26 x 2.125 vs 26 x 2.00 Townie
 

This is kind of a fussy bike question. I recently bought a used bike I love, a 2009 Electra Townie 3i, with a three speed internal gear hup. I was all ready to buy a new one for $740 (after taxes) and this used Townie 3i showed up on Craigslist for $220, 3 blocks from my home. In pretty good shape, so I bought it.
The tires were new and a recent replacement, but they were not the original 26 x 2.00. They were 26 x 2.125. Also they seem to have more of an "all terrain" tread instead of the city slick type tread of the original Townie tires.
I think I want to replace the tires with the original Electra Townie 26 x 2.00 tire.
Will I actually be able to tell the difference? Will the 26 x 2.00 tires roll with noticeably less resistance than the 26 x 2.125 tires?
Input for my fussy little problem is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Shouldn’t be a big difference either way. It really depends on where you like to ride. If it’s all pavement go with the thin tire. If it’s sandy or all terrain riding I’d go with the bigger tire.

That's not much difference in width so I doubt you'll feel that. Slick vs. all terrain tread will probably make a more noticeable difference.

Some electras used the 2.35in Schwalbe Fat Frank, that's how I found out about these tyres.
I've been using them for s few years now, and they're excellent, I'm technically addicted..

2.125 is a width that is common on cruisers, and generally they are heavy and slow tires. There could be better tires made in this size but I am not familiar with them. Nicer tires are made in 26x1.9, 2.0 and 2.1 and 2.2 and loads more sizes.

Any 26" x (width indicated by a decimal number) tire will fit, so you can choose lighter, more robust, more tread, less tread, flat protection, etc. Try to keep the width at least as much as the width of the rim, and at most so the tire is not rubbing on the frame and fork, but otherwise you can put whatever tire on you like.

Personally, I would go with the more aggressive tread. Paths open up that you never knew existed.

Thank you, I appreciate this information.

I was thinking just the opposite. Unless the tread is really open it tends to just fill in with mud so you have a slick anyway. Other than on pretty technical rocky trails I find it pretty easy to overstate the benefits of tread on a bike tire.

An aggressive tread is an open tread.

Ruined a stock tire on my 7D, replaced both with Fat Frank's.
very nice tire for this applicatio, work well on dirt/gravel, sand, pavement.
just keep the pressure 35-40 psi.