a big adjustable spanner or socket wrench or breaker bar to turn it with (whichever is cheapest - probably the spanner but do try to get one at least a foot long as freewheels get really tight! You can also use the spanner on theaded headsets and for bottom brackets so it's a good investment). Remove the wheel, put the tool on the freewheel, put the spanner on, secure the wheel, turn the spanner anticlockwise and (with some considerable effort) it'll come off. Then just screw onto your new wheel with a dab of grease on the threads (it'll tighten up as you pedal).

If you do decide to go for modern freehub wheels, spreading the rear dropouts isn't too hard - you can do it with a scissor-type car jack if you're careful about it. Or you can do it by hand but it's hard and imprecise! Only do it on steel frames though!

bice

rodgers73 wrote:

I'm considering this as the tyres available for 27" wheels are pretty limited. I'm not bothered about the weight particularly and would only do this if the price were reasonable. So, any ideas what I could/should pay for a bog standard set of 700 wheels?

Thanks

Tom

Sure this is worth the bother if you are not getting fancy wheels? I use 27" wheels and they are. The 30 year old tyres are fine as well, incredibly. I have used them commuting in London for 18 months. They are brilliant 'world tour' ones.

I did buy a 27" Schwalbe Marathon for the rear, but have not fitted it as the existing one is still in such good condition. (Evans were selling 27" Schwalbe Marathons - a brilliant tyre - for around £8).

I would only ditch these if they have steel/chrome rims.

bice

[quote="bice(Evans were selling 27" Schwalbe Marathons - a brilliant tyre - for around £8).[/quote]

... for around £8.

rodgers73

Yes, the rims are ancient - steel/chrome and one of them is a little wonky I'm sure. I dont mind doing it as I can use them as spares for any modern bike I buy in the future (freewheel etc accepted).

lae

Yeah steel rims look nice but they're usually very heavy and the braking is pants in the wet. It's definitely the best value-for-money upgrade on an old bike.