Re: Off road tire or street tire for comfort ?
The type of tread is not nearly as important as the sidewall. The more sidewall exposure you have, the softer the tire will ride because the rubber acts as a dampener. A lower profile tire will have much less sidewall flex and will ride much rougher than a tire with a larger sidewall. Wheel size is irrelevant. Low profile tires that are 18 inches in height mounted on 14" wheels will ride rough. 25" tires mounted on the same 14" wheels will ride much better because the rubber can flex.
Let's say you want to run a tire that's 20" tall and 10 inches wide. You can get that tire in a size made to fit on a 10, 12, and a 14" wheel. On the 10", you're gonna have 5" of sidewall. On the 12" you're gonna have 4" of sidewall, and on the 14" you're only gonna have 3" of sidewall, yet all three tires are the overall same height and width. The 10" tires will ride the best, but won't handle as well. The 14's are just the opposite and the 12's are somewhere in between.
I remember when lifted carts first started getting popular. I was a kid. We had an E-Z-Go Marathon with a lift kit on it, with 22x11x8 tires. The wheels were so tiny and the tires looked like balloons, but they rode great. It handled like a dump truck though.
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