Are slick tires worth it for commuting? I commute to work on a Marin San Rafael on roads over a mix of flat to steep roads. My bike came with "700 x 35c with Puncture Protection" semi-slick tires:



In the bike shed at work I noticed another bike had slick tires, without any tread. After doing a little research online I found these tires:



I'm wondering whether or not it's worth changed my existing tires for these. My main desire is faster, easier riding on the road. Will these (or similar) tires provide less rolling resistance over the default tires I already have?
Yes, definitely -- if you're riding on mostly paved roads, switch to bald-ish tires. Rolling resistance is huge and equates directly to effort, though as you start going really fast it is dwarfed by air and gravity of course. Per the graph here:



However, one caution: road tires tend to be skinny, and you probably want fat-but-bald tires instead. If you go from a 35mm wide treaded tire to a 25mm bald tire, you will feel a lot more bumps.

So in summary: bald, for sure, but don't sacrifice too much width/comfort in the process.