these seem to be a bit warmer and block the wind better than my other ones.

I haven't put a ton of miles on these yet (maybe 120-150) but so far they seem to work well. I got these to be able to quickly swap out a gravel wheelset for a my road wheelset (which are also a carbon Mercury, which I love) I don't feel as though I have lost anything by useing these wheels with my gravel tires vs. my gravel tires on my road Mercury wheels, so that must mean something.

can't speak to the longevity of these at this point, however they seem to roll really well in gravel road conditions. Feel confident enough in some sketchy situations, although I wouldn't push it in very loose conditions. I also run these at very high PSI (60-70) so I'm sure they would grip better at a lower PSI

These are the only cycling shoes I can get in my size (17) so I can't compare them to anything else, however, they certainly seem to live up to there reputation. They are comfortable and have held up extremely well under all sorts of conditions. I own 3 pair, 1 for riding, 1 for my trainer and the recent one simply so I have a spare pair.