I have sidepulls on my road bike and cantis on my touring bikes. The cantis allow me to use heavier tires to support my touring load.

I haven't used centerpull brakes in years, so I can't comment on sidepull vs. centerpull. Your comment implies that you may want to use your bike for touring as well as unencumbered road riding. If that's true, then if your touring is to be self-contained, I think you should strongly consider the canti brakes.