ArkyKenny on 1/2/2014 2:30:56 PM:
I'm a bit of a tire freak, so I'll jump in.
Dave makes a good point: The east side of the trail and the west side of the trail are different beasts as far as the Katy Trail surface is concerned. For that matter, Spring/Summer/Fall are different beasts, and wet vs. dry is different as well.
When it comes to Katy tire selection, I don't think I go out on too much of a limb by saying that 1) Mountain bike knobbies are not necessary, 2) Hybrid or semi-slick tires are the most common tires you will see on the trail. From there, you will have to make adjustments.
I would choose a mountain bike with 1 1/2 wide semi slicks (that you can pick up for not much money at Wal-Mart) over $50 Kevlar road tires for virtually every trip on the Katy. The exception to that would be if I was trying to ride the whole thing in 1 day--or cover some long distance. Even then, for a 1 day entire trail trip, I'd pick 28mm touring tires on a road bike. I would never use "Road" slick tires unless that is all I had: But if that was all I had, I'd use them and have a great time.
By the way, I have a new/unused set of Conti TouringPlus 700x 28's that I'd love to sell you at a good price.