i was surprised, too, but thinking through it, i figure that one can build a plenty strong wheel without overbuilding it - with today's technology, and still be affordable. combine that with the fact that 26" wheels are gonna be a bit lighter, and re: strength that big fat tires at low pressure take up a whole bunch of stress, it really comes down to MTB wheels and road or track wheels is talking about apples and oranges. is what i figure, anyway. i don't know **** about mtb wheels.