Right now I am riding a '92 Trek 970 on mostly pavement, but would like to keep fair hardpack an option while sacrificing minimal road performance (lol), for a ~13 mile commute round-trip. My riding consists of 90/10 pavement/trail riding. I do have a singletrack trail near me that I would like to have the option of riding though but that is not too important as I have yet to go there.

I am currently using Nashbar Gridlock tires (https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...49_-1___202472) . While I do enjoy the silent and seemingly-quick ride, I am finding myself missing the cushiness of a fatter tire for the smooth ride, trail grip for my occasional off-road stints and also for my frequent curb-hopping. I also just plain like the look of a big tire on my bike (which I have grown to LOVE).

I've done a lot of research and read lots of reviews and I think I've narrowed it down to these:

Continental Town & Country - worried maybe not enough grip on trails (specifically on wet grass) and quality control issues. Like road-oriented tread and puncture-resistance.
Kenda K-Rad - Leaning towards these but puncture-resistance would be nice for worry-free commute although I don't know how important that is as my streets are pretty nice for the most part. Seem a very viable candidate for my use.
Kenda Small Block 8 - worried tread may wear too fast on pavement.
Michelin Country Dry2 - Like the 80 psi and light weight but worried tread may slow me down too much compared to current ones.

Other worthy mentions I've considered - but know less about - include:
CST Firefox, Panaracer Comet, Panaracer Soar, Michelin Tracker.
First two seem like cheaper versions of Small Block 8's.

What I'd ideally like to have in a tire is:
80 psi max - I don't know if there will be a huge difference between 65 and 80 on the road though.
Puncture-resistance
Not TOO heavy
2" +
About $50 with shipping for the set of tires, but lower would be nice too

I am seeking some input on these as well as wondering if a) 80 vs 65 psi will make a large difference in on-road efficiency, b) is DJ/XC type tread much slower than inverted on pavement and c) if I should opt for puncture-resistance/can substitute puncture resistance with Slime tire liner - which has yet to cause me a flat by the way.

I know it was long and I thank you if you read this far. I am just the kind of guy who wants to make the right equipment decision and I know I am asking the right people.

Frankly I think your $50 budget in light of what you want is a little unrealistic -

My suggestion (because of personal experience) is the Geax Evolution, a 2+ tire with 60tpi that is slightly aggressive in tread for trails, but rolls pretty well on the streets. It's a 65 psi. Others may disagree, but my thoughts are that on a wide tire there's very little difference between a 65 and an 80. A fat 65 and a skinny 80, yes definitely a difference - but between two 2"+ tires no. Geax Evolution is in use by the El Paso Police dept for their bicycle cops

Edit: BTW welcome to the forums!

Alter your route to avoid the 10% trail section and just get tires meant for the pavement. Then get some knobbies for the singletrack (also good for snow- but not ice).

I've got 26x1.5 Tioga City Slickers on mine. Thinking about some Serfas Drifters w/fps and reflective sidewall next.

I've tried a lot of tires for both 26" and 700c. For an all around commute, I always seem to end up with a 'cross style tire or something in the touring line. I just ordered a pair of Kenda Kross tires for my HardRock for commuting. I've used a similar tread on my road bikes but in a 700x32 size.

Thanks to 'cross racing, we commuters have some good all-season options.

Tiogas have always been excellent (for me). They're a great option.

I have Serfas Drifters 1.5. Love them. I do all pavement. When I bought them, the lbs told me if I wanted to do light trails I could. I have tried gravel roads and wasn't happy. But I think it was more the uneven gravel I didn't like.

Thanks! I'm happy to be here.

It may SEEM unrealistic but I've found some sites that seem to have some pretty good prices on surprisingly decent tires (universalcycles, niagaracycle, outsiteoutfitters, etc). I took a look at those tires and I think I'll add those to my list. Seem to fit the bill, only wish they were in a larger size (1.9 was the only size I could find.)

I did find another tire I thought might be good but I would like to know what you guys think.
It's the Continental Traffic and I found it for a good price here: https://www.outsideoutfitters.com/ps-...uot-tires.aspx

Strongly considering the following: Kenda K-Rad, Geax Evolution, Continental Town & Country and Continental Traffic.

Looked at some cheap Schwalbe CX tires as well but I still am unsure if I NEED puncture protection. If anything it will give me peace of mind as I will not be carrying replacement supplies with me all the time but I just don't know. Can anyone else chime in as to there being a big difference in 65 vs 80 psi?

And I am really looking at 2"+ tires for a softer ride and impact-dampening as well as to take advantage of the clearance I have for it.

Decisions, decisions....my head is about to explode!

For $50, you should get some cheap tires and some Mr. Tuffy liners. Quality flat-resistant tires cost close to $50 each. You won't cry when cheap tires get chewed up by road debris.

I've used Kenda Kwests (which you can get in 1.75) and CST Selecta (which has a reflective sidewall stripe). I just got a set of Vittoria Adventure City tires for my dad's cruiser, they're very smooth rolling, good wet grip, also reflective. Not sure if those are wide enough for you, but they would work pretty well.

The Geax Evolutions are eye candy, too - they look very sharp. I'm gonna stick with that suggestion. The thing with tires is that if you buy cheap, you end up buying more often because they don't last as long. If you buy high quality and pay the big bucks once, you can get a heckuva lot of care-free miles and save cash in the long run. There's a lot of riders here in the forums that have gone thousands and thousands of miles without a puncture. My last flat was in 2006. Get something from Geax or Schwalb (Marathon) or Continental (Town&Country is good). Look for low tpi - 60 is a good number (the lower the tpi the more puncture resistant the tire). Some areas of bicycling we can go the cheaper route (grips? computers? things like that) but other areas it just pays to go with quality and higher cost (lighting, saddle, tires, groupo, etc)

This one; also avialable at Wal-Mart:
https://www.amazon.com/Bell-26-Inch-C...643138&sr=1-18
It is made by Vittoria and is 47-559. They last forever, resistant to punctures, with Kelvar belts under the tread. They are rated at 65psi - I have run them at 75 psi.

Fits your budget, and I think that you'll be happy with them. Not a snobbish tire, just a good tire at a very good price with an incredibly low cost per mile.

Ditto on the City Slickers. Great tires for the price.

I've kind of combined everyone's into these ~$25 finalists:

Continental Traffic 2.1

Continental Travel Contact 1.9

Geax Evolution 1.9

Kenda K-Rad

I have to agree with this,

I tried just using what ever tyre i could get for cheap but i found that they didn't last on glass filled street roads.

I ended up going with

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=24542

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyre - Smart Guard - 26 x 1.75

So far they have survived many long trips though glass hell . oh and they have a shiny side wall which is always a plus

oh they can be a pain to get on the first time ... zip ties are your friend in this case

I have these same tires on my beater MTB. Got them on clearance at Wally World when they were remodeling to introduce myself to fat slicks, figuring I'd get maybe a season out of them. Two years of being my foul-weather commuter later and they're still cruising, despite a few run-ins with broken bottles that each took large chunks of the rubber off of the kevlar. These are some TOUGH tires for the amount of dough they ask.

I had those same tires (the Performance branded version, but still the same tire) on my MTB turned city bike. Great value and a decent tire, but they are a bit on the heavy side. When I swapped them out for some tires that were sub-500 grams, I could definitely tell a difference. I originally put some of Performance's Forte Metro tires on it. Loved the ride of them, but I wanted some tread with a little more bite. Like yourself, I want to be able to handle some gravel with confidence. I now have some Panaracer Paselas installed and they were a good choice.