Advantages and Disadvantages
Smaller wheels are more maneuverable. For this reason, and in some cases for comic effect, they are used in some clown bicycles. Smaller wheels more faithfully follow the terrain, giving a harsher ride on bumpy roads that are effectively smoothed by larger ones. It may be desirable for bicycles with smaller wheels to also be fitted with some form of suspension to improve riding characteristics. Bicycles with small wheels normally have their gearing adjusted to provide the same effective wheel radius as large ones, so pedalling cadence is not different. Smaller wheels tend to weigh less than larger ones, thus bringing the performance benefits of light wheels
Small wheels, all else being equal, have slightly higher rolling resistance. On the other hand, they may have lower aerodynamic drag due to their smaller area which is proportional to their radius.
Read more about this topic: Small Wheel Bicycle
Famous quotes containing the word advantages:
“A woman might claim to retain some of the child’s faculties, although very limited and defused, simply because she has not been encouraged to learn methods of thought and develop a disciplined mind. As long as education remains largely induction ignorance will retain these advantages over learning and it is time that women impudently put them to work.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)