Rod, thank you for summarizing it so well. Yes, the extra cush and grip of wide tires trumps the slower handling. That handling issue can be positive - some bike can use some "calming" – but it occurs with all geometries, whether low-, mid- or high-trail bikes (however you define those).
So yes, if I am buying a new bike and want nimble handling, 650B x 42 mm. If I have a 700C bike, 700C x 38 mm will improve it in most cases and for most tastes. However, there are some drawbacks to wider tires - see this blog post <http://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/the-downsides-of-wide-tires/> from a few years ago. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly On Thursday, September 4, 2014 9:15:24 AM UTC-7, Rod Holland wrote: > > I fear Jan is requiring that we think of two or three things at once. > Previously, he's laid out ranges of ideal tire size for specific wheel > sizes, based on the effects of rotational inertia on steering, among other > things (tire weight, air volume). For 700C, 32mm was the top of the range, > driven principally by steering considerations. However, he just said that > he prefers the 38mm tires over 32mm tires on 700C due to increased air > volume and contact patch. This isn't a negation of the analysis based on > steering, but rather (seems to me, Jan may have intended something else) a > rider's pragmatic judgement that the virtues of big air and big contact > trump a little bit of vice in the steering department. He further comments > that he still prefers 650B for the width domain that includes 38mm and > 42mm, presumably because it gives you the virtues of wide tires without > paying a steering tax. Jan's guidance seems to depend on whether you're > buying a tire, or buying a bike AND a tire. > > rod > > On Thursday, September 4, 2014 11:36:58 AM UTC-4, Philip Williamson wrote: >> >> Jan, do you prefer the bike handling with 32mm tires (over 38mm tires) >> for mid and high trail bikes, as well as for your low trail bikes? >> >> Philip >> www.biketinker.com >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
