While the Michelin Protek Cross Max tires are practically bulletproof, they're overkill for most folks. I got them for my errand bike because most of the places I ride are swamped with broken glass and construction debris. Seriously, the nearest pharmacies and grocery stores are in strip malls with redneck bars -- the parking lots are littered with broken beer and booze bottles. Ditto the shoulders of the nearby boulevards -- broken glass from bars, along with staples, nails and screws from longterm housing development.

My first two sets of regular all terrain tires were punctured pretty easily by this stuff. But I've plucked broken glass, shards of metal and other stuff out of the Protek Cross Max tires that didn't cause any punctures, even when the tread was slashed down to the puncture shield.

And the Protek Cross Max tires are remarkably nice riding for 1,100 gm for the 700x40. They just don't feel that heavy. The Specialized Hemisphere and Innova hybrid tires I rode before with similar chevron tread felt slower and squirmy compared with the Michelins.

If your rides don't include such extreme conditions, go for the lighter weight Michelins. Here's a quick guide to the current Michelin tires for hybrids and city bikes:

• Protek refers to their Aramid puncture shield -- a tough yellow fiber similar to Kevlar.
• Standard Protek tires have 1mm Aramid shields.
• The "Max" tires have 5mm Aramid shields.
• "Cross" refers to the tread thickness.

If you ride gravel and off road stuff that's pretty clean and clear of sharp pokey stuff, the Protek Cross with chevron tread are good. That probably includes most groomed crushed limestone multi-purpose trails and city parks.

If you mostly ride pavement the regular Protek and Urban tires are much lighter than my Michelin Protek Cross Max and great values. They're often heavily discounted by Bike Tires Direct, Nashbar, and other discounters.

But check out the Schwalbe Green Gaurds too. Excellent value in a well regarded tire, and not much more expensive than the Michelins -- usually only $5-$15 more. I'm seeing Schwalbes more heavily discounted now than I did a couple of years ago.