jonbth

I just bought a mountain bike and will be riding it mostly on the road and need a recommendation on a tire that will be quick on the road but still be able to handle occasional off road use. I was looking at semi slick tires and was wondering if that would be my best choice.

TwinCam

On my around town bike I use WTB Allterrainasaurus and I love them. It's a harder tire that wears well on pavement. Plus it has a round cross section and tightly spaced treadblocks so you can really corner on them. When I use them off-road I'm allways pleasantly suprised by how well I can climb on them. Cornering is a little sketchy tho... And they simply stop working if you hit any mud. Overall I'd reccomend highly.

Oh and they're the same front and back so you can swap them when the pavement starts wearing down the back one.

mosplat

arrow launches?
maxxis holy rollers?
dmr moto diggers?
these are "dirt jump"/"street" tires
but that meaning they're good for street and also good for dirt
they might just be what you're looking for.
i use the regular dmr motos and they're real good on pavement but not great for dirt.
the diggers have a more dirt friendly tread so i'd recommend those.
and i've heard very good things from my friends about the arrows and maxxis.