In the past I sometimes bought aftermarket cassettes, and when I'd bring the bike in to get help smoothing out some janky shifting, the first thing that I would hear from the mechanic is do you have a Shimano cassette you can install? The advantage of shedding a few grams for a uniblock cassette don't seem so great when you can't get a clean, reliable gear change.
When I was racing, I would spring for the DA cassette for my race wheels, and if money were no object, I'd probably spring for that, but nowadays. Ultegra is the go-to.
The most comfortable SPD cycling shoe for wide feet ever. My feet don't get too hot when riding in 90-degree heat or too cold when the temperature is 40 degrees. The newer version of the shoe fits like a glove. This is my second pair. That's not to say that my first pair is worn out after nearly 20,000 miles of riding tarmac and gravel. I just wanted a backup shoe with the exact fit when the time comes to retire my first pair of RX80. Highly recommend.
Bought on sale for a climbing century. I was concerned I would not be able to use it with my Shimano 9150 DI2 since it was not recommended. I run a sub-compact (50/34). It worked in all gears but didn't want to risk going big-big gear option. So I set my DI2 to full syncro mode and limited gear options to drop down the front to 34 when gearing down (higher up on the cassette) on the rear cassette from 27. This avoided the big-big gear selection that put a lot of stress on my rear derailer. Worked great!
These inexpensive Shimano pedals will last a very long time if they are well maintained. This is my second pair. I bought the first pair probably over 20 years ago. And they have been on a lot of different bikes since then. They still work perfectly and show very little wear. I have never had to do anything to them. I just keep them clean and that's it. The bearings are still perfectly smooth and don't have hardly any play in them at all. Not enough to even notice. And that's only in one of them. The other has no play. But it is still as smooth as glass. The originals have a polished aluminum main body. The new ones are black. And they both have the same chrome steel adjustable clip-ins. They are both easy to clip in and unclip. They are a very good value and well worth the money. If I ever need another pair I will probably buy another pair of these.
