Originally Posted by
Puget Pounder
...What an odd bike... With the 27" wheels on there, the bike has ample clearance in the rear, but almost none in the front. I converted to 700c and there is no room for fenders even with 28c for the front. What a strange construction...
It is not usual to have more clearance on the rear and it is done on purpose to install longer reach brakes. In a braking situation, most of the braking is achieved via the front brake as the load on the rear wheel lessens. This results in a tendency for the rear wheel to lock up and skid. A skid requires a longer distance to stop the bicycle, not to mention the affect on steering. By utilizing a longer reach rear brake, the pressure at the pads is reduced and the rear tire is less likely to skid. Basically, a longer reach rear brake optimizes braking performance for most cyclists.
The Road Compe was a tubular tired competition bicycle and was intended for 700 x 25C tires, so I'm not surprised you're running into these issues. Personally, if the opening in the dropouts has sufficient vertical allowance, I'd opt for filling in the top of the dropouts, as previously suggested.