Quote:
Originally Posted by vincenz
Clickbait title.
If weight didn’t matter, why would manufacturers go to carbon instead of sticking with alu or steel? Make the wheels as heavy as possible for maximum aero and for durability.
Of course it matters. We don’t ride in a lab. We don’t pedal at one power consistently. Real riding and racing happens dynamically. If you have a 5kg bike with the lightest wheels possible and a 5.5kg bike with heavier wheels, the lighter one will be faster up the hill, everything else remaining equal. How would it not matter in that case? The guy in the video trying to sell his wheels confirmed as much. Weight is weight.
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You've missed the point. The question isn't whether weight matters. In the video they admit that on its own, it does. The question is, does it matter if it is rotating or not rotating? The second part of the issue is whether making wheels more aerodynamic, at the cost of extra weight, is a net benefit?
The answer to the first question is: In most cases, whether weight is rotating or not rotating is mostly insignificant. The answer to the 2nd question is probably the more important: In just about every case, the improvements in aerodynamics with deeper, heavier rims outweighs any deficit due to their extra weight. The Swiss Side fellow is hardly the first to conclude this. Many engineers and researchers (who have no wheels to sell you) have reached the same conclusion. Here's two of them:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Why_...rtia_2106.html
http://www.biketechreview.com/review...el-performance
I myself put together a mathematical model to test this, and came to the same conclusions. I posted the analysis on the WeightWeenies web site 15 years ago:
https://weightweenies.starbike.com/f...e+kutta#p60824
The above analysis was in regard to the importance of rotating mass when climbing. I've also done similar analysis regarding whether heavier but more aerodynamic wheels matter when accelerating. I looked at the case of a criterium, with accelerations out of every corner, and the final sprint in a race. In both cases, the aerodynamics of the wheels were far more important than their weight (and rotational inertia).
Now, if you have some actual data or other evidence to provide, let's see it.