Originally Posted by
radial2000
ok its primarily a weight issue.
wife is 5'2 and 43kg and we are going to do genting highlands which is reputed to be the 5th hardest climb in the world (ive done it and in parts its close to 20%) so every gram counts when it comes to power to weight ratio.
Not that I'm following my own advice building a set of 1400g wheels to replace my 1700g set, but consider this math before you make your decision.
Your wife weighs 43000 grams, her bike probably weighs at least another 7500, and she's carrying another 2500+ in water and supplies. The most dramatic suggestion so far (removing half the spokes) will save you 200 grams. 43,000 + 7500 + 2500 = 53,000. 200 grams is a savings of 0.38%
Aside from that, since she's so light I would probably consider removing every other spoke on each side of the front wheel (so you'd basically have a 16 paired spoke wheel) and radially lacing the rest, and every other non-drive side spoke on the rear wheel radially laced with the drive side 2x (24 spoke G3 style). But I'd only do that if I was on an extremely limited budget. If I had any cash to throw at the issue, I'd go with the suggestion quoted below, laced to light hubs with Revolution spokes, maybe Competitions on the drive side rear.
Originally Posted by
Soil_Sampler
Nice find! That's a quality rim too, and at a competitive weight. Not sure about the 650s, but the 700s weigh about 430.