chewgl wrote:
As for differences in acceleration, while it might be hard to compare wheel inertia directly by feel, I've experienced the difference when it comes to closing gaps while racing crits - how long I take to close a gap is extremely sensitive to how fast I can accelerate...
...and, in regards to the effect of different wheels, how fast you accelerate is much more a function of wheel aerodynamics than any typical inertia differences...by a couple of orders of magnitude, in fact. Heck, you should know that ;-)
Even rolling resistance differences in the tires/tubes on the wheels can "swamp" any inertial differences. Actually, I suspect that what most people perceive as a lightweight tubular wheel being "easier to spin up" is actually the result of the lower rolling resistance of the latex tubed, high end tires glued to the wheels, as compared to the "regular" tires and butyl tubes typically run on clincher wheels.
Human perception can be a funny thing...
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