Originally Posted by
davei1980
Wide tires at lower pressures have better dampening abilities; they ride OVER small imperfections (and some big ones) without having to "lift" the bike and rider over them and without transferring vibrations to the rider.
No arguing with that; however, it is wrong to assume that this advantage continues infinitely with ever larger tire volumes and lower pressures (like you did before in this thread). At some point the contact patch becomes long enough for the rolling ressistance that comes from deforming the tire to outweigh the gains in efficiency from dampening small surface irregularities. A certain sweet spot exists for any given combination of rider+bike weight, riding surface, tire, and tire pressure. Decreasing pressure below that point results in more rolling resistance, even if pinch flats/rim damage are of no concern. Not to mention the greater weight of larger tires and the clearance issues.