Utility Cycling - I strayed...

I was bitten by the lure of a "faster" bike, a drop bar vintage wonder that would make the ride better. Now I want my poky, upright 3 speed back. :)

I have a Schwinn Le Tour thats just begging to be turned into a nice little urban machine. What are some suggestions for dutching up the bike?

I have some handlebars in mind, a 3 speed hub and want to run a dyno hub up front. Wheel set is the big question: keep the 27", drop to a 700c which would allow me to run studs (and some nice wide tires) or maybe a 650b (I've seen at least one le tour here with the 650s)?

Thoughts?

700c for a wider variety of tire options.

The devious part of me is wondering if the Schawlbe Big Apples in 29x2.0 would work?

Will the brakes reach the rim on a 700 wheel?

its 630 to 622-8mm. From everything I have read it's not a big deal. When I go to the co-op saturday I may see if we can grab a rim and try it.

You just need to be able to move the brake pads down 4mm. If you can do that, it'll work just fine. You can also turn the rear caliper around to get a little extra reach, i.e. mount it in front of the seatstay bridge instead of behind.