27" rims and 700c tires

[fudgedit]

Can I make this work? I was struggling this evening with trying to get a 700c tire on a 27" rim. I gave up after a string of curses. Then I noticed on the Harris Cylery site that they make a mention of fitting 700c tires on 27" rims. Do I just have to really muscle this? I have just reclaimed an old 12 speed Mantra touring bike that I gave to my brother several years ago, but it just hung in his garage. I want to turn it into a forest service road cruiser. I have some 700 x 35 tires. The brake clearance will not be an issue as I threw on my single speed rims with some 35mm knobbies and the clearance was fine. This bike has old Shimano 600 friction derailleurs. I am going to grab some WTB style drop bars on it too. I can get 27" knobbies, but I have the tires and tubes in the workshop and if I can save 60 bucks then why not? The rims are old araya a20 aluminums. I do have a spare set of 700c wheelset that I can throw on there. But aesthetically I don't care for them. What do you guys think?

[fudgedit]

Hell, I swore even more today and just plain gave up. It looks like I am going to have to order the tires, so the project is going to wait until winter. The funkiest thing about this bike (i picked it up at a garage sale years ago for $50) is that is a 58 cm touring bike with 40cm wide handlebars; it is freakishly narrow. I was thinking the wtb or midge drops but I noticed these Nitto 135 randonneur handlebars with flared sides for only $35. According to the guy I bought it from, this bike frame is from the same company in Japan that was doing Bianchi's frames back in the early 80's. Anyone know anything about Manta bikes? It rides nice.

[rockhound]

Decent 27" tires aren't hard to find. I just found some kevlar ones for under $8 for my roadbike/ss conversion.

[Hand/of/Midas]

700c iso =622mm
27' iso = 630mm

thats why they arn't interchangeable.

[fudgedit]

Yeah, it is obvious the size difference, but a boy can dream. I am ordering the tires tonight. Harris Cyclery has some nice knobbies that will serve the purpose. Now I am tinkering with spray canning the bike as I don't really like the color. But, the lugs have a nice highlight on them.