Originally Posted by Six jours

Have you ridden a wide tire of lightweight racing construction? I'd guess that you are basing your comments on preconceptions rather than personal experience. In my experience, wide, lightweight tires sound and feel absolutely wonderful, whether they are old Clement del Mundo tubulars or modern Grand Bois Cypres clinchers. Nothing else seems to match the feel of that kind of tire, and it's not a subtle thing. Compared to the Panaracer Col de Vie or Rivendell Ruffy-Tuffy -- both 28-30mm tires that I've used extensively -- a lightweight tire feels absolutely wonderful and is well worth the trade-offs in reliablility and longevity, to me.