When I first built my bike I put 25 Conti Ultra Sport II’s. I’ve got around 20 punctures in 6 months, some were sharp objects, but mostly pinch flats. I ran them first at 6.5-7 bar but after so many pinch flats I increased the pressure to 7.5-8 Bar, which was noticably less comfortable and flats happened anyway. This season I switched to tubeless 28 Pirelli Cinturato Velo’s, at 5 bar. No flats whatsoever. A few times i lost pressure overnight after riding, but the sealant did it’s job and I just pumped them back up. Tubeless setup was a faff but after doing it once I’m done for months and months. Comfort and confidence on descents are vastly improved. Rolling resistance seems the same on smooth and better on rougher asphalt, while gravel riding is night and day difference. After tires the best upgrade was carbon seatpost, a chinese VCLS knockoff. It added roughly the same amount of comfort as new tires did.