Road bike recommendations

Rychtarski* can take 25mm + guards yes; it has long drop calipers. It also fits me better somehow; is lighter and feels faster; with TFG I could ignore the weight and use it as a commuter the only minus point apart from weight is that its concentrated at the rear axle so feels even more sluggish.

Maybe the fact you run the heaviest tyres known to mankind on the TF contributed to this?