Originally Posted by
79pmooney
Yes. I raced before anybody talked of wheel weights but we all knew our rim weights (or at least the published weights). I raced rims that were 290 grams and lighter. Tires of 250 grams and lighter. Laced my rims with the equivalent of 1.8/1.5 spokes. The place that really paid was when the wheel you HAD to get on was passing you. A blessing every time you came out of a corner or the pack surged.
Your points regarding acceleration are spot on.
I picked up a disc wheel at REI a couple decades ago. It was HEAVY. I wondered if cyclists had lost their minds. I always trained on heavier wheels and raced on lighter ones. The difference is profound.
My Scheeren Weltmeister tubular front wheel with a 240g sew-up is still 2 oz. lighter than my carbon front clincher wheel/tube/tire setup. I haven't ridden the carbon ones yet, and to be fair, I should mention that they are 130kg rated. Light weight counts more than aero in my book, especially for wheels. So does durability.