Originally Posted by
79pmooney
Also - wheels have changed big time from the shallow hoops we glued out tubulars onto to the stiff, deep carbon fiber hoops ridden now, Even the aluminum Mavic Open Pros, the ubiquitous rims of the post tubular, pre CF era, are very stiff vertically compared to the early tubular GP4s. (Later GP4s got deeper and stiffer.) Lace those early GP4s with light spokes and you get a wonderfully comfortable wheel on rough roads. (But keep your mouth shut because you'll get posters here telling you that feeling the difference is impossible. Just watch!
)
Not just opinions from posters, but data.
It's easy for old guys like you and me to believe those myths that we first encountered in the 1960's and 1970's, such as that there were significant differences in vertical stiffness between different models of tubular rims (and, bringing the myth up to date, between a yellow-label or Ergal Fiamme tubular rim and a modern carbon rim), but it's not true. The vertical stiffness of a rim is determined by spoke tension. That's why you can find
data on lateral rim stiffness but almost none on
vertical rim stiffness.
Knowing how set in our ways we old guys can be, I won't be surprised if you cheerfully ignore the test results. Just watch!