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Old 11-16-2013, 04:39 AM   #60 (permalink)
freebeard
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Quote:
Skinny tires don't hydroplane because there is no plane to hydro on. It goes by the square of the width, a tire twice as wide displaces twice the amount of water twice the distance, so the force pushing the tire off the pavement is 4 times.
Where does the extra water come from? My memory of research in the 70s [citiation needed] is that the only thing that made any difference was high air pressure and large circumferential grooves to carry the water past the tread.

Quote:
And we didn't even have enough water to form standing puddles. the higher pressure on the contact patches was enough to make the difference.
Damp pavement then. VW Beetles drive the speedometer from the left front wheel. When you hit standing water and the speedo needle drops toward zero, you know your hydroplaning. For years I ran 145-15 on the front and 165-15 on the back. But you really find out, downhill in the mountains, there's more brakes than tires. Now it's 165-50-15 in front.

I've got a little brass caliper I've been holding up to the screen, and I've concluded the early picture is a 7" width on 19", and the Ecopia branded tire is about 4 1/4", so pretty close to 155mm.

Load and speed ratings?
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