-Start with the widest tire that fits your bike.
-Use the most supple casing you can get away with, given the terrain and your riding style.
-Don’t worry much about tread pattern.
-When in doubt, choose a dual-purpose knobby.
-Adjust tire pressure to fine-tune how your bike feels. When in doubt, run lower pressures.
-Think in terms of bike handling and feel, not speed, when choosing your wheel size.
-Choose tires that give you confidence.
-During the race, you don’t want to think about your tires, but focus on your ride.
This could have been the whole article and it would have been fine. This is decent advice, but nothing revolutionary.
If you've picked a supple casing and you're worried about cutting your sidewalls you've fucked yourself on the rest of the points. Who knows what you can "get away with"?
Here's some more tyre chat that should be in the tyre thread...
This could have been the whole article and it would have been fine. This is decent advice, but nothing revolutionary.