At 5:13 PM -0800 1/17/10, paccoastcycles wrote:
>Dare I say this? Have you done a blind test? Using the same tires at
>the same pressure, I'd not expect a noticable difference.
I have ridden large and small flange hubs, 36 and 32 holes, lightweight and heavy rims, for many years, and as others pointed out, a well-built wheel doesn't have much give. If you back off the spoke tension enough to get much compliance, you'll start breaking spokes, because the spokes will work too much as the wheel rotates. You want spokes that are tensioned well all the time, so your wheel stays true.
Granted, the wheels of the 1957 Cinelli Supercorsa we tested for Bicycle Quarterly, with superlight Scheeren rims (3x, high-flange hubs, 1.8-1.6 mm Stella spokes) did feel flexible, but perhaps that was just the 28 mm Clement del Mundo tubular tires... See the bike here
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/
Tires (width, casing design and pressure) matter most in your quest for comfort. Another important variable is fork flex.
When I was racing, I switched from inexpensive tubulars to Clement Criteriums, and I could not believe the difference. The Supercorsa with the Campionato del Mondos was yet another league better.
Today, I mostly ride clinchers, and the difference between a Rivendell Rolly-Poly to a Grand Bois was so great that I started importing Grand Bois tires...
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com