The cycling industry seems to be rooted in a lot of tradition rather than science
But it doesn’t tell us why big squishy tires are faster.
in perfect coneitions the small tire is faster - but conditions are never perfect and the wider tire generally is faster because it is better at the common cases of imperfect. even in perfect conditions the difference is tiny and hard to measure on a bike. At least that is how I understand the science.
Better contact patch?
That only matters for acceleration doesn’t it? If a race is about maintaining high speed then minimizing rolling resistance seems more important than maximizing friction.
Better acceleration does help, but yes, rolling resistance is definitely important. If two tires had equal rolling resistance, the wider one would probably still be better because there’s less slipping.
Seems like there’s a lot of money in the cycling industry and someone would have figured this out sooner…
Umm, but how?
tl;dr: the wider, lower PSI tires better absorb vibrations and keep traction. Especially on corners and gravel.
Doesn’t it depend on the conditions? Like 8mm tyres are not going to go very fast on mud, meanwhile 100mm tyres are just weighing you down on a smooth road.
Kinda but the type of tire also plays a role there: Knobby tires are gonna do a lot better in mud than road slicks will and vice-versa.
