Originally Posted by
Jipe
It depends of course of the tires!
If you put heavy wide ETRTO406 tires, it won't do the job.
Even on hills, if you mount a lightweight fast wide tire on a ETRTO406, it will be faster than ETRTO451.
A small overall wheel diameter won't change anything, try ETRTO406 with Greenspeed Scorcher 40x406 (the fastest ETRTO406 tire, much lower rolling resistance than any ETRTO451 tire), you will fly on your hills!
I've tried them all and nothing beats VEE Speedsters. And I've off roaded with them too. The 451 wheelset has superior handling to the 406. Especially on rougher roads. And off road. There no getting away from that. You have to experience it to understand. I've got both sized wheelsets.
The Dahon helios XX runs 406 wheels with Vee Speedster 40mm tires. The bike weighs 8.4KG with those tires.
The Tern Verge X11 run 451 wheels with Vee Speedster 35mm tires. The bike weighs 11kg with those tires.
The X11 has superior speed and handling on all terrains. Those 451 wheels eat up the miles better. That's why it's able to live with most non professional roadies. The Helios is a fast bike too. But not as fast as the X11. And if I have to ride across London (21 MILES) to see family..Its a no brainer which bike I'm going on. If I am doing short journeys or going shopping. I will jump on the Helios.