Here are some photographic examples for all the people who are having a hard time picturing what I am going for:



Obviously I would never ride any bike through an actual pothole. But cobblestone and places where they have ripped open and reclosed the street, the kind of stuff that sucks to ride on with a tight geometry bike like the ones I have. I realize that balloon tires as the right pressure would smooth things out but I like my bikes to look good too and old rigid mtbs are pretty boring. I really don't want to compromise on the thin tires thing. Biggest I'd want to is 1.4" but I think 1.25" would totally cut it for me.