tires: how much does size matter?
I posted this question on the commuting forum, but am curious to have road cyclists weigh in. I ride a fairly lightweight, custom, Reynolds steel touring/hybrid bike with 26" wheels. I use it whenever I can instead of my car, for 40-60 mile fitness rides, for touring. I ride primarily on the road, but I live on a dirt road, so to get to pavement I have to travel on dirt, which makes a bike with very skinny tires impractical.
I've been riding on a 26x1" which did pretty well on the dirt and just fine on the pavement, but last week one of them was destroyed during a ride and the lbs only had a 1.5" to replace it. At some point I'm either going to buy it's mate, or buy a new pair of tires, and so I want to know if it will make a difference to my overall efficiency which size tire I ride on, and which style, and if I should care that some tires are 200 g heavier than others. I do a lot of serious hill-climbing (and descents), if that matters, and am also hoping to extend distance of the fitness rides. Thanks.