Originally Posted by
SkyDog75
Yes, road bikes can handle bumps. There's a famous race, Paris-Roubaix, notorious for its cobblestones. This year's event was just run a few days ago, on April 8. You can check it out on YouTube and see what kind of beating those bikes (and riders) can take.
As for big tires... Some extra volume in your tires is a good thing to handle bumps and rough terrain. Just because a tire's bigger doesn't mean it'll be slow and sluggish. If you're riding almost exclusively on pavement, just make sure those tires are slicks. Knobby tread, which is good for gripping loose dirt surfaces, will rumble and slow you down on pavement. If you're riding rough pavement, I might suggest 28 mm tires at a minimum instead of the 23-25 mm tires you'd find on most racing bikes.
The riding posture of a road bike doesn't lend itself well to riding on a sidewalk. You need to be able to look around easily to watch out for things like pedestrians, small kids, and cars pulling out of driveways. It's much easier to 'keep your head on a swivel' when you're in an upright position. And you shouldn't be riding on a sidewalk at speeds where a road bike's tucked, aerodynamic position is useful, anyway.
This is excellent advice. As others have pointed out, the OP says they don't strictly need wider tires, but why not take advantage of the benefits of wider tires anyway? So long as the tires are designed for pavement use, wider tires aren't necessarily slower, and may even be faster in some cases. I fit the description of the "recreational rider," and have migrated towards wider tires over the decades.
Indeed, does the OP prefer a higher or lower posture? This is a big deal because, while it's usually possible to change most things on a bike, switching from drop to upright bars, or vice versa, is an expensive job. I think the OP should settle this issue before looking any further.