mburgess86

Right now on my Cross bike I'm running with a set 35 mm Kenda slant six. The rear tire is just about worn out I was thinking about a faster tire on the rear possibly a touring tire with good puncture resistance and low rolling resistance. I use this bike for commuting about 20 miles daily and I am planning on doing some long gravel rides this summer as well as touring in the future. Is this a good idea? please give me some recommendations on tires and sizes..

FBinNY 

There's no issue about mixing front and rear tires, so feel free to buy the rear tire of your choice now, and replace the front tire with the same or other later on.

The only advantage of using the same tires front and rear is convenience. It lets you buy spares in advance without worrying about which wheel they're for. Another advantage is that if the front tire suffers some damage that makes it iffier, you can move it to the rear to kill it off. In gact many riders do exactly that, always mounting new tires up front, and moving the front tire to the back to die.

Sometimes there's an advantage to mixing tires, for example if riding off road, you might use a tire with tread made to optimize steering control up front, and a "pusher" tread in the back the way farm tractors are set up. There are other mixed combinations for specific conditions, so same, or mixed, it's all up to you.