My bike is a Merida Cross 4, which has 700C wheels and a higher geering, which probably makes the difference notable. I've got 50-34 (not stock) & 27-12 , compared to your 44-22 and 34-11.
Road I go on wanders between smooth and rough, and plenty of bumps, potholes and loose gravel. Anything loose is crap on slicks though, might as well be riding on ice.
Silly question, how are you measuring speed? I've got a Garmin Edge 500, which records both wheel speed & GPS.
I've only had three punctures on my tires -- bit of glass, chunk of steel, and broken spoke. No tire would stand up to the latter two.
This isn't particularly an argument though, I just don't get how you couldn't feel the speed difference.