28 inch wheel question

Rebel_56 · May 17, 2015

i just bought a late 20s early 30s elgin camelback set up. It's a 28 inch wheelbase bike. I learned the hard way buying prewar tires for my other 28 inch bike that those tires are so much money. With that said I was thinking of just getting a set of 700c wheels and 28x1.5 tires. But I'm seeing all these different measurements on wheels. How do these things work. I'm seeing 29 inch tires marketed for 28 inch wheels its way confusing. What size wheel would I need to get to make this bike work? Thanks in advance for any help

deven_science · May 17, 2015

29" Tires are simply balloon tires made for 700c rims. The confusing part is that modern idiots sometimes call 700c 28", even though they're not, forcing those dealing with older actual 28" to sometimes call them "true 28"." So, 29" tires on a 28" frame may be too tight, I'm not sure. I ran 700c rims (laced with skiptooth hubs) and 700x40 tires on my 28" Racycle frame, and the overall measurement of the wheels are 27 1/2", so they fit the frame pretty nicely.

Rebel_56 · May 17, 2015

deven_science said:
29" Tires are simply balloon tires made for 700c rims. The confusing part is that modern idiots sometimes call 700c 28", even though they're not, forcing those dealing with older actual 28" to sometimes call them "true 28"." So, 29" tires on a 28" frame may be too tight, I'm not sure. I ran 700c rims (laced with skiptooth hubs) and 700x40 tires on my 28" Racycle frame, and the overall measurement of the wheels are 27 1/2", so they fit the frame pretty nicely.

Ok awesome. Thanks for the info. i was looking on niagra cycle and they have a bunch of different size wheel sets for 700c wheels is there an average width size I should get? Sorry for the airhead questions but I dunno nuttin bout these wheels

Bicycle808 · May 17, 2015

"True" 28 inch wheels measure 635mm at the bead-seat. 700c wheels measure 622mm at the bead-seat. Regardless of how idiotic folks are now and were BITD, the fact is, Canadians and Northern Europeans called fatter 622 rims "28inch" since pre-WW2. In America, BITD, 28" meant 635, and that's how the Brits, the Indians, and much of Europe kept it for a very long time... But these days, we're seeing 28" labels on more and more 622/700c rubber, probably b/c the 635 size is getting ever-closer to obsolete...

But, it ain't obsolete just yet. You can buy modern 635 rubber in the classic 28x1-1/2" size for cheap. Get yerself some Delta Cruisers, by Schwalbe. They come in black, cream, or magenta (!)... you can get'm with a reflective stripe, but something tells me that you'll opt for the plain versions, which start at about $19. (Magenta only come with the reflective stripe, and cost $27, but I'm guessing you won't go that route....) Current-production 635mm rims can be purchased, typically with a "Westwood" profile for rod brakes, and most often in cheap chromed steel iterations. You can find 635s in black painted steel or alloy versions, but typically only thru European/Asian vendors. Pay close attention to the spoke-hole count; most 635s were most often used on Brit Roadsters and their Indian & Chinese clones, so they will often have a 32h front/ 40h rear set-up. Yellow Jersey in Wisconsin has some, including 36h, chromed steel, probably made in India..... http://www.yellowjersey.org/eastbits.html

But yeah, you can run 700c tires on that frame, too. Measure between the stays (chain- and seat-stays) about 320mm (which is 12-5/8" in 'Murrkin) from where the axle will be, to see how fat you can go. They offer 622 rubber in widths from 19mm up to 3"... I bet you could squeeze some 622x48mm (1.9") tires in there, but maybe not if you're running fenders. But, that's just me, some slob making guesses on the internet. Only real measurements will give you the truth, and the truth will set you free.

(Or, play it like a rill pimp and run actual 28" wheels/rubber. That's what you're Elgin was made for, right? But that's just the same slob, offering up his opinion....)

HTH
-Rob