Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel

@krakhaus I didn't buy it truly until very recently. 23/25mm guy all the way. Light, fast, beautifully proportional with standard diameter steel tubing, classic/heritage etc. Finally got tired of reality (city streets and paths) beating me up, and that was really prompted by buying, on a lark, a pair of Soma Supple Vitesse 700x48mm tires and mounting them to a bike that didn't fit me but fit them. What a revelation. Got 42mm versions of the same that fit my tourer (with the heart of a racer) and the transition to the Dark Side was complete. Being able to trophy truck over garbage roads at the same speed you would on a super light race bike, and not get jackhammered to death in the process, is 1000% worth it. But you have to have a bike/frame that matches your style as well as good quality tires.

I know a lot of big tire bikes look slow, fuddy, dorky, old-timey mustache rider-y, or just awkward (650B and tall frames are a pass for me), and that was my chief complaint, especially as a 65cm+ bike rider. Skinny tubing at scaffolding sizes with the equivalent of UGG work boots boat anchoring the overall aesthetic--a really bad look. So, since I like road/race bikes but don't want to have to drive to the countryside where the roads are decent, I'm just infusing a ton of go-fast and aggressive into my touring bike (a Trek 620) and it's well on it's way to being both capable (over bad roads) and fast. Your roads may be different, likely better, so there is no "need." I completely understand. Some guys just don't care how bad the roads are, they just deal. That was me, too. I'd keep the big tire door open, just in case.

Until some future date where I pick up another 66cm road bike (instead of the 620 and maybe the 510 only), long live 23s.