Originally Posted by 79pmooney

Actually, the rim has no clue as to the tire size (or the pressure). All it knows is how large a force is being applied to the rim wall. When that force exceeds what it is made to handle, it fails. The force the tire applies is a product of the pressure and the tire size. (This was an engineering question I may have answered correctly a million years ago but I cannot remember the answer. Is it pressure times sectional area or pressure times circumference? The test question context had nothing to do with bicycle tires. If it had, I'd remember to this day!).