I'm not racing anyone so why do I give two cents what tire you choose to go faster? So what I lose some watts. I'm in it for my health and with arthritic hands, the last thing I want to do is be changing tire tubes on the side of the road. Since I switched to 28 mm tires from 25 mm and adjusted the psi to 85 front and 95 rear, I do not find the ride harsh but firm. I got 8,000 miles out of one set and still had miles to use on the front without one flat. Hard to beat that.