Originally Posted by mattgmann

I recently moved back to a skinny tire from some big fatties on my commuter and thought I'd give a few of my impressions.

The former tires of which I logged about 800 miles on are Schwalbe Big Apple 2.35"
The new tires are Nashbar Streetwise city tires 1.5"
Both on a 26" wheel.

The nashbars are light and the big apples heavy. Very heavy. I lost over a pound per wheel in weight.

I expected to gain some speed with the thinner and much lighter rubber. This didn't happen. My average speed on my commute is pretty much identical.

With the thin tires I feel that I can accelerate a bit quicker. The bike feels much lighter.

The the thin nashbars do not roll as well as the big schwalbes. There's less downhill acceleration and whatever gains in getting up to speed do not carry over in maintaining velocity. I think the rotational mass of the big tires might actually help me maintain a more steady pace.

My hill segment times have improved with the thinner tires, and I subjectively feel that hills are a tad easier.

The thin tires don't ride as rough as expected. The big apples do ride like a full suspension in comparison, but I'm still comfortable over rough road on the new tires.

I think a 1.5" tire with a higher max psi would be better for me. Even at the max 60psi I feel like the tires might be deforming too much. I'm not a light rider (225lb).

I plan to put another 300 or so miles on these to learn a bit more about what is right for me. At this point, I'm thinking a slightly wider tire might be the ticket. The big apples are fun tires to ride, but I really do feel like I'm driving the tires. I don't really care for them past mile 15 or so in a ride.