Thanks for the information. Im' glad to know i can use "regular" tires. My commuter bike generally sees only about 30-50 miles/month since nothing in town is more than 1 mile from my house and only about 10 or so of those miles are after dark so side wall wear is not too much of a concern, any tires I buy should still last me years, just concerned that the dynamo might not work as well. I will probably stick with my battery lights as primary lighting for a while until i can find a good deal on an led dynamo light.
My understanding is the rear light is not as dependent on the reflector design so i may go ahead with one of the LED replacement bulbs in back for now just because it will be easier, not sure i am confident enough to start messing with wires etc. The two types of bulbs i am looking at are designed/wired for dynamos so they are AC compatable (built in rectifires maybe?) and the one from compass is supposed to have a standlight circuit built into the bulb. Probably doesnt hold much power, but unless i move to a diffrent town, I dont usually have to stop along the route home from work for more than a few seconds.