Originally Posted by
gregjones
Unless you ride in dirt, knobby tires slow you down and increase pedaling effort.
Sounds like the OP does ride a fair mount of dirt. I switched our MTB's to street tires years ago, our average speed immediately increased 2-3 MPH and we enjoyed riding a lot more. We ride a lot of gravel, chip & oil streets and a few rails to trails that aren't much more than the old roadbed with the ties and rails pulled out and the roadbed leveled and packed down. I run tube liners and good tires and have never had a flat, no goat's head around here but plenty of other sharp point things.