El Cid

It seems like most tires out there are varying degrees of trade-off between rolling resistance and cornering. But I'd rather go all out on traction, even at a high cost in speed. If I got into mountain biking sooner, I would've been a fan of the "Nevergo" before they remade it and gave up some traction.

Now the 45North Nicotine looks like my winter tire of choice, and I'm pumped for the Surly Dirt Wizard to come out next summer. How many of you would rather balance traction/rolling resistance rather than going all one way?

dminor 

All depends on the riding. For DH, I chose traction over rolling resistance; so Maxxis Minion DHF 3c all the way. For Enduro and trail riding I err a little more to giving up some traction for better rolling - - but not much - - so I've settled on High Roller II 2.4s. XC racing is another matter: I've ridden enough traction-at-the-expense-of-rolling-resistance to hate the feeling and am confident enough in my bike-handling to err on the side of rolling resistance at the expense of some traction so I don't feel like I'm going backwards. Although I still prefer a High Roller up front for cornering.

El Cid

I've never tried downhill racing, but there's a local ski hill that allows it in summer. For trail riding, maybe it's just a matter of experience. And having 29" wheels is part of it too -- on my way around a tight switchback, I really have to lay my bike down into the turn. I've had my Knards slip out from under me a few times, and I'm counting on the Dirt Wizard to hold a little better.