Bald Again

god no never a friction drive. my wife says they burn!

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I weigh 185 - bike and the crap I carry is usually about 65 pounds. I use friction drive on an old Schwinn 10-speed. Rear tire was 27 x 1 1/4, then I switched to 700c in rear. Even on the cheapest 27" tire, I would get about 1000 miles. You can find 700c tires with much thicker tread than 27" tires, so now I get 2000 miles (a year of riding for me) before changing. I use $10 Kendas and similar.

I use the front brake almost exclusively.
Still have rear tire wear. I use whatever tire I have in the parts pile usually.
Recently lucked onto a set of NOS Schwinn balloon tires which seem to be wearing quite well so far.
I generally go through two or three rears for every front.

I put the shwalbe big apples on my 29er and they're great! Tough puncture resistant and good for the road with nice tread

Make sure your wheel is true and running straight
Correct tire pressure
Check if theyre directional (the big apples are)
Check for fender rub or anything it could be touching

Don't forget to balance them.

these maybe a little pricey but reviewers are talking 10 000 -20 000 kms on these with only a couple punctures. this is the cheapest I've found them, out of england but shipping is cheap or free and duty isnt too bad, price break makes it worth while. very good cheap bike parts site.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ca/en/schwalbe-marathon-mondial-26-tyre-raceguard/rp-prod83202

I was looking at them but they have such a hard compound that people complain about wet performance, and that is crucial to me. my fat franks wallow too much in the wet I think, so I'm looking for a tire with more of a flat contact tread area

After reading your post, MacZulu, I checked out those Schwalbe Marathons. They do tout the "Marathon compound" for durability. 25 bucks is about twice what I usually spend on a tire, but if they last much longer than my cheap tires, then it might be worth it. Losing traction because the rubber's a little harder doesn't sound likely.