Hi, I recently bought a older Litespeed Appalachian with Mavic CXP 12 rims. The bike need new tires. Aprox 75% of my riding is paved road, 25% being cinder railroad bed & gravel roads. Any help with tire size, tread, brand etc would be appreciated. Thanks.

These are 700c rims, so any major tire manufacturer would have sizes to fit them. If you are going to be riding 25% of the time off paved roads I'd look at a 28mm or wider (if your frame will take it) Gatorskin by Continental. Another popular all-condition tire is the Specialized Armadillo, but if I remember correctly the widest it comes is 28mm.

I would get 32MM touring-specific tires. I think the Appalacian can fit them. Not super sexy looking, not light... but will be comfortable, flat resistant, durable, give good grip on the gravel and will allow you to run lower pressure without fear of a flat.

These are awesome touring tires, available at 32MM.

With gravel roads, I would use wider tires, like Hiro11 suggests