Originally Posted by Atlas Shrugged

Your premise is flawed in that you figure the increasing popularity of wider tires is because there are no substantive performance differences and that it is a trend. The use of wider tires is not like the preference towards neon colours which could be considered a trend. Much like friction shifting, steel lugged frames, toe clips, tubular tires, 5 speed freewheels, rim brakes, etc. are or have been phased out due to performance advantages so are narrow high pressure tires.