Originally Posted by
DaHaMac
Rotational Weight is felt more than any other weight, except maybe that around our waist imho. Having said that, I wouldn't be worried about switching bikes unless you are just looking for a reason to justify n+1. However, you could save a lot of rotational weight by switching to a lighter tire and tube combo.
When climbing uphill at a constant speed, rotating weight is equally important as non-rotating weight. It is only when accelerating and decelerating that it makes a difference whether the weight is in a rotating part or not (and even then I think the difference is over-emphasized).
Even so, for my race bike I have some lighter, mountain-climbing wheels (Dura Ace 7850 C24) and some regular training wheels (handbuilt by myself, 105 hubs laced to DT Swiss RR465 rims). I also have a TriCross bike that I use for go-anywhere type rides and some touring, on which I have some heavier-duty wheels (also self-built, XTR rear hub, XT dynamo front hub and Mavic A719 rims). When I've used that bike for a few mountainous rides on paved roads, I've occasionally switched the wheels out to a lighter pair, but the difference in feel is really pretty minimal (despite the quite significant loss of weight due to losing the dynamo hub).
Even on the go-anywhere/touring wheels, I normally only ride a 26 to 28 mm front tire and 28 to 30 mm rear tire - that feels pretty plush to me and pyschologically I feel so held back when riding anything wider than that (although in reality it probably isn't having much affect). I occasionally ride sections of MTB singletrail with my 26 mm front, 28 mm rear combintation (as I said, this is my go-anywhere bike), and I can do that without too much trouble, so I can't see the point of anything wider.