| I have a c. 1978 vintage Raleigh Competition, and have enjoyed many
racing and touring miles on it. You should have lots of good times
with yours. Raleigh changed the Comp specs quite a bit from year
to year, so it depends on which version you have. Mine is the last
version before the Comp GS, and has Huret dropouts (the only feature
I REALLY dislike). My bike came with Tubulars, but I have used both
27" and 700C wheels with good results. I prefer the 700C, since
the overall diameter and brake surface position are nearly the same
as the tubulars I use for racing, so switching back and forth is
easy. Quite wide 700C rims/tires will fit easily, but wide 27" tires
get to be a tight fit. High performance tires and rims are also
much more easily available for 700C.
BTW: If the bike feels the least bit twitchy, have the frame alignment
checked; the rear triangle on my frame was misaligned, and I was
never really happy with the rear wheel alignment, and was always
a little uncomfortable on the bike. We put it on Paul Randazzo's
frame alignment table, and found the problem, which was easily fixed.
This transformed the bike, completely eliminating the 'nervousness'
and making almost regret buying my Ciocc.
- Bill
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The easiest way to tell a 27" wheel from a 700c wheel would be to
borrow a tire of each size, and see which one fits.
A less empirical method is to measure the curcumference of the bead
seat. The 27" rims should measure 1,978 mm. 700C rims should
measure 1,955 mm.
If you do find markings, remember that a 700C is the same as a
Brittish 28 x 1 5/8.
-Jeff Bell
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