Mas o menos mass

If you've ridden with me recently, you may have noticed the fancy carbon rear wheel I'm sporting. After my first ride, I thought the decals on the rim clashed a bit with the minimalist carbon/titanium color scheme. Luckily, the decals peeled off easily by hand (as opposed to Seven decals that need scraping and a good dose of Goof-Off to remove).


A side benefit from the nude carbon look is the substantial weight savings I realized. Yes, that's one whole gram. Keep in mind, that's just for the rear wheel. Imagine the savings for BOTH front and rear wheels. Purely a guess, but I'm thinking it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 grams.


Now, there's been much discussion over the years regarding the effects of lighter weight wheels. If you study the equations (and more equations), many say that it's pretty negligible, and perhaps only a benefit when accelerating from a standing stop (like climbing a steep hill). Who really has the time to study these equations. I prefer to live in a fantasy land where my one gram weight savings means the difference between making it up Mount Bonnell or not.

Btw, Inception is showing in IMAX over at the Bob Bullock Museum. Need to find some time to get over there. I'm not sure how you can spin a whole city like that. The equations must be complicated.