Originally Posted by B. Carfree

In the captain's saddle, I have a fine ride on high pressure narrow tires. Unfortunately, I usually ride stoker and provide most of the power. Having the tuna beaten out of me, even on a fairly compliant steel frame, does tend to decrease my output, especially on rides over 200 km. I wonder what's not to like about lower rolling resistance and increased comfort, all for a tiny weight penalty. (No, I'm not going to give up ice cream just to make up for it.)

Pinch flats? In the many hundreds of thousands of miles I have ridden, I've had one pinch flat and my wife has had one as well. Those really are the least of my concerns. However, the fatter tires do seem to have a much lower rate of being flatted by glass shards, which is kind of critical around here (ground zero for drunk driving where tossing the bottle out while driving home is the norm, plus the county uses winter grit that seems to have obsidian in it.) The lower pressure seems to allow the tire to simply conform to the sharp edges rather than be cut by them.

Some day, if you ever have a bike that can take some truly wide tires, ride a route several times on skinny tires and then do the same on some high quality 48-54 mm tires. Don't be fooled by the apparent feel difference; the fat tires will absorb the high frequency road vibration and thus feel slower. Also, don't pump them up to their rated maximum; just pump them up enough to avoid pinch flats. Take a look at what they do to your average speed and make up your own mind. Sure, if you're doing a short, flat time trial the fatties don't make sense simply because of the aero penalty at high speeds and the fact that the ride quality won't make up for that. But in real world conditions, especially when traction makes a difference, they can be a bit nicer.