Just to clear some things up in this thread:
- A lighter bike will not give you a faster top speed, but will allow you to accelerate faster (F = ma) (Note: the exception is on an incline. However, assuming you start and end at the same altitude, you're doing pretty much the same amount of work either way.)
- Chopping off weight in the wheels/tires will give you the greatest benefit in this area as you need to both move and rotate that mass (i.e. you must provide the energy for both linear and rotational motion)
- However, lighter wheels also means that the work done by drag forces will be more effective, and thus you will lose speed more quickly when you are coasting.
- Your greatest enemy, as indicated in this thread, are wind and inclination
- The evil thing about wind is that your ground velocity doesn't matter; it's the relative velocity. A 10 mph headwind will give you 20 mph air resistance if you travel at 10 mph.
- As cliche as it is to say, you will stand to gain the most speed by building muscle and improving form. It's when you already have the muscle and form that you try to tune the little bits to gain the edge against other guys in top shape/form.