When I lived in Seattle I rode a steel Davidson, and used 700x19 tires. Talk about rough. But that's all we knew back then, in the 80s. Now I live in NYC and ride 700x23 GP4000s on my road bike and 26x1 1/8 Gatorskins on my commuter. Some would want wider tires but I don't see the point. I don't get flats and I'm plenty happy.