veganbikes

Jan Heine at René Herse Cycles has done a ton of research on tires and has fairly well concluded that wider tires are not slower. I won't go deep into his thoughts as he can tell them better and has on his blog/journal but essentially for me lower pressure wider tires more easily rolls over anything instead of having to deflect and lose speed and with more comfort and confidence on the road I can go faster. However a lot of factors go into tires like tread, sidewall, rubber compounds...and that will all contribute or take away from your ride.

If you are looking for a better ride a nice tire with a supple sidewall and some extra width will certainly be a boon. The wider lower pressure tire will also help with flats as I eluded too above. A skinny tire is potentially faster on a smooth surface like say an indoor velodrome but in the real world the wider tire is going to perform better. Very few people after riding wider tires say "I want something a lot narrower" the only time I go narrow is when I cannot fit anything more in the bike which has happened a few times.

For me the perfect tire for road is in the 28-42mm range and ideally would be a nice soft and supple sidewall with a good rubber on top ideally with graphene probably in a nice chevron pattern or something non-obtrusive.