Originally Posted by
RichardGlover
Weight only really matters when you're accelerating and going up hills. ....
Everybody's gotta ride their own ride, but my personal preference is to be comfortable and not worry so much about flats. But then again, I'm the sort who runs with fenders, so I'll never be accepted into the Ricky Racer Club.
While I agree with much of what RichardGlover says, one thing that is lacking is the flywheel effect. The weight of heavy tires effects acceleration much more than that same weight on a nonrotating componet. The same could be said of that same weight added to the hub versus clear out at the rim. Think of a figure skater doing a spin. They start out with their arms out. As they bring them in their rpms increase.