Mountain Biking - Tire recommendation

I'm looking for a good knobbie that will work well in this (my) situation: I can only get to the trail maybe once every couple of weeks so I have a route in my city that consists of short jams of dirt alleys with stone mixed on the tops with short regular paved roads in between. There are a few drops that I can throw in and a few of the alleys are pretty twisty with some 90 degree turns connecting to other alleys. So, I guess I need a knobbie that will hook in the dirt with some loose rock on top and also not wear as fast as some of the others on the paved road bits.

I've been looking at the Conti Gravity in 2.3 as I found them at a very good price. What do you think? Thanks.

Sounds like the Maxxis Holy Roller might be a good choice: http://www.maxxis.com/products/bicycle/product_detail.asp?id=301

i think riding a 2.3 on pavement will suck... try irc mythos in 2.1

You want to ride full speed through alleys?

No tire is going to help you when a bum jumps in front of you.

LOL. Actually, they are not those kind of alleys. It's a very small town.

but is it smaller than mine? approx. population 2000ish.

i would recommend the Kenda small block 8. its got 8 small nobs across. im doing a build and i plan to use them on it, since im riding in town a lot. Ryan Leech (pro trials rider) rides in cities a lot but has (had?) nevegals, which are quite noby. depends what you want. good luck!

I would recomend Maxxis CrossMark. My best choice for terrain as you mentioned.

i've been having really good results with my michelin mountain dry2, they have decent rolling bead, and the 2.15 are about the same if not bigger than my other 2.2s, might be a good balance instead of a big ol 2.3, also its not to much of a weight sacrafice, you don't need mud knobs for alleys