Why are tires that fit 622mm wheels called 700C

Question

where does the 700 come from and what does the C stand for in 700c?

To be as confused as everyone else, see what Sheldon says about Tire Sizing Systems. — andy256, Oct 19 '14 at 06:03
This /question/ is not a duplicate. I searched. I agree it has been /answered/ within the linked questions. — user1816847, Oct 19 '14 at 17:15
Yes, I searched too. But now your question links to that one :-) — andy256, Oct 19 '14 at 20:22
user1816847 -- duplicate questions are not a problem, they are useful to users like @andy256 find questions. See http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/dr-strangedupe-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-duplication/ for more info. — AnotherUser, Oct 29 '14 at 03:22
@andy256 I've seen it linked to in enough places around SE to know to Google Dr Strangedupe so I could link to it :) — AnotherUser, Oct 29 '14 at 03:33
@AnotherUser Jeff includes only a picture from Dr Strangelove, here's the clip. Completely off topic of course! — andy256, Oct 29 '14 at 03:36

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:32

5

As stated in this answer or this link, the idea was originally that there were 700A,700B,700C tires+wheels which all had an outer diameter of 700 mm with A tires being the thinnest and C tires being the thickest (so A had the largest rim and C had the smallest rim). Eventually, the C variant won out, and people varied the outer diameter by mounting different tire sizes on a 700C rim.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Oct 19 '14 at 07:04

Batman

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So, it became really a big mess. If the americans and british adopted the ISO (the [I] in the acronym comes from International) things would much easier for everyone. – João Pimentel Ferreira May 05 '16 at 12:14

Why are tires that fit 622mm wheels called 700C

1 Answers1

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