I care about speed and tick most of the boxes listed.
The biggest thing is training, sleep and nutrition where I don't do it perfectly, and generally every year I have a month to two when everything just falls apart (I'm going to call it an off-season, yep), but I try to improve, and the power curve is improving year on year. Doing loosely structured training with mostly endurance and one to two days per week going beyond that, and a short weights session once per week... most weeks, at least. If I could shed a few more kilos, 4W/kg is within grasp and that provides a bit of extra motivation to eat clean.
Equipment I use is mostly optimized for speed. Aero clothing, already done. It's really a no brainer, a basic Decathlon road suit costs like 100 Eur and you can see the improvement, it really works, there is no comfort downside and it costs as much as a half decent bib and jersey. Low hanging fruit. Aero socks kind of struggle to stay up, tried it on races. Maybe the Silca ones which are more like a normal one? Don't know. Mitts without extra stuff on them, which maybe makes them more aerodynamic, but most importantly lack of velcro makes them not stick to other lycra when washing. Medium depth aero wheels. Cost a bit, but there's practically no downside to 45-50mm deep wheels which give most of the benefits, will probably buy deeper. Top shelf tires, too. Position is pretty aero and optimized, too - it is basically my forte, and I can really make a good effort to bridge a breakaway, although making one is... really hard. The net sum of it helps, but not as much help as I need to stick with the first group.
My bike handling skills are my biggest failing because I started riding late in life. Trying to improve, but sometimes I mess up. 🤷
Last edited by Branko D; 11-11-22 at 01:01 PM.