Originally Posted by
prathmann
Not at all. Yes you're accelerating and decelerating a little on each pedal stroke, but the energy requirements are independent of the weight. A heavy bike (or one with heavier wheels) will actually decelerate a little less than a lighter one due to its greater inertia. So while it takes more energy to accelerate the heavy bike you don't have to accelerate it as much and the energy needs are essentially the same for both.
I think it takes more energy to accelerate and decelerate centered about a given speed than to maintain that speed without deceleration.
Originally Posted by
bradtx
Much ado about nothing for the average recreational cyclist. A & B club riders likely benefit from lighter wheelsets and tourers likely benefit from heavier wheelsets. Brad
Mostly right I'd say, but my educated guess is that the flywheel effect would have little benefit for the touring cyclist. Perhaps enough to fractionally offset my sloppy pedal stroke, since it would tend to smooth that out.