I had a 700c touring bike with 700x38 tires and later I built a Surly 26" Disc Trucker which I run 26x2.0 tires on. The Surly is by far the more comfortable of the two setups and I feel like I don't ever have to worry about whether the bike can handle anything the roads throw at me. I live in Chicago and there are some roads here that rival the Third World in terms of there being more pothole than road surface. My trucker rides on Sun Ringle Rhyno-Lite 32 hole disc rims that are double-wall and triple-box. I've even taken the Surly off-road on some gnarly singletrack - something I'd never have contemplated with my 700x38 bike.