Mostly true. But some stuff I’ve been reading suggests that wheel weight is not that critical. Overall weight is what counts most for steady state climbing which is mostly what we do. Road sprinters are on deep section rims which if light rims were better for sprinting is the wrong thing for sprinters to do. This article concludes that aerodynamics trump wheel weight. [http://www.biketechreview.com/reviews/wheels/63-wheel-performance](http://www.biketechreview.com/reviews/wheels/63-wheel-performance)
The weight difference between various rims is very small in comparison to the weight of the bike and rider.
Weight really matters to me when I’m trying to heft a bike out of a pickup when using a gate pad. Most trucks these days have the top of the bed at 4 or 5 feet up. At 5’ 5” that’s a tall order to hoist a behemoth out. Another reason I’m not interested in an ebike.
Feb. 27, 2020, 2:50 p.m. - Andy Eunson
Mostly true. But some stuff I’ve been reading suggests that wheel weight is not that critical. Overall weight is what counts most for steady state climbing which is mostly what we do. Road sprinters are on deep section rims which if light rims were better for sprinting is the wrong thing for sprinters to do. This article concludes that aerodynamics trump wheel weight. [http://www.biketechreview.com/reviews/wheels/63-wheel-performance](http://www.biketechreview.com/reviews/wheels/63-wheel-performance) The weight difference between various rims is very small in comparison to the weight of the bike and rider. Weight really matters to me when I’m trying to heft a bike out of a pickup when using a gate pad. Most trucks these days have the top of the bed at 4 or 5 feet up. At 5’ 5” that’s a tall order to hoist a behemoth out. Another reason I’m not interested in an ebike.