I thought about the valve stem thing and drilling out the valve hole on a new wheelset might weaken the rims, so I'll spend the extra cash and do it properly with the presta valve tubes. Some rims have larger valve holes and a bushing already in it for dual compatibility. The brakes, I really didn't give that too much thought when I went after the skinnier rims. Oh well, in theory they should work. I wasn't sure whether or not the side pull hardware my bike is equipped with was designed to grab a skinnier rim. I'll find out though soon enough, they are Dia Compe 500NS per Fuji's 1986 catalog. All the other bikes that have skinnier rims use different models of the Dia Compe or SunTour for the 700c rims. You know, maybe some brake group sets aren't designed for one, but are for a fatter rim size kind of thing. At the end of the day, nobody wants less effective braking.