Touring - Tire Width: 26x1.75 vs 700x37c

I am thinking about putting Continental Travel Contacts (http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/city/travelcontact/travelcontact_en.html) on for a year long tour starting in Jan of 2009.

I wanted to stay around 26x1.5 but it seems like the intermediate width puncture resistant tires are all only available for 700s. Why?

The Specalized Nimbus Armadillos are nice but they have those big ugly red sidewalls :p

Any thoughts on a 26x1.5ish tire for an extended tour primarily on road (a bit of light offroad as well)?

I know there are a thousand threads of this variety, I just read them all and didn't come up with a solid answer :)

Thanks for any input!

Edit: the tour will be self sustained and as such we'll be pretty loaded down.

You can get the high quality, extremely flat resistant, expedition rated Schwalbe Marathon XR tire in 26*1.6, which is pretty close to what you are looking for. You can also get the Schwalbe Marathon Racer tire in 26*1.5 in either a foldable or non foldable version. And there is also the 26*1.5 WTB Slickasaurus tire, which comes stock on the 26 inch wheel versions of Surly LHTs.

Continental tires tend to often be smaller than the stated size. I'll bet their 26 X 1.75" is really closer to a 1.5" than it is to a 1.75" so it will probably be perfect for you.