highlyselassie: yes, I do plan to add a rear rack. It doesn't have mounts on the seatstays, oddly, so I think I need p-clips. I wonder how much weight the 27 inch tires can handle at 70 psi...
Darwin: thanks for the tips. Not sure if they are hooked rims. One is a Weinmann 215, the other an unspecified Araya. (The etching on the Araya says "27 x 1 1/4 w/o Japan." I wonder what w/o means.) Guess I should deflate the tires and check the rims at some point. They're running at 80-ish right now.
top506: those Aero levers sound interesting; I'd been wondering if there are levers with better mechanical advantage. I'll definitely keep my eye out for a pair. I'm not crazy about the idea of bifters (brifters?). Sounds like more stuff that can potentially break, and I'm on a tight budget.