I know this is a little old, but wondering if this was the final say anyone had on good tires for smooth-sided rim tires? Alanbikehouston's rec about just transferring rims is a good one, but I would think the ONLY way to make sure this works is by getting exactly the same rim. How much can you fudge the spoke lengths, otherwise? The extra 4mm radius for a 700c rim is too much length to be able to compensate with the spoke/nipple threading, no?
J B, did you go with the Schwalbes? And again, to all you vintage experts out there: what did eveyone use when these hookless rims were the norm?!