Once I put touring wheels and tires on my Raleigh there was absolutely no room for a rear fender. In fact it was one area that was touch and go. The rear tire was so close to the seat tube that occasionally a rock would hit the derailleur mount bolt...when this occurred I could tell it happened because it would sometimes make a clunking sound. On the front, the tire was too close to the brake calipers...I'd have to stop and dislodge rocks from there though. The point is, there was not nearly enough clearance for fenders. Of course V-brakes or Conti levers were out of the question because the frame isn't set up with the required studs.

I went with an XTR rear derailleur, this allowed me to use a 12/34 cassette. Up front was an ultegra 9 spd triple chainring with a 24 granny....38 mid ring, and a 48 big ring.

Wheels were 36 spoked with XT hubs. Another thing I found that was useful was a seatpost clamp that doubled as an upper brazeon mount for a rack. See picture below.