My new bike came with Bontrager Dry X which seemed fine and were sure-footed. I read some article about how crap they were and so lost confidence in their ability (yes I am an idiot), bought a pair of Racing Ralphs for a small fortune and have been scared witless since. Anyone else as persuadable?

nope.

i love racing ralphs. plenty grippy, fast rolling tire.

Have you had a fiddle with your pressures. I'm still running Racing Ralphs and OK they ain't super grippy but they don't clog and they're fast the rest of the time, plus they do hook up after a little slide.