Shimano

I have 11-speed drivetrains on both my road and gravel bikes (Ultegra and GRX). About a year ago, I switched to the DA version chains, based on recommendations from Josh Portner (Marginal Gains) and Dylan Johnson (Bonk Bros). They both report slightly better efficiency vs Ultegra, and considerably better than other brands. I am not sure I can notice the 2-3 watt difference compared to the Ultegra, but I feel they are slightly quieter and shift nicer. Might be my imagination though.

I use Silca hot wax, with their drip on wax (Super Secret) between, and get at least 3,000 miles before detecting and chain stretch. I'm not at all fanatical about cleaning, and especially my gravel bike deals with a lot of dirt, plus the occasional water crossing.

Expensive, and maybe not that much better than Ultegra, but I buy them when BTD has them on sale.

It works on road bikes without even having to use a hangar extender (Woflink etc), just tighten the b-screw and there's plenty of space. As a bigger girl I couldn't get up long steep mountain grades (>12% for a mile or more) in the saddle without this thing

If you're looking for big climbing gears and willing to spend the money and don't mind the wider gaps in gearing, get this instead of the Ultegra 11-34 cassette since this provides a huge range and weighs a couple grams less

I am a Sidi guy, but have a wide forefoot and the latest Sidis have just been too narrow for me. I have a lot of other Shimano products and tried this on in the shop - wow! I got it in the wide version for the fit, which is excellent in front and it still has a nice tight heel cup. Sizing is accurate (9 = 43). The closure system is one of the best I have used with even tension everywhere and great comfort. Fully tightened down, it is like the shoe is not even there. I am a fan of white shoes, but I like some accent colors. The white S-Phyre is really, really white - I am hoping the hospital look goes away after some wear and a few wet rides.

All in all really pleased with the shoe, and happy to have found it on sale through BTD!

These wheels are easy to overlook going by the spec sheet alone, but these wheels are much better than the specs would suggest. They are super responsive and more comfortable than I expected, certainly not to the level of something with a 25mm internal width, but they handle rough pavement surprisingly well. The stiffness is really impressive, I'm able to put out about 1000 watts in short bursts and I don't notice any lateral flex or spoke deformation at all. They hold air better than any wheels I've previously used, I think that is partly due to the GP5K AS TR tires, but Shimano definitely made this wheel the right way. These are probably the most stable wheels in crosswinds that I've ridden and they hold speed nicely as well. Shimano might have a more modern design in the works at this point, but these wheels are still really solid performance wise and the ride feel is amazing, they feel fast even at lower speeds which makes them a lot of fun to ride. When they are on sale it is a great value.