Originally Posted by 53-11 alltheway
How much do spokes weigh?
It would seem to me that all the weight savings is to be had in the rims and the hubs....How much lighter is a 16 spoke wheel going to be compared to a 32 spoke wheel?
I think it would probably be wiser to look for weight savings elsewhere other than the wheels. THese days with carbon fiber frames we should n't have to resort to reidculously low spoke counts to make the 15 pound weight limit.
Well, I think that you're on the right track - sort of. There's at least a couple of different ways that I can think about it.
First, it doesn't matter how much the rim or spokes or hub weighs. What matters is what the completed bicycle wheel assembly weighs. As a general rule, I think that you'll find that the minimum spoke count wheels tend to weigh a bit more than a lightweight 32 spoke wheel assembly. The reason is that they have to use a deeper, stronger, heavier rim to maintain a reasonable degree of durability.
Second, what are you trying to accomplish? Do you want a lightweight bike just so that you can brag about how little it weighs or do you want to ride faster? Sometimes those can be two different things. The guys who research those things say that, for a flat time trial, a wheelset with at least 30mm deep rims and the minimum number of spokes, even though heavier, will definitely be faster than a conventional wheel.