That happened to me too, I bought a 07 Mercian for touring ,and then about 4 years later ran into a mint condition used (if 250 miles is used!) Schwinn Le Tour Luxe, now wish I hadn't bought the Mercian because I'm not even using it since I got the Schwinn.

I also use the Pasela TG tires on the Schwinn because they came in 27" size and with tan sidewalls to give it that vintage look. I'm using the 1 1/4 size on the rear and 1 1/8th on the front. So far I love them. They seem to be wearing like iron after about 1,500 miles and no flats or cuts, and they ride nice though they are not racing tires - they are light to medium load bearing touring tire, their not heavy or sluggish like other touring tires just not as fast as a smooth tread lighter race tire would be, and the tread pattern is directional so you do have to mount them in the correct direction. I've ridden them off road, obviously not rough stuff but they handle dirt and gravel well enough. I did however put a Panaracer Flat Away liner in the rear tire because I wanted to make sure I didn't get any flats on the rear while touring because I didn't want the hassle of removing the panniers, and the fender just to get the darn wheel off then put all that crap back on. The front tire I didn't bother putting a liner in that since fronts typically get less flats and I'm not currently using front panniers. In word, I love these tires.