Originally Posted by
veganbikes
No sorry 23c tires are not comfortable and having rim brakes doesn't necessarily make a more comfortable bike (though disc brakes do require a stiffer fork). Wider tires at a lower pressure are going to be more comfortable generally. I love steel and titanium frame and have no interest in having aluminum or carbon frames personally but in the end I think wider tires would probably be a better maker of comfort then frame material up to a point. Certainly in vintage skinny tire department frame material will make a bigger difference but with wider tires I think it does take a little bit of that away. Not totally but enough.
For instance my 25c tire bike is less comfortable than my bikes running 28c tires with a similar position. The 3mm helps a little
700-23c and 700-25c are comfy and some older rims width are not allowing wider tires than 700-23c, I don't like large tires on a road bike 700-28c or 700-32c, 700-25c is the maximum I can accept, also the rear and front tire clearance should be taken in consideration when buying tires and when having a not so new frame. If I want to gravel I have 700-35c schwalbe marathons on my hybrid. The comfort is also due to the saddle you have chosen to ride, the wheels and tires as well as what is the bartape stem and bar combination you have chosen to ride with. I used to ride in my very first road bike on 700-19c and 700-20c tires before switching to 700-23c and some tires are larger than their indicated sizes. Not everyone is into disc brakes , di2, 11 speeds, 12 speeds and large tires.