Hi frogonawire,

That isn't an amateur question, it's a good question...

Unfortunately you won't be able to put 700c tires on a 27" wheel bike. While the dimensions used in the names are somewhat (or rather, very) misleading you may discover that the 27" wheel is larger in diameter than 700c.

Also, a 27" bike is married to a 27" fork for the same reason.

The good news is most bike shops do still stock 27" tires, wheels and forks. We always have some of the tires and lots of the tubes and it takes us 24 hrs. to gt the forks and wheels if we don't have them. I suspect most bike shops are similar.

Good luck with that project!

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Here's a real amateur question: What does the "c" in 700c stand for? I'd have guessed centimenters, except I realize that's just stupid- 700 centimeters is almost 23 feet.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

As embarassed as I am to admit this- I have never known.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

"C" was originally meant to denote a tire width, so that 700C specificied a given rim that, when mounted with a "size C" tire, made up the desired total setup.

I forget what "700" means, though. Maybe millimeters of total rim+tire diameter...?

This is what happens when we let the Canadians in with their stupid metric system.

Seriously, thanks Julian.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

The five peso version of "French Tire Sizing" from Sheldon Brown:

"In the French system, the first number is the nominal diameter in mm, followed by a letter code for the width: "A" is narrow, "D" is wide. The letter codes no longer correspond to the tire width, since narrow tires are often made for rim sizes that originally took wide tires; for example, 700 C was originally a wide size, but now is available in very narrow widths, with actual diameters as small as 660 mm."

Everything you wanted to know and more about why 700c is 700c and 650c is 650c is here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire_sizing.html

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Anyone who tells you they're as fast now as they were when they were 18...
sure wasn't very fast when they were 18.