Thanks Scrod, that's the sort of reply I was looking for. Nice bike by the way . 725? You think the crosswinds are due mostly to the Aero? Have ya tried swapping out that H+Son(?) for a shorter rim?

Redpear, I tend to assume the general public doesn't really know (or care) too much about this debate. I can deal with some cyclists thinking I'm just another hipster (and that secretly behind the stigma a lot of people probably like this look ).

Erpdat, the point is that I care about BOTH.

So, by coincidence, one of my team-members (messenger service in Montreal) was able to let me try out their aerospoke today for a ride. Today also happened to be nice and windy, so we tried it out in as many circumstances as time allowed: uphill, downhill, leisure, speed on flat ground, fast turns (not enough traffic to have more fun). Honestly, I think the hate is undeserved. I totally think you're paying for the look, but the ride was also super nice, not crap like so many people on forums have told me (who I'm getting the impression haven't tried one). Was -definitely- way better than the Vuelta I had been using.

SO:
Uphill: Definitely felt the weight and an extra push needed. Con.
Downhill + speed on flat ground: Definitely felt some 'aero' quality to the wheel. Downhill felt smoother and more controlled than with Vuelta. Flat ground was just a small, but noticeable bit easier to keep up higher speeds. Pro.
Leisure: Neutral. Felt weight, but not in a bad way. Kind of like some of the nicer aspects of riding a cruiser, stable and comfortable.
Fast turns: Need more riding to tell, but definitely not negative.
Crosswinds: I found the aerospoke to feel crosswinds for sure, but it was slightly less than my 30mm medium-V Vueltas. Maybe it's just the weight of the wheel, but I definitely was not fighting the wind as badly as I had been on the ride to my friends and earlier in the day.

I think there's something to be said for the 'aero' quality of the wheel after a brief a trial. I'm convinced to ditch the Veeps which are about the same weight (the only account I have of Aerospoke front weight is actually less than the Julians and B43s) and presumably catch even more crosswinds than my 30mm Vueltas do. Veeps and Aerospokes both seem to have a reputation for their durability, but since I'm just lazy (I ****ing hate truing wheels) and not jumping two flights of stairs, the Aeros seem better for my needs (and vanity obviously). That said, I'm not totally convinced that the Aerospoke is better than the Wabi GX 410s which are lighter than my Vueltas by about 400g, are only 20mm deep (less affected by crosswinds), and pretty inexpensive.

Just ordered an Aerospoke to experiment with more. Will order GX 410s and a carbon fork to replace my hefty 2lb steel one. Figure I'll pair the Aero front + new fork (to compensate and even reduce weight from current setup) with the Wabi rear. Beauty is, I'm getting the Aerospoke brought to Montreal by family from the US, but in Canada the thing sells for $550+ in LBS after tax. So you know, craigslist FTW in case I change my mind