Originally Posted by waterrockets

It's true, tire pressure and tire design play a much larger role than wheel design/materials in shock absorption.

I don't believe you could even feel the difference between various well-made wheels due to minor inaccuracies in tire pressures. When I was building two hyper-durable wheelsets for my brother-in-law and myself, I chose a 36h Velocity Deep-V rear. I had three different wheelbuilders tell me that it was going to be too stiff for comfort on Texas chipseal. Well, we each kept our respective wheels on the bike for three years before I replaced mine with a PowerTap/Velocity Aerohead OC, and my brother-in-law still prefers his 36h Deep V six years later. While it may be measurably stiffer radially, you can't feel it in your tail at all.