Sort of related. I went to the grocery store earlier and someone had a bicycle chained to the bike rack with these HUGE tires on it. Not huge as in large in diameter, but very, very thick. I suppose I should have said that in the first place. Anyway, they were the bicycle equivalent to monster truck tires.

I've spent all day thinking about this. Why are the tires that big? Are they for off road purposes? Don't most bicycles handle being off road well enough with normal tires? Did they get shot with that gun from Live And Let Die that inflates stuff? Do they make the bike easier to ride for convenience? Do they make it tougher to ride for endurance?

Wait, I live in 2015. I found an article explaining it. http://gearjunkie.com/fat-bike-trend

TL;DR: Easier to get around because of better grip and can bike through stuff like snow and sand much easier.

But still. I live in the suburbs. Kind of an overkill. The investigation continues...