Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
?..I'm sure others will argue, but I'm not a big fan of real skinny tires on mountain bikes. I think that anything less than about 1.5" wide looks goofy. I've got 1.9" tires on my beater bike and never thought I paid a performance penalty over skinnier tires.
I agree. I don't care how they look, but tires skinnier than 1.5 or so just don't work for me. There's no advantage to really hard, skinny tires, and several disadvantages.
As for brand, I rode an old Bridgestone mountain bike on the road for years, even did a century on it, and I couldn't tell a significant difference among brands of slick(ish) tires. About 1.5, 70-80 psi and just go ride.