Do you
feel the weight difference? That's up to the individual.
But, as all of the folks who point to analytical training, power meters and even aero gains will tell you: everything matters, your
feelings don't matter.
So yes, weight matters. It absolutely matters. Just as everything else is thought of as "matters" then why exclude weight?
Does the weight difference matter? Always. Every gram matters, even if the actual calculated effect is very small, no matter how small, it still matters in the physics of efficiency on the bike. Even if that 'difference' comes out to .0001% that's still .0001% as opposed to 0%.
Every gram counts, every gram matters.
It always matters. Cumulative gains through cumulative weight losses.
Does weight matter in relation to other things like training or aero qualities or stiffness or strength? The answer is that it
also and always matters.
A super aero but heavy-ass bike will not be as efficient as a bike that is both aero
and light.
A super stiff stem can be pure iron and be ridiculously heavy, but a stiff-enough stem that is made as light as possible while maximizing stiffness will be far superior.
...and so on. The word '
and' is crucial. Aero is not ignored, nor is strength, nor is stiffness, nor is weight. All are important factors to maximize to the best extent possible according to one's priority without ignoring another factor's effects on the efficiency of the bicycle.
So weight should not be completely ignored. It matters. It always matters. Does it matter if you "feel" the weight difference or no? No, it does not. Your "feelings" of weight don't matter, reality does. Mass has a basis of actual, quantifiable reality, just like any other measurement that is quantifiable. It matters.
Whether you want to pay for weight losses or create them yourself (through tuning and selective editing), that's up to you and up to your OWN decision about how much you have in budget, whether time or money. Figure out how much
you are willing to spend on a component, whether it be calculated in $/g, ¥/g, €/g, whatever monetary unit per gram, or time, or both time and money. It's up to
you and
only you, just like everything else in life. You need to make your own decisions.
But regardless of your decision, whether you
care about weight or not,
Reality does not give a flying rat's ass about your
feelings about it. Weight always matters.
Does weight matter?
YES IT MATTERS.
IT ALWAYS MATTERS.Period.