fuji, you seem to know much more about other things than you do bikes, which is fine. however, you keep making comparisons and parallels (like to car wheels, or golf clubs, or whatever) that are not always applicable.

with respect to golf clubs: I'm not a golfer. I've never been golfing aside from a few trips to the driving range with my dad when I was a kid. It's silly to expect me, or anyone else, to draw a comparison between bikes and golf clubs, seeing as how this isnt a golfing forum. However, with relative certainty, I can say I am a cyclist. I ride my bike just about every day, and I'd probably be able to tell if someone swapped my frame out for something else, and painted it to look like the original... If somebody golfed everyday, I'm sure they could tell the difference between clubs.

with respect to frames: it's not just the weight. Of course one may be a bit heavier than the other, but that's not the whole of the conversation. obviously, weight affects handling a bit, but even the characteristics of the metal/tubing dictate something about ride quality. Will the frame be flexy or stiff? Will it be smooth or jarring? Personally I've never truly understood how a frame could be both smooth and stiff, but if I had to guess, it would come down to the metal, and hell, maybe even the resonant frequency of the bike and/or tubing: a bike manufactured to allow small, rapid vibration, and absorb road buzz, but to dis-allow large vibration/flexing to maximize power transfer. I don't know if that is indeed the secret to a stiff yet smooth frame, but I do know that if the frame size, weight, and geo are the same, it's stuff like this that will make the difference between them.

with respect to your overall actions: there is a dissonance between that which you appear to take seriously about cycling, and that which you dont. Stating that you can't tell the difference between the ride characteristics of hi-ten vs chromoly, yet you can tell the difference between slightly out of true/imbalanced wheels is suspiciously puzzling. That you're willing to pick nits over the disadvantages of foot retention. That you maintain these lofty positions regarding performance when you've previously claimed (paraphrasing from the toe overlap thread) that you don't take cycling that seriously and have a tendency to ride around with your friends who have cruisers.

You sound a bit self deluded, like your priorities regarding cycling are a bit out of order, and that you don't fully understand what you're talking about. that's fine (i guess), as we all start somewhere, and even the most knowledgeable are still learning. but please recognize this, and come to the table eager to learn, or at least willing to admit you're OCD about some things, and that even if it's not what's "right," it's how you prefer it. In the meantime, you're just confusing the hell out of the rest of us.

edit/addition: oh, and with respect to telling the difference: yeah, it's 50/50 if it's one shot. If it's repeated several times with several different hi-ten vs chromoly bikes, then it's not just chance, it shows more and more that you truly know your stuff...