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[Garfield]

- I must warn you of a drastic misunderstanding:

"Lastly, I am a little concerned about very light wheels on rough roads. I have bent alloys before, and it's not pleasant. I'd rather have a strong wheel, than a really light wheel with 15mm more sidewall."

Any Cast wheel is the weakest aluminum wheel possible. There are air bubbles (in layman's terms) in the casting which allow the wheel to completely shatter.
If the lightweight wheel you're comparing to is a forged one (most good lightweight wheels are) then you're way out of line. The Forged wheel is much stronger, regardless of the weight. The Cast wheel is always much weaker, regardless of the weight.

Please don't assume that just because a wheel weighs a lot that it's strong. It's NOT.


- You can feel the difference in acceleration, I've done it back to back between my father's identical car with 17 S-spokes and mine with wheels and tires that weight 15lbs less per corner.


- The grip on bumpy surfaces is the WORST place for a heavy wheel. I was very aware of unsprung weight problems, but never experienced it until I picked up my car with 17's and drove a couple hundred miles on them. It was the first thing I noticed about the car (sadly) because I had never had very heavy wheels.


- On smooth roads, it's not always better to have "bigger boots", and certainly not ones with heavier rotational mass.


Like you said, it's your opinion, and that's fine, but you're stating your argument as fact.

In the end, it's just like a faster computer. As long as you never sample the new one, you won't miss it.