Originally Posted by
jhaddad8
snip . . .
Fenders would be nice too. I'm hoping the smaller wheels/tires will give me enough room for fenders. If the new (to me) brake calipers are too short for the new wheels, I'm thinking I'll just buy generic long reach calipers.
snip . . .
Thanks for looking and thanks for your thoughts!
Attached is a pic an old pic of my bike, a few things have since changed, but not much.
You're not gaining that much extra clearance with 700c over 27 inch wheels. Changing the brakes from short to long reach won't make any difference in terms of clearance and your existing brakes can probably handle a 4 mm difference (sometimes you have to file a bit out of the brake caliper to make this work).
If your goal is ability to run fenders, you're better off looking for a frame that takes long reach brakes. If the fenders don't matter much, then great wheels are, well great wheels.
Now if you want cushy wheels and clearance, you could think about a 650b conversion. You'll definitely new new brakes if you do this.