[boGardoN]

I was looking at some new mice to buy, and I can't help but wonder why mousefeet shapes and even arrangement can vary so widely between manufacturers. It got me thinking, is there any optimal shape or positioning of mouse feet that would give the most consistent glide? Naively, I'd expect perfect circles positioned at the 4 corners of the mouse to be the best.

One more thing, when people say they want a light mouse (something like < 90g), is it to make it easier to pick up and place back down or to make it easier to move around? I guess the latter is more important. In tennis people often discuss the concept of racquet weight vs swing weight, and I wonder if analogous concepts would be useful here, something like mouse weight vs glide weight.

Sorry if this has been discussed before

 

[gipetto]

I'd think the zowie mice that use two mouse feet, each spanning the width of the mouse would be the easiest glide. better yet would be one mousepad that spans the entire underside, front to back and left to right, but that would be very expensive. I think 3 feet should be superior to 4 feet in theory, similar to how a 3 legged stool never rocks.

 

[SmashTV]

In my experience the smaller the feet the better. The larger feet on something like Zowie I feel more of the micro crud that accumulates on the mouse pad over time. The older DA feet are awesome. Small enough size and in the right places.

 

[Nivity]

Smaller feet tend to sink into the pad more if you got a softer pad.
I prefer larger feet with low friction.

 

[vanir1337]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmashTV

In my experience the smaller the feet the better. The larger feet on something like Zowie I feel more of the micro crud that accumulates on the mouse pad over time. The older DA feet are awesome. Small enough size and in the right places.

This. I'm using custom G1 and WMO hyperglides on almost all my mice, they are the best.

 

[Freshest]

As for weight. I think the overall weight will affect how well you can move the mouse across the pad. However, when picking up the mouse for repositioning, I think the weight and overall weight balance of the mouse plays a role. If the mouse is bottom heavy(not back heavy) then you'll notice it when you pick up the mouse. I felt this in the Kone pure military, being only 98g it felt heavier since it was bottom heavy when I reposition the mouse on my pad.

 

[JackCY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boGardoN

I was looking at some new mice to buy, and I can't help but wonder why mousefeet shapes and even arrangement can vary so widely between manufacturers. It got me thinking, is there any optimal shape or positioning of mouse feet that would give the most consistent glide? Naively, I'd expect perfect circles positioned at the 4 corners of the mouse to be the best.

One more thing, when people say they want a light mouse (something like < 90g), is it to make it easier to pick up and place back down or to make it easier to move around? I guess the latter is more important. In tennis people often discuss the concept of racquet weight vs swing weight, and I wonder if analogous concepts would be useful here, something like mouse weight vs glide weight.

Sorry if this has been discussed before

Weight is all about inertia. Large feet I find to be a hindrance, more contact area more drag. Another important factor is feet track, as in how far apart are the feet, how much into the edges are they placed, some mice like G403 lack in that department and feet are too inward. More apart = better stability.

 

[chr1spe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackCY

more contact area more drag.

That isn't how friction works.

 

[AloneInTheDuck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackCY

Large feet I find to be a hindrance, more contact area more drag.

give me the physical formula or physical law which show it

 

[senileoldman]

It doesn't really matter.

Smaller feet are better to me, because they don't get dirty as quickly.

 

[jayfkay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chr1spe

That isn't how friction works.

friction is influenced by shape, material, weight, force and surface area, isnt it? so yeah

 

[daniel0731ex]

friction between rigid surfaces (mouse on hard pad): independent of area

friction involving compliant surfaces (mouse on cloth pad): same as rigid surfaces on an infinitesimal scale, but deformation creates different regions of differing normal force that must be integrated (can just assign an experimental f(A) as a modifier of linear relation for rigid friction)

friction involving shear (e.g. over-lubrication in a speedcube): proportional to area.

 

[Avalar]

Tbh, as long as you get replacements, it really doesn't matter imo. Aftermarket feet are almost always going to be better than the stocks in both glide speed and durability. Sometimes even thicker, too, which is good, unless LOD is a concern. When I get a mouse and find that I could fit any of Hyperglides' round/oval feet in them, I get the ones with the most surface area. If not, I just get what's available. Doesn't take me more than a few days to adjust anyway.

 

[AloneInTheDuck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayfkay

friction is influenced by shape, material, weight, force and surface area, isnt it? so yeah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliding_(motion)

Area does not mean anything

 

[chr1spe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayfkay

friction is influenced by shape, material, weight, force and surface area, isnt it? so yeah

Like daniel said on a hard pad surface area absolutely shouldn't matter. On a soft pad unless it is very soft and deforming a lot this should also more or less be true. I highly doubt that surface area has much effect on soft pads, but if it does have an effect larger feet should be better. The reason for this is that the smaller the feet are the more they will deform the pad. I think there are other corrections that should be small for things like edges, but unless the feet are very sharp that shouldn't matter much at all especially with rounded or chamfered or whatever feet. TBH I'm not even sure whether larger or smaller surface area is better when considering edges. Obviously in general larger surface area means larger edges, but surface area goes up more quickly than edge length and there will be less force on the edges the larger the area.

TLDR: Surface area shouldn't matter much if at all, but if anything larger feet should be better on a soft pad.