Premium cycling shoes help me use my feet better to permit a higher cadence. Having a silent gear train and smooth shifting over terrain changes keeps my headspace confident in my effort level. Eliminating any bouncing but being slid back some on a slightly lowered saddle seems to be less hard core so I can unweight my butt but still keep close to 100rpm cadence without any dreaded hot spots in my feet or pinchies from migrating to where my taint is riding the rivet (so to speak).