Originally Posted by
MikeWMass
But if you look at the auto industry, all the "high efficiency" models use narrower tires at higher pressure than the mainstream models. If you are old enough to remember when they had the yearly fuel economy contest ( I think it was Mobile, but could be mistaken) they always used narrow tires at high pressure.
Just as an aside, most people don't push their cars hard enough to know if they handle well, or how good their tires are. What passes for "handling" is steering precision. If you have not slid, you don't know how your car handles. Have you ever used your space saver spare? Did you notice any difference?
Yes, this is consistent with what I posted. Narrower/higher improves rolling resistance, aka fuel economy. They do this on cars sold on this basis. Who cares if the handling sucks. OTOH, on cars sold based on other performance features, ie sportier cars, or cars where they want to emphasize comfort and traction, it's back to the wider tires at lower pressures. Also consinder that there's a fuel economy benefit to smaller lighter wheels, which is another reason economy cars look like they're using junior wheels.
In the end it's a matter of striking a balance based on one's specific priorities.
Also consider the effect of width. With a wider contact patch the length will be less (for the same area) so there's less distortion of the tire on the ground, and less power lost to hysteresis. But that added width means added weight and air drag, so there's an offset.
Toss all this info into a hat, add your personal bias, and pick a tire that looks like it's work for you. Then dial in the pressure by experimentation over time..
BTW-, consider that there's a fashion/trend component to all this. For years since the seventies, the tires used by the peloton got progressively narrower, and were ridden at higher pressures, eventually getting down to 18mm or so. Since then the pendulum is swinging the other way, and slightly wider tires are in vogue, and more of the pros are listening more to team mechanics and riding at slightly lower pressures, especially in less than ideal conditions.