Another lame tire question
 

My wife and I are really enjoying our tandem. (Raleigh) We want to upgrade our tires (26") and are looking at the following options, but are new enough to this thing that we want some advice from those in the know.

(I know these questions from newbies are annoying, but the wealth of experience and information on this site is wonderful)

anyway here are the two I am looking at, any advice is greatly appreciated.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...il.asp?p=COCIT

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...il.asp?p=MITTC

If these are not good choices, what might be better?

Need to know type of riding you do strictly road or a combo with trails and weight of your team.
Were about a 320lb team we ride strictly roads no dirt or trails so we are using 26x1.1 Schwalbe Stelvio tire 115 Max. PSI.
We have also had a set of 26 x 1.25 Forté Slick City ST from performance which worked well also.

We've ridden on Forte Fast City ST/K 26x1.25/90psi for more than a year and find them zippier than the previous fatter/lower pressure tires. Not too delicate, either. (approx. 325 total wt. and never off-road)

To this point we have only done road riding. The team weight is approx. 350. We are planning a lot of touring next summer. (Oregon Coast)

For road these are good choices if cost is a concern look into the 26 x 1.25 Forté Slick City ST Max P.S.I. 85 (Slick) or Forté City ST MTB Tire 26 x 1.5 Max P.S.I. 60 (slight thread) both on sale now! for $6.99 each at Performance Bike.
Or the 26x1.1 Schwalbe Stelvio tire 115 Max. PSI.
Any will give you good performance but I'd consider these Road Only Tires.

The Forte Fast City tires look really promising for me. But a couple of questions. For the extra money are the Michelins or Continentals a stronger tire. I want to do everything I can to ensure we don't have a blowout. I think that would scare my stoker (wife) to the point that she might not get back on the bike with me. I have been looking at a 26X1.5. If I were to go to a skinnier tire would we notice a difference in the stability of the bike? We currently are on some cheap 26X1.95 Kenda tires. We want to improve both safety and performance from our current situation.

I guess what I am looking for is a very strong/puncture resistant tire that will be very stable. I would like to limit the rolling resistance as much as possible with out sacrificing safety.

Cost of the tire, although a factor, is secondary to the above stated concerns.

Thanks for all the help and input to this point, I appreciate your patience with my newbie questions and concerns.

Schwalbe makes a tough tire. Take a look at this one...

http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/37

I have had no problems with any of the the tires I mentioned. As far as skinnier tire goes what you'll notice is a more responsive fill but if your not use to the filling it can fill quite different and some may not like it.
My filling on blowouts are unless you have a problem with something blowouts just don't happen like that, and if you run something over and its that big to puncture/cut the tire you really can't stop it. You can add liners and such but I don't (if I have something in the tire I rather fix or remove it) and have had few flats nothing I can really complain about you need to pay attention to the road and try to avoid such hazards. It sounds as if a 26x1.5 may be what your looking for on your first try.