[JET]

We went through this exact scenario in my college physics class and he left out one important point. The COF is not exactly linear with the weight placed on the tire in the real world. A wider tire will give better traction, but it does suffer from diminishing returns. A taller tire also gives better traction, both are increasing the area of the contact patch.

Post #15 nailed it:

"Raven is correct. However the traction diminishes when you go to either extreme.

A narrow bike tire will not deform properly enough to increase contact patch size.

And a very wide tire properly inflated with a poor sidewall height will not have a large enough contact patch.

So again they are usually a balance. It's going to matter at that point tire inflation, the ability for the sidewall to deform. Even if both tires are of the same material.

So for us stock going wider would be better. Usually though that means eliminating anything that resembles a sidewall, which which case the tire will adhere very poorly.

Thats why when I see people with wide tires and no sidewalls immediately I think (no traction).

Look at drifting, you want controlled tire spinning... "

Just look at drag racing, there is a 10.5" tire class. Those same guys run faster when they put 12+" tires on them.