1984 ST-500 Wheels and Tires

[David Gandy]

I bought a 1984 ST-500 new in the mid 1980's. The bike had remained unsold in the bike store for two or three years before I bought it. Rode it a lot for several years but it has hung in my garage since then and remains in pretty good condition including flat tires with all of the original appointments:

Serial BB070*
Suntour Superbe Tech gears with SR Apex crank
Wolber model 58 Super Champion Rims
Avocet Touring 1 Seat
Specalized Touring 27 1 1/8 Tires

I want to get this bike roadworthy again and watched a few youtube videos about tires and am unsure now what tires will fit these rims. I also would like to put wider more all terrain tires on it and it appears that there is a lot of room to go wider between the frame and brakes. I will be riding mostly paved roads and some packed gravel or dirt roads. Can someone suggest a good width and tread for the rim size above? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I had the same questions with a 27" wheel bike that I built for gravel riding last winter. Unfortunately there aren't many options for 27" tires. I think I ended up with some 1 3/8" Kendas, but they weren't as wide as I would have liked. Panaracer Paselas are probably the best 27" tire available but I believe 1 1/4" is the widest they make. Either of those may be fine for occasional gravel use. If you want a more dedicated gravel tire you may have to go to 700C wheel size. Besides the wheels and tires, that may also require different brake calipers. I can check the Kendas I used if you are interested.

 

[David Gandy]

I had the same questions with a 27" wheel bike that I built for gravel riding last winter. Unfortunately there aren't many options for 27" tires. I think I ended up with some 1 3/8" Kendas, but they weren't as wide as I would have liked. Panaracer Paselas are probably the best 27" tire available but I believe 1 1/4" is the widest they make. Either of those may be fine for occasional gravel use. If you want a more dedicated gravel tire you may have to go to 700C wheel size. Besides the wheels and tires, that may also require different brake calipers. I can check the Kendas I used if you are interested.

Thanks for the reply. I did end up buying very slightly larger tires 1 1/8 vs 1 1/4 but haven't installed them yet. Really all i could find and was told due to the pandemic that many people are dragging out their old bikes and putting them back to service which is exactly what I am doing. I actually have another bike besides the ST500 I will be riding that has the same tires. I guess if I want an off road bike I will just try to find another one but for now, I am happy and looking forward to riding the Cannondale. Thanks again.

 

[black lightning 1987]

If you find that the 27 x 1 1/4" tires aren't adequate, the next step would be a pair of 700C rims and some 38 (ish) mm tires. I have a lot of gravel miles on 38 mm Kenda Kommando tires.