Originally Posted by
mm718
.... when on a descent for intance one might not have time to react optimally to a hazard. I was also generally appealing to your collective wisdom to see if there were other safety advantages/disadvantages of wider tires, as I consider going up in tire width.
its fair to say that with downhills, especially when loaded--just because of the "18 wheeler" effect of not being able to stop as quickly-- using judgement of speed that entirely depends on the road conditions, how far you can see ahead and not getting past a speed that wont allow you to slow down sufficiently for an obstacle or ride around it--these are the main issues that are always going to be there, no matter the tire width.
I still think that wider to an extent will be bit easier in dealing with cracks and such, and the lower pressures certainly will mean a bike gets less unsettled by roughness or whatever.
How wide is wide, thats where you personally have to try diff tires and decide from experience what feels best for you vs perceived rolling resistance vs the type of roads you are on more.