The wheels of the bicycle are the most important
component on a bike. Without wheels we’re not
going anywhere. Wheels are structurally made up
of the hub, spokes, and the rim. The tire and the
tube are generally not considered part of the
wheel.
Most people do not really put much thought into
the makeup of their wheels. This is one of the
easiest places to save weight and therefore reduce
the amount of force required to move the bicycle.
This property can be seen in Newton’s second law
F=ma
where the force required to move an object equals
the mass of the object times the acceleration.
Therefore when we reduce the mass of our wheels
we reduce the force needed for a constant
acceleration. It also follows that for a constant
force a decrease in mass leads to an increase in
acceleration.
The wheels are not only the most important part
of a bike they are also physically the coolest to
study.