HerrKaLeun

With everything else equal, a larger wheel has a larger contact patch and smaller angle of attack. So the bumps would be less pronounced. Longer wheelbase also would help. Then comes frame geometry and material. Rigid bike designers can use a lot of tricks to improve the situation.
suspended bike designers can optimize the frame and wheels for other things.

Look at the Jones bike that is thoroughly designed to be a rigid bike.

asgelle

Sad.

Happy Feet

A larger tire, not a larger wheel. A 2" tire on a 26" rim has the same patch as a 2" tire on a 27.5.

A 2" tire however, has a larger patch than a 1.5" tire, even if the smaller tire is on a larger rim.

asgelle

Pretty weak performance art.

Happy Feet

Lay off the herb. You'll start making sense.

Kapusta

Where the heck is this thread going?

Rajflyboy

great thoughts and knowledge 👍👍

I enjoy learning from folks like you 👍

Darth Lefty 

where it was always going

Kapusta

BTW, contact patch size is not dependent on wheel size or tire size. It is dependent on air pressure.

What contact patch has to do with suspension and why it came up in this thread is a little beyond me.

Rajflyboy

Wide tire with low air pressure will have more contact patch

Kapusta

ANY tire at lower pressure will have more contact patch.

But again, what does this have to do with suspension?

Happy Feet

I was assuming the "all things being equal" part to include tire pressure.

Of course contact patch has nothing to do with the question. We really don't even know what the question is as the Op tends to just ask random things that have no real world application. The genesis was another thread, where he asked if others rode rigid frame mtb's. Some people answered. I posted a pic of the rigid fatbike I mtb with. He mused: "Is a fat bike even a rigid?" Hence, a thread in a different sub forum asking vaguely if fat tires equal suspension.

Mostly it's a useless question without any clarification. Do fatter tires offer more "suspension" than skinny tires?

If asking in regards to road bikes and differentiating between say, a 23mm or 32mm 700c tire the answer is obvious.
If asking in regards to all roads / gravel / rail / flow trails, differentiating between say, a 1.75" or 4" 26" tire the answer is again obvious.
And, if asking about technical off road and differentiating between say, a full suspension mtb or rigid fatbike the answer is also obvious.

What is not obvious is when the question is asked just vaguely enough so that respondents argue details like tire pressure from different application POV's. Then the OP can sit back and watch the fun. One big give away is that he never clarifies the questions when asked and just randomly complements posters or parachutes comments to encourage the nonsensical debate. They are just stream of consciousness questions asked out loud.

Kapusta

In other words.... I've been trolled

Happy Feet

The only question is, what's the motivation?

Sometimes it seems a poster decides they are the MC party host of the forum and feel the need to continually create interesting topics of discussion, even if they have no relevance to anything the are doing IRL. Sort of harmless in a sense but a little wearisome in the long term as regular members realize all the information they are writing is sort of wasted effort. That's why some threads by them quickly devolve into nonsensical free for alls. People stop taking the questions seriously.

Others just like to stir up argument. They start threads they know will create confusion and disagreement. A part of forum life I suppose. I understand it in a sense but never really get why. I like biking and hang out on a biking forum so I can talk about biking. Even if I argue about certain points they all relate to my experiences biking. I couldn't imagine hanging out on a knitting forum to stir up controversy so I could watch random knitters argue. Ultimately, the trolls always wind up sounding ridiculous so I don't see the pay off.

Over the years, one of the best tip offs to such continued behavior in specific sub forums has been the decided lack of pictures to accompany posts. They usually hide in anonymity. Sometimes they try to rip images off the net to claim as their own but that's a pretty easy catch with google image search. We've had some weird ones in touring. Some funny, some sad.