Originally Posted by ThermionicScott

My impression is that Jobst Brandt's arguments about poorer grip and rolling resistance with "tread" were against the bigger knobs seen on MTB tires and the chunky block tread on some road tires, not the file treads that we're discussing here.

So while he was happiest when Avocet made him completely slick tires, I feel like his arguments in favor of "slicks" apply to our tires with very fine tread patterns, too.