They DO break more often on rough roads in my experience. This is also the opinion of two very established wheel builders when I was discussing commuter wheelset options with them. To each their own I guess. I don't have a problem with Open Pro's, and they are awesome road wheels so long as the road isn't horribly chewed up. Maybe DC streets are just worse. In fact, they are worse compared to most cities. I'll take the extra weight and durability of the Deep V any day for bad roads.