Absolutely, and the physics helps this; rather than a vague "probably insignificant" or somesuch we can quantify it as you just have.531colin wrote: ↑28 Mar 2024, 7:52am It’s also important to hold on to some idea of the magnitude of the effect of extra weight at the rim.
An extra half kilo at the rim of both of your wheels might make 1% difference but only when accelerating; at least that’s what we said on the previous page.
…accelerating bike and rider, not just spinning the wheels in air.
A kg extra probably does make a difference to "feel" of a lightweight bike, though of course such a bike will almost certainly already have lightweight rims and tyres. If you have such a bike and are considering eg carbon saddle and pedals, or even lighter rims and tyres, it helps understand where to get best bang for buck.
It probably would make a significant difference in a track sprint.
But for touring, where IMO hills when laden are the hard part, it makes no more difference at all compared to weight on the frame.