Originally Posted by
X-LinkedRider
If this was true, everybody would be running 32 spoke 21mm rim Wheels. There is always a bit of nostalgic placebo, but you can't tell a person they can't feel the difference when they do. Yes tires make a huge difference, but so do wheels. As he said, the real test is how long in between wheel maintenance. That is easily the biggest thing I notice about all of my hand-built wheels. With thousands of miles on them, I've never had to do any maintenance, while every 300-500 miles on the stock wheels required a truing or so.
True this, literally.
But as I have said before. I found the lighter wheels to leave me feeling a bit fresher after the long rides. Each small hill is easier and takes less effort to ascend. This seems to add up over the miles. Of course maybe this is counterproductive for training but sure makes it feel funnier. Same thing on long climbing rides. You reach those points were you are maxxing out, slow down, and then you get it going again. Each time you accelerate after 'bogging down" it is easier to get going with those lighter wheels and if nothing else this mentally reinforces that you can keep going.