Racing Dan

No, forward kinetic energy also increases at the square of the speed.

Racing Dan

True :-)

In racing and all else equal, lighter IS better. At the same power you accelerate and ascend faster. Period. However the penalty for adding a few hundred grams or even a kg is small and nothing that will spoil your Sunday ride. And saving a few aero watts is arguably more beneficial than saving a pound of weight, for most riding at least.

Racing Dan

Or marketing encourages misconceptions that make ppl believe a 200g lighter wheelset is much faster than the stock wheels, even if it likely isn't.

The basic difference between added weight or added rolling and wind resistance is analogue to the difference between a capacitor and a resistor. The former (weight) stores energy, but releases it again, whereas the latter (rolling and wind resistance) convert energy into heat and looses it.

bruce19

Without question.

bruce19

I don't "trust" anyone. But, I am interested in the science.

asgelle

If you're interested in science, learn to ask a proper question. Of course rotating weight makes a difference, but then again everything makes some difference. The question is either how much of a difference does it make, or is the difference greater than some specified threshold.

Sy Reene

Let's talk about cassettes.. I don't think they qualify as rotating weight, since they only rotate when pedaling, correct? There'd be no stored kinetic energy, or is there? Same for cranks?

tyrion

There is some stored kinetic energy there, but (unlike the energy stored in wheels) it gets "thrown away" when you stop pedalling.

nomadmax 

Rotating weight matters to me, regardless of what an "engineer" or "scientist" says.

asgelle

Well, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “you’re entitled to your own opinion… .”

Kimmo

My justification is what a weapon my treadly feels like with a kilo wheelset.

dmanthree

I tried a lighter carbon wheel set a couple of years ago, and found no gain. They felt different but in the end, no noticeable speed gain. For me, at least, a total waste. I'll stick with my Roval SLX 24 wheels.

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​No need to argue. 🙂 There's math to understand exactly how much time you'll save with less weight and with less aerodynamic resistance, so you can know which is more beneficial and by how much. We all have so much ride data we can break down how hilly our riding is, what % of our miles are on different steepness ranges, etc, to help with the "for most riding" part. You can even do that for just got favorites. We live in a golden age of cycling.

Seattle Forrest

Why do roadies have this myopic idea that anything that doesn't make you faster isn't worth doing? Having sex with my girlfriend doesn't affect my average speed on the bike, I wouldn't call it "no gain." Light weight bikes are more fun to ride, people gain more enjoyment of the time they spend cycling, anyone who thinks that's a whole lot of nothing needs to spend some time contemplating the meaning of life. When it's coming to an end none of us will care what kind of average speeds we did, most of us will care how much joy and misery we experienced when we look back.

bruce19

I'm not crazed about average speed. I do, however like it when what is advertised is what is delivered. And, at age 75 I know full well it''s the journey and not the destination.

WhyFi

What benefits are being advertised as a direct result of wheel weight?

hubcyclist

but I think generally folks are looking for a tangible benefit when they decide to shell out cash on wheels and higher priced bikes. So it’s fair to temper people’s expectations. I’ve seen videos where the time savings of nice carbon wheels vs basic aluminum wheels is about 1min per hour, I certainly can’t justify spending that much.

I have the most basic of bikes, a base model allez with Claris and axis sport branded wheels and I get lots of enjoyment on the bike, the only limiter is me. And I go way faster than a lot of folks because I’ve put in the work on myself. I think a lot of people buy into hype and then come up with nebulous things to justify spending way too much in absence of any tangible benefits they may have been looking for. Yeah it’s all about fun, but I think most folks have priorities outside of cycling and helping people make smart purchases is just as important as getting enjoyment.

Kimmo

Whoops, I meant to say, 50mm kilo wheelset...

Aero >³ weight

sced

Riding a heavier / less efficient bike has merits

Symox

There are things called flywheels that rely on the effect of rotating weight - yes it matters

does it matter in your specific case? Probably

WhyFi

No, not really.

aclinjury

Once again GCN does stupid science.
Motorcycle world knows all too well about rotating weight, yes it matters both during acceleration and constant motion.

Reminds when GCN does "keto diet" a few years back. What a bunch of hacks.

asgelle

To say it matters is a value judgement. Everyone will have their own value system. There is no blanket answer as to what matters. As to making a difference, any change by definition makes a difference cf. my post above.

p.s. bicycles are not motorcycles.

Badger6

Not for me.

terrymorse 

Some of us will care.