1900s French bicycle tyre – 28 x 1 1/5″

Early 1900s bicycle tyres can be a pain to match with modern equivalanets. After dealing with so many over the past ten years, I thought I’d seen every tyre size …then this one just arrived on an early French bicycle. 28 x 1 1/5″ !!!

I keep a variety of obscure sizes in stock so I can try matching them against unkown wheel diameters. The only pneumatic tyre that’s possible to stretch is a beaded edge – as long as it’s a bit smaller than this wheel that may work. I’ll let you know how I get on.

UPDATE: I shared these pictures on facebook and a chap in Norway sent me a message to say he had one the same size for sale. So I bought it. Just to illustrate how ridiculous bicycle tyre sizes are …his tyre had exactly the same size markings on it, but it’s bigger!