Can wheel types affect front end twitchiness?

[Shrike]

I don't mean rim depth and wind, I mean say alu v carbon or any other factor. Always thought it was largely just stem length and bar width, but seems that's not the full story

[RyanH]

Tire choice can. I had a pair of Vittoria Evo Pave 27mm that turned my solid descending wheels into a fear inducing experience above 30mph.

[Shrike]

Interesting, because my story is that I changed wheels out last night to some old alu rims (Fulcrum 5s) and the bike became super stable at the front end. Trying to work out why. Was using cheap Wiggle carbon 40 and 30mm rims before.

The tyres on the 40 and 30s are 4000sII, and the alu rims have Vittoria Corsa G+. (All clinchers) Just didn't think about that!

Bike went from bricking it when grabbing the bottle, to, what's all the fuss about.

Have two new sets of wheels to try next weekend, so more experimenting to do (they're both tubulars though).

[Stueys]

How much variance in wheel weight? I can see that rotational weight increasing would make the front feel more planted. Tyre choice I'm struggling with.

[Shrike]

Ah, wow, didn't think of that either. Will weigh and report!

[spud]

assuming equal tire pressures, narrower tire has a longer contact patch, which should create more resistance to turning i.e more stability.
heavier tire/rim has more gyroscopic effect, means more stability
rim shape/height will effect stability, though I don't think you can make a blanket statement as to which way, since different rims have different aero qualities/resistance to stall, which can effect transient and static situations. Tire width also has an effect here, as larger tires tend to create quicker stall of a particular wheelset, but may also tend to create stability by inducing stall in the system at very low angles of attack ie. the system is almost always in stall, so no big changes in steering feel.

Overal, a complicated system where, lacking extensive tunnel time etc, personal experience is a good proxy.