I'm riding the Sidi Ergo 1's, and their the stuff. Super comfortable, and stiff enough. I find that Sidi's fit me the best. Shoes you have to try on to see yourself. The Carnac shoes are awsome, but too narrow for my feet. Look around, Carnac, Sidi, Vittoria, look for shoes with leather. Some companies, like shimano, use a lot of plastic, and you can really feel it. Carbon seatpoast... I used to use the USE Alien, but I broke it doing something stupid. Up untill that it was nice. I'm using the stock Blade carbon seatpoast that used to come with Giants. It does a really good job, but its heavy. I'm going to get the C Record carbon post in the next few weeks, that should be fun.