Originally Posted by
meltonmezzrow
Ghettocruiser - Are 700c wheels really better at handling uneven road conditions? On the way back home tonight I was too busy trying to avoid some sporatic crazy drunken road crossing pedestrian when I slammed into a pothole! Luckily the rims are unharmed.
The ride is less harsh on 700s since the larger-diameter wheel doesn't drop as far into a depression. The improvement is especially noticeably on the freeze-thaw cracks that tend to go all the way across residential streets here, which get even wider in the winter.
They would not be more impact-resistant if your potholes are big enough to be trashing wheels. They would be more likely to be damaged by such an impact, rim design and spoke count being equal.