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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.
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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.
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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.
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Damp pavement then.
![Smile](/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif)
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.
![EEK!](/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif)
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?