Originally Posted by dgregory57
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Therefore, taking this knowledge and applying it to a bicycle tire, it is my assumption that the contact area of a bicycle tire is not based on width, but is instead based on tire pressure.
Does anyone here know enough to know whether I am correct in this assumption?
You have confused cause and effect. Pressure is a measure of weight divided by the cross sectional area. Increased tire pressure reduces, somewhat, the contact area. So does a smaller tire.
Smaller tires also have less mass swinging on the end of a spoke, so to speak, and that is where you really see the benefit of lighter and smaller.
So in effect, all things work together to determine rolling resistance.