I had noticed that my chain was wearing down after the daily abuse I put it through, so on Sunday I went and got a Shimano Hyperglide chain as a replacement for my previous stock one.
Again, after consulting the late Sheldon Brown, I came away with a deep understanding of the finer points of drive train maintenance and theory. One of the most profound statements I've ever heard regarding shift quality is that your derailleurs don't do the shifting, the chain does. At first this seems a little odd, because surely the sole function of a derailleur is to shift gears right?
If you think it through, what the derailleur does is move the chain so that it can shift gears by hopping up or down the cassette to an adjacent sprocket. Thusly, the chain is where all of the actual shifting of gears takes place, and verily, it is frequently the culprit of many of the discomforts of a well-used bicycle.
Taking this advice to heart, I bought and installed the highest-end chain available; which at a measly $45 is one of the best places to spend the extra buck on your bike. I immediately noticed a profound improvement in my shifting thanks to Shimano's latest technological advances.
Their brilliant engineers have developed a kind of chain that can shift very quietly and smoothly under full power, as opposed to having to let up a little on the pedals as in older drive train setups. In order to further facilitate smooth shifting, they also developed Hyperglide cassettes with oddly shaped sprockets that appear to be broken or missing teeth, though are carefully engineered to quietly accept the chain as it moves from sprocket to sprocket.
This is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of bicycles since chains are usually grease-covered pant-leg enemies, though many similarly discreet advancements have been made by Shimano and have since become standard fare in bike componentry.
Having read up on the curmudgeonly Campagnolo and their famed snootiness, I have developed quite a bit of respect for Shimano as a multi-national corporation. Most innovations in any technical field are introduced in the "top-down" manner, where the latest improvements are available only on the most ridiculously expensive components until they gain notoriety. These improvements then eventually trickle down to the lower end components that regular people like me can afford until they are proclaimed "industry standards".
Shimano worked in the opposite way for many many years, where they focused on using heavier and cheaper materials to focus on improving the basic functions of drivetrains. If the innovations caught on (and they did) they would bring it to their more finely crafted and expensive products to cater toward those concerned with outright performance.
Using this marketing strategy they've introduced and continue to manufacture the very best in modern cycling equipment such as Shimano Total Integration (STI) brake/shift levers, Shimano Pedaling Dynamics (SPD) clipless pedals, Shimano Linear Response (SLR) brakes, Freehubs, etc...
Basically everything that you take for granted while riding is thanks to Shimano and their egalitarian business practices.
Then again, some people like to paint themselves as 'purists', rejecting anything that dares challenge the good name of Campagnolo. Personally, however, I am a staunch Shimano customer and Campy parts are as welcome on my bike as Obama is in middle-American classrooms.
(Oh yeah, I just discovered that true-to-form, Campy is copying Shimano's new electronic shifting with their own version... way to innovate, huh?)
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