Originally Posted by
WhyFi
Faster acceleration due to less rotational weight is a notion that's been debunked. I do, however, think that less rotational weight may affect feel in a way that people mistake for "spinning up faster" - rotational weight does have a gyroscopic effect. Less rotational weight would mean less of a tendency of a wheel right itself which, in turn, might make a bike feel more flickable. I think that this would be notable during hard accelerations. This theory of mine is based on nothing more than experience (perception) and pondering, no math has been done, so I could be talking out of my ass.
link? im under the impression that less mass will allow for a faster initial acceleration, but obviously once the object is in motion (at a given speed), a lighter wheel does not require less energy (and conversely a heavy wheel does not require more energy) to maintain that speed.
*edit- im not claiming the differences are significant for most people, but that differences do exist.*