Originally Posted by
FLO Cycling
I was intrigued by your request for data so we ran a test over the weekend to gather some data. This data proves that our FLO WIDE RIDE rims create a shorter and wider contact patch. Here is a link to the blog article which highlights our experiment and results.
http://bit.ly/t8lmGk
All the best,
I applaud your taking the time to actually measure the difference in contact patch, and having the guts to post the results. It's unfortunate that a 27% increase in rim width only shortens the contact patch by 2.9% (@120psi), but that's the nature of dealing with round things. What did you use to measure those ink stains to the hundredth of a mm, btw?
If we assume that each of the resultant forces in Tom Anhalt's figure 2 move towards each other by half that amount, then the net resultant torque due to tire sidewall flex only decreases by 1.45%. Considering the magnitude of typical rolling resistance, it's no wonder that difference doesn't show up in any real-world Crr testing.