Let's talk tires...

OK, so I have a Bianchi Volpe, which I love dearly, as I keep prattling on about. :)

It came with big ol' cross tires on it - knobbies, even. WTB All Terrainasaurus. Now...I'm suddenly doing more road riding, and (if I get the courage up to ride in daytime traffic), I'm going to start commuting at least a few days a week, starting next week. That's in writing now - eek!

The knobbies are heavy and noisy and - I think - maybe not as stable on pavement as smoother tires would be. I'm still nervous about going super narrow, but I think to save weight and for less resistance, I do want to drop to a 28c road tire.

Any suggestions for something good and durable for a commuter / recreation bike? I know Knotted likes her Vittoria Randonneurs, and those are on my list to ask the LBS folks about - especially since I like the idea of finding reflectives. Any other suggestions before I go down there? If I had to pick between flat resistance and light weight, I'd go with the flat resistance every time, if that helps narrow things down...

Vittoria Randonneurs!!! :D :D :D

Specialized Armadillos. Very puncture resistant. Have them on all of my bikes.

Continental Ultra Gatorskins. A lot of Randonneurs use these, and they ride for hundreds of miles a day, and in the upper thousands of miles a year

I will second the continental ultra gatorskins! great tires. Except for that time I let pressure go to low I haven't had a problem and I do a lot of city biking ie there is a lot of glass and metal I don't manage to ride around.

Armadillos have been the only tires that have managed to keep the winter flats away for my husband, now if you wan't totally bomb proof.....
these things are just about as puncture proof as it gets
http://schwalbetires.com/node/142/ok
my LBS has some of these cut apart and you can really see how thick the tire is.

Pasela Panaracers with TourGuard (Kevlar anti-flat liner). Various widths.

OK, so I went to the bike shop, and we talked tires. They're getting in some Rivendell Roll-y Poly's (however they spell the things!) later this week, and those sounded good, too. Apparently they're a good, tough, long-distance sort of tire, still wide enough to be comfy.

So I didn't make any kind of purchase, but I did ask to be called when those come in so I can see 'em. Anyone have any experience with those?

I have a set of those Schwalbe Marathon tires. They make your bike ride & sound like a semi, and they are extremely difficult to put on/take off. After about a half mile of trying to ride with them, I took them off my bike. LOL