I had finally received, built-up and rode the Alex Singer that had been on order from Cupertino Bike Shop for almost a year, using the Cinelli bivalents with Nisi rims that Sugden and Lynch was selling by the bunch. Alas, whilst repairing my sewups, Campaniato del Mundos by the way, the needle pierced the thimble and my digit suffered mightily. Oboy, I thought, this ain't good, especially for the intended trip all the way down the Pan American Highway, so I decided on touring high pressure tires. The practice in 1971 was to forego the 27 inch wheel, which was unbiquitous in the USA, and in the hinterlands of places like Stockton with its Schwinn monopoly, the only racing or touring tire available; instead, for international touring, the tire and wheel of choice for high pressure tires was the 700C. When I wandered into my local LBS after almost 35 years I was astounded to discover that 27 inch wheels had disappeared and 700C had become the standard. As to short reach and long reach brakes, in 1970 as I fitted out a Masi I had purchased from Sugden and Lynch, I discovered all the boxed brake sets from Universal included the short reach front and long reach rear calipers. The Masi required short reach front and rear brakes. S&L accommodated their customers by ordering loads of short reach calipers. When the Campagnolo brakesets first arrived, they came with short reach calipers front and rear.
Hon Lee Stockton, CA, champions of the obese making us Numero Uno for tubs