Originally Posted by eliktronik
Losing weight in the the spokes, while gaining weight in the rim is a bad idea. Since the moment of inertia (difficulty of accelerating the wheel) varies with the square of the distance from the skewer, the weight of the rim is much more noticeable than the weight of anything closer towards the hub. Granted, this depends to a degree on how much weight you lose with less/lighter spokes, and how much heavier a stronger rim will be, but I'm just speaking generally. Let me know if this comes through as english or not...
Disclaimer: I don't actually know anything about bikes.
It seems after this discussion we have two different sorts of wheels....
1. Aero wheels: Usually heavier overall (because of heavier deep V rim), but more aero....less drag is accomplished by reducing number of spokes. Useful for maintaing high top speeds, but possibly poorer acceleration due to increased rotating mass because of heavier rim.
2. Climbing wheels. Usually lower weight overall despite increased spoke count. Better acceleration accomplished by reducing weight of rim. Weaker rim design is offset by increasing spoke count at the cost of more drag at high speed.
So it seems to me the optimal wheel is chosen by what speed range you plan to ride in. Obviously a set of climbing wheels doesn't have to be aerodynamic just light to accelerate up hills.
Thank you for all the posts.