Since I started cycling "seriously" I have been a look fan. I don't pretend to know what degree of "float" will be best for you be be aware that Look cleats vary. I am 69 years old and routinely ride 30-60 miles at a time. I have replaced my cleats many times but so far (thank you God) never my knees. These also seem very durable as I get at least a full 5000 mile "season" out of them. Now the only issue is that when new they can become a bit difficult to engage and disengage. I use Finish Line Cleat and Pedal spray to help especially for the first dozen rides when I replace a set. I have found that to be a great product and believe you might no matter what your pedal system.
I've been looking for a saddle with a large relief channel for one of my bikes that has a low rail stack height to replace a Selle Italia Super Flow which is not comfortable for longer rides (longer than 3 hours). The low stack height is is needed for me on this bike to accommodate my fit because of the seat post height limit on the low side. After testing a few and reading multiple reviews and asking questions on forums I decided to try this out and it's exactly what I was looking for. I normally do a dozen more more 100 mile + rides a year, and this saddle has what I need to be comfortable on these. There's just enough padding and flex to be comfortable on long rides, not so much that it increases the weight. There's also plenty of room to move forward and back on the saddle for climbing, comfort etc. The nose is not so wide that it causes my thighs to rub it like many TT/short nose saddles but it has enough padding at the nose you can sit on it comfortably for a long time. The relief channel goes all the way to the tip of the nose too unlike some other options. Measurements that were important to me - rail stack height 44mm (in the center, top of saddle to bottom of rails). Nose of saddle 50mm wide measured at 40mm back from the front tip.
Very little cost to protect your carbon bike that cost in the thousands. I have these on all of my bikes and the gravel bike is no exception, prior to first ride this was installed and prevents chain drop and damage to your frame, it is a must buy.
What's great about this product? Unlike Shimano 11-speed cassettes for road use, you can separate most of the cogs on the SRAM cassettes, allowing much more thorough cleaning between maintenance intervals. Additionally, the gearing is a huge benefit for these cassettes (11-36T) over the Shimano equivalent (11-34T). The spacing in the lower cogs is only 1T apart, meaning that the cogs go 11-12-13... and then fan out near the cassette top. This gives great ratios for flats and descents, as well as gear options for climbing. Moreover, these cassettes are EXTREMELY durable - I have yet to break a tooth, and I ride these for 10,000 mi+ in all sorts of weather conditions - they show minimal wear (I do keep them clean between rides, and especially thorough on maintenance intervals). They are made of very resilient steel. Although, they can be a bit louder than the Shimano counterparts due to having many different separate cogs separated by spacers, versus a lot of them connected via a couple of spiders, it is much more practical, and you get used to it. Again, this design makes the cassette much easier to inspect and clean. I would never go back to the Shimano equivalents. I always buy these, and I have never had any issue with them. HIGHLY recommend them if you're on the fence. Shimano "GS" derailleurs will shift 11-36T just fine - Shimano just specifies the maximum limit to 34T as they do not make anything larger than 34T. I've used these fine in 11-36T configurations on Shimano GS/RX derailleurs - mechanical and Di2. FLAWLESS.
