Are you prioritising speed over puncture protection for a change of tires? Your current tires are very heavy. I’m not sure you’d need to invest in new rims if you simply replace your tires. You’re cutrently running ‘hybrid’ tires. This is fine for things like short jaunts, city commuting, that sort of thing. But for more proper open road riding, it’s your tires that will be holding you back, not your rims.

There are a plethora of good, lightweight, fast tires in 32mm. 35 is usually a size reserved for more ‘utility’ tires. But it’s going to be hard to offer recommendations with so little info to work with. Things like your weight, the type of roads will be riding on, is there a higher chance of punctures from debris or things like thorns? Could you be prone to pinch flats if you move down to a smaller tire? (Related to your weight) budget, willing to spend? Can you fit a tire larger than 35mm?

most of us can really only make recommendations based on our own experiences and the tires we ride on. One of my favourite daily ride tires, is the 32mm Panaracer GravelKing (slick version). These tires offer puncture protection, are fast rolling and very lightweight by comparison to your tires. (290g per tire, vs your tires at 635g. Or to put it another way, your tires together weigh about 3 pounds, mine weigh 1.3 pounds) I’ll say this: most good quality tires, even performance tires typically have some form of puncture protection. It’s hard to buy a set today that doesn’t. But the bottom line is that your tires are heavy. Very heavy. This means the list of upgrades is a really long one. This means nearly any ‘performance’ tire will feel like a massive upgrade. without some more info, it’s going to be difficult to narrow things down.

I’ve had 2 sets of H2s on my commuter bike 26” versions). Great tires for their intended purpose (urban commuting), and actually fairly fast rolling for a relatively inexpensive “hybrid” tire.

But compared to a proper performance road tire, they are fairly slow, both in terms of weight and rolling resistance.

I have a set of 35mm Compass Bon Jon Pass tires that are rediculously fast and smooth. There is some pretty over-the-top hype around some of the Compass offerings, and in my experience it is pretty well deserved. However, they are very expensive, and if you are prone to flats or tire damage, might not be a good choice. That said, I have yet to get a flat on the Bon Jons or the Barlow Pass (the 38mm version), despite riding on a lot of dirt and gravel. Also, people report having mixed results running these tubeless.

From reading a lot of reviews, the Panaracer Gravel King slick seems like a good choice for a lot less money. It comes in 32c and 38c. I may get a set of them next becuase they apparently set up for tubeless very easily.

Other suggestions in this thread are probably good as well.

I would not bother with new rims, as that means a new wheelset. I think the change in tires will make a noticable difference on its own.

if you’re looking for a good balance, and you don’t beleive the roads present any more danger of punctures than normal, and you believe you can fit larger than 35, then I would actually recommend the panaracer gravelking 38mm. A plusher ride than your current 35’s, half the weight (at about 320g per tire) and much faster, with puncture protection. This tire would make a massive difference in the way your bike feels and handles, while giving even more comfort than your current tires. These can be typically be purchased online for about $45 USD per tire. If you don’t want to go 38mm or would like to keep some room for fenders, I would strongly recommend the 32mm version. This can be found online for the same price. I genuinely believe, given your stated weight, your more general needs/desires, that the gravelkings would be an excellent choice. As you can see from the other comments they already have multiple recommendations. I commute on the 32’s everyday. Both the 32 and 38mm are ‘tubless’ compatible as well, if that’s also a consideration. You could also get the ‘sk’ version with side knobs for proper gravel/off-road use, but I think the ‘slick’ version would be the best choice.

there are still a plethora of choices in this range though, from schwalbe, continental, vittoria, soma, etc, etc.

Some me people have mentioned Compass tires, but if you would like to stay within $100 or less, I wouldn’t recommend them. These tires are very ‘plush’ tires, but they prioritise lightness and softness over everything else. They’re great tires but they don’t really offer puncture protection, they’ll wear quickly and you’ll cough up quite a few pennies. The gravelkings will give you a good %80 of that for a lot less. compass tires are made by panaracer anyway.

A few other good choices would be the Soma Shikoro. It can be had in 33 and 38mm. Has a little more puncture protection than the gravelkings, but similar weight (both lighter than your current tires). Good grip and fast rolling. I can personally vouch for the tires as I can the gravelkings. These are also made by panaracer and are tubeless compatible. These are generally more expensive, but you can find them online typically for the same price as the gravelkings.
Fairweather also has a few choices that would be good: the ‘Cruise’ 38mm and the ‘Traveler’ 32mm. Similar weight to both the gravelkings and shikoro, and they also come in a selection of colours, if that’s your thing. These can be had for around $35 per tire. The Fairwether tires are also made by panaracer. The ‘traveler’ is a copy of the Gravelking, and the ‘cruise’ is a copy of the panaracer Pasela. These are the lightest options, because they have the least puncture protection.

the main reason for my recommendations, is because these tires strike a good balance, but offer massively improved performance without sacrifice of comfort. If you’re asking about upgrading both tires and wheels, I think it would be smarter and more economical to spend the money on lighter tires. It will cost you less in total upgrades, and greatly improve the weight, handling and overall enjoyment of the bike. This would negate the need for a wheel upgrade, that staying with a cheaper, heavier tire might push you to continue wanting. There are plenty of cheap options out there, in 32-38mm range, but most wont be much if any better than what you have.

If if you are in Japan, I believe you can get panaracer, soma and fairweather tires pretty easily and cheaply. BlueLug in either Hatagaya or Kamiuma should be able to help you out.

Actually, the tread rubber of Compass tires is unusually thick for such a pricey performance-oriented tire; they're about 3mm at the centerline, despite a very thin casing and no puncture-protection layer. Consequentially, they're very long-wearing compared with Gravelkings, which achieve their extremely light weight (in some sizes lighter than Compass) by using incredibly thin tread rubber.

ive only ever used the EL, so maybe that changed my experience. However, the ZSG compound on the gravelkings is just as long wearing as any middle range ‘performance’ tires and I’m not sure the OP does enough miles to warrant that 3mm thick treading. None of this changes the fact that I believe the compass to not be a good choice for the OP. That’s too much of an extreme change and probably not worth the cost, when the heavy frame won’t benefit much. This is actually why I strongly recommend the gravelkings. As I said, you get a good %80 of what the compass tires offer for less, including some puncture protection. Besides that, a 38mm gravelking weighs less than a 35mm compass bon jon pass. (355g to 320g). That’s really hard to beat, for the price, and a good upgrade over his current tires.

no. None. They’re good performing tires, but they are an absolute PITA, to mount. Also, I don’t think tires like that are a good choice for the OP. His frame is pretty heavy, he’s not doing any performance specific riding, and he’s coming from hybrid tires similar to a schwalbe marathon or delta cruiser. He doesn’t need racing tires, he needs good middle range performing tires that improve the handling, grip and sheds excess rotational weight. Taking the OPs information and stated use, the gravelkings fit the bill perfectly.

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i agree with you about the 38, but I only mentioned that after he stated he believed he had room for larger than 35mm. So it was a “why not” sort of suggestion. My first suggestion was the 32s, especially if he would like to run fenders at some point. Either one, I think would be a really good choice. More importantly, they make sense.

h+Son tb14. But I’m far from the only person to have issues mounting stranda biancas. I would say, if yours mounted easy, you’re in the minority. Excellent tires though, no doubt. These are the only tires to ever break leavers trying to mount, that I’ve experienced.