TCR

Been riding some older Tempest II's for the past 4 years and have zero complaints with them. They've been very stiff, stayed true, and weigh in somewhere around 1790g. So I picked up a new set of Easton Ascent II's (1419g) and have about 200 miles on them so far with about 1/4th of that climbing and I have to say there's not much of a difference between the two sets. Sure the Tempests are a little stiffer and accelerate faster in a sprint (barely) and the Ascents are lighter and go up a hill a little faster (again, barely) but the difference is so small it's practically nothing. So, what's my point you ask? Uhh, I dunno...

runtimmyc

What are you measuring the differences with? By feel?

TCR

Yep.

irish pat

I race with a 1300g wheelset and train with a 1600g wheelset. I am a climber, I can tell the difference in wheelweight. The light set are AC 350, the others are SSC SL. It's like night and day for me.

TCR

Well, I also have a set of old Mavic CXP21's, which I don't know the weight but I think it's comparable to my Tempest's, maybe a little heavier. I can really feel the difference between these two wheelsets, as you say night and day, but that's due to the stiffness. The Mavic's flex like crazy. Climbing on the Mavic's is a major workout and acceleration is slower.

samsation7

I think the perceived difference is relative to rider's weight. I weigh below 140lbs and I can feel 200grams + difference in my wheels. I train on R600s clinchers and climb on Ligero custom clinchers (H1hubs sapimcx and crostini rims) which weigh around 1360 grams with rim tape and the difference is very noticable.

recneps

No, I woould imagine that you just dont know enough, and havnt ridden enough sets of wheels to feel a difference.

80vette

Interesting. I did feel a big diff between an 1800 gr wheelset (Bontrager race) and a 1400 gr wheelset (Mike Garcia). Part of that was aero and part of it was weight.

zimbo

I'll be honest... Assuming I'm using the same cassette, I can't tell a difference.

--Steve

halfspeed

Either that or the OP is a little more immune to the placebo effect.

TCR

Yea, I'm sure you're right. I've been told my bike has gears and that using them really helps. As soon as I figure out how those silver levers on the steering wheel works I'll get back to you.

FrankBattle 

part of it is probably that you know you SHOULD feel a difference, so you go ahead and feel one (for those who feel the difference, that is).

But at this point, we have been conditioned to think lighter is the way to go .. so, I'm not going to debate the point. If it works for you .. ?

unbelievably

I wet from Open Pros on 105 hubs to American Classic 420 bladed.
Although riding through the mountains was no easier,
I did make it further with less effort.
Going down hill is a different story...they fly.
I'm in the 85kg. range
and these are the only two wheel sets that I have really spent time on.

531Aussie

wheel weight is bollocks, rotational weight is bollocks, and 370g is nothing. Wheels feel faster when they're stiffer, have better hubs and/or are more aero.

I went from a pair of 28-hole Open Pros with Dura-Ace hubs and DT Revolutions (Competitions on the rear drive side), to a beefy pair of 32-hole 30mm deep DT RR 1.2s with Ultegra hubs and DT Competitions, weighing about 2100g, and guess what? The 'beefy' wheels feel faster and acclerate faster, because they're stiffer.

IF a 1kg lighter wheelset makes a bike feel faster, it's possibly because the whole bike is 1kg lighter, but it's most likely because a 1200g pair of wheels will have the best hubs the owner has ever used. A lot of people buy new, lighter wheels and think they're faster coz they're 400g lighter than their old wheels, but it's really because they've gone from crap hubs to brand new, super smooth catridges. The above post is a good example: 105 hubs to sealed Amercian Classics? Big difference in smoothness.

If wheel weight is SO vital, why do the world's best riders time-trial at the world's most important races with 2035g aero wheels (Mavic Comete and iO)? And they're Mavic's weights, so they probably really weight more. And don't tell me road time-trialers don't have to accelerate out of corners, bends and up slight inclines.

https://www.mavic.com/ewb_pages/p/pro...ute&annee=2007
https://www.mavic.com/ewb_pages/p/pis...ste&annee=2007

donrhummy

The only way to know for sure is a power meter.

FrankBattle 

Unless you are buying the power meter because you are that serious about your race training, then maybe it's overkill.

Are we over-thinking this just a tad?

Good point on the hubs + stiffness. Makes a ton of sense (370g in this case)

recneps

Yeah, you should probably figure out how to use those things, also you might want to figure out why there's a steering wheel on you bike.