Running a 4.8" or 5" front tire can bog you down in certain situations.
Fresh pow (250 to 300g/cm^3) tends to build up at the front tire and you try to dig in with the rear, and switch to a lower gear to get above the snow and "float". Then you can spin out because of the buildup of snow at the front.
Whenever I run my studded 35C tires on my commuter, the front tire cuts through the snow; it rarely meets a lot of resistance (it wiggles and deflects a bit with the resistance, but is not unmanageable). The problem is that the rear doesn*t have enough dig, tread depth, can*t move enough snow at the back, to maintain the momentum to keep the front cutting through the snow.
If you run a 3.8" to 4.0" front, it will cut through the snow more easily, as there is less surface area for snow to build up against (similar but not equal to the way a 35C tire can cut through fresh snow over ice or pavement or crust easily).
So now with the 3.8" or 4.0" front you*ve made a bit of a trench, cutting through the powder instead of it building and bogging you down...you can better maintain speed with a wider, digging, snow moving rear, and and stay in a higher gear, and maintain more momentum.
Then the slightly wide rear, say 4.8" OR 5.0" can dig in, without all the resistance (maybe the extra 0.5" or 0.8" width compared to the front trench that*s already been cut by the front tire) and it has more grip to push that narrower cutting front tire through the snow. You maintain speed, reduce bogging and deflection at the front, reduce spinning out at the rear due to bogging at the front.
Discuss.
Fresh pow (250 to 300g/cm^3) tends to build up at the front tire and you try to dig in with the rear, and switch to a lower gear to get above the snow and "float". Then you can spin out because of the buildup of snow at the front.
Whenever I run my studded 35C tires on my commuter, the front tire cuts through the snow; it rarely meets a lot of resistance (it wiggles and deflects a bit with the resistance, but is not unmanageable). The problem is that the rear doesn*t have enough dig, tread depth, can*t move enough snow at the back, to maintain the momentum to keep the front cutting through the snow.
If you run a 3.8" to 4.0" front, it will cut through the snow more easily, as there is less surface area for snow to build up against (similar but not equal to the way a 35C tire can cut through fresh snow over ice or pavement or crust easily).
So now with the 3.8" or 4.0" front you*ve made a bit of a trench, cutting through the powder instead of it building and bogging you down...you can better maintain speed with a wider, digging, snow moving rear, and and stay in a higher gear, and maintain more momentum.
Then the slightly wide rear, say 4.8" OR 5.0" can dig in, without all the resistance (maybe the extra 0.5" or 0.8" width compared to the front trench that*s already been cut by the front tire) and it has more grip to push that narrower cutting front tire through the snow. You maintain speed, reduce bogging and deflection at the front, reduce spinning out at the rear due to bogging at the front.
Discuss.
