Originally Posted by jkirley
Thank you all. The people at the Performance LBS here in Chicago didn't know what they were talking about. Are the slicks much faster than the "Performance City ST Road Use MTB Tire"? Is the general rule, the skinnier the faster and the less tread the faster?
Yes, less rolling resistance, also as mentioned, run higher psi. If the tires have tread, even on the edges they probably have a direction, make sure they are running correct.
Most will tell you semi-slick no difference but there is if you are cornering and running the edge of the contact area and it has chevrons. The tire tends to squirm, more noticable with mtb treaded tires.
With non slick, patterned tires, reversal may cause more grip on the ashpalt, again the mtb idea, often a worn tire will be reversed to get additional bite.
Also tires do not require the same psi F\R, the weight is rear so higher psi to reduce the contact area, less front so that the ride is less jarring.
I suggest try more air rear. To make my mtb faster I run a treaded XC tire front and a semi-slick smaller rear tire pumped high.