|
LiveForMud -> RE: What is harder to turn? (7/25/2008 9:45:01 AM)
|
on the trails there isn't much difference, taller tires just lower your acceleration but increase your top speed due to the taller overall gearing. if you're not stuck on using a (heavy) radial tire, a 28" mudlite should do you good since they're light and have a rounded profile that doesn't put a whole lot of tread on the ground at once. radials have a more flat profile which increases traction on hard/flat surfaces, but makes steering harder and radials are just heavier than bias ply tires. i don't know tire weights right off hand, but i'm sure you can find a light tire that'll meet your height and traction requirements. rule of thumb in drag racing is, as far as acceleration is concerned, every 1 lb of rotating mass is the same as 4 lb of static mass... so installing tires that are the same height as stockers, but 3 lb lighter for each (or 12lb of rotating mass removed), will be the same as taking off 48 lb of weight off the bike and will make you faster through a run (if traction is the same, of course). but 48lb versus the ~800 lb quad loaded (with you on it) is only 6% of the whole picture... while going from 25" tires to 28" tires (both the same weight) is a 12% change in leverage your engine has on the ground to move you and the quad. gotta look at the whole picture.
in thick mud, a set of 27" laws (10s & 12s) would be about the same difficulty, if not harder, to turn than 30" mudlites due to just the shear amount of muck those huge lugs on the laws grab with every turn. while the 30" mudlites are 11% taller, which increases your gearing 11%, the lug face area on the 27" laws dwarfs that of the 'lites. in the mud, you're turning much more than just the tire... you gotta also turn all the mud the lugs grab also which is much harder to turn than the tire itself. it's like picking up a shovel and slinging it around with ease, then trying to do the same with a scoop of mud added on. it'll wear you out pretty fast. the engine has to fight the same forces.
|
|
|
|