Anti-Puncture Tyres At-a-glance

Think what you will. But it seems pretty clear to tyre engineers, that dimpling or slight tread patterning, or siping, is advantageous for tyres of mixed usage design. The evidence is there for all to see. Just because Sheldon Brown says its not that way, well good for him. Proper tyre engineers disagree, and in this case we're talking of Pro tyres, not tyres of choice for Joe Bloggs.

your argument is all very well and good rests on the assumption that it is engineers designing tires from start to finish, and completely missing the fact that the marketing department has a hand in the process. if it was down to engineers all 23c tires would be 23mm wide, but marking a tire that is in reality 21mm as 23 makes it look lighter...