Originally Posted by
reefmespla
.... or am I missing something?
Yep. Not the concrete cowboys, but for those who ride rural roads with no bike lanes or even a shoulder, no sidewalks, etc., will tell you what they are for! With a road bike or even a mountain bike, if you hear a big truck behind you and see one coming the other way, or if you hear a bunch of cars and see a bunch of cars, you don't have to look for a "good spot" to get off the pavement The fat tire will roll over anything ... gravel, dirt, loose sand, potholes, bumps, etc!! You can just leave the hardtop with no worries and without even decreasing speed. When it clears, you're right back on! I can now safely ride roads I wouldn't dream of riding on anything other than a fat tire. I live in such a rural/country area, and there are no bike lanes, shoulders, or sidewalks for miles in any direction, and I can still go where I want to go! Now if I know I'll be riding on wider, safer roads or multi-use paths, I have a second set of matching narrower wheels/tires I swap out for.
But I realize my case is an outlier! Most are, indeed, like the 4X4 SUV that's never been further off-road than the time they cut Aunt Betty's driveway short and ran over her flowerbed!