Wind, rider weight, & spokes

[Bluetree]

I have to agree with everything aicabsolut wrote.

I'd like to add, however, that when you get into the whys and details of aero wheels, I probably would not recommend it if you are looking for something that will be your primary ride. Deep rims, in particular, only make a lot of sense if you're planning to race. And even in those cases, most racers have different sets of "training" wheels and "race" wheels.

If you're building up a new bike and planning on riding on a lot of chip and seal roads, I would go with something more general/dependable as your primary wheelset. Then, as you get faster and look for ways to improve, you can zero in on the details, whether it be wheels with aero spokes or deeper rims. It will also give you time to borrow other peoples' wheelsets and see for yourself what you like and what will work best for you.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go for a 700c bike (as opposed to 650c) is that I wanted to try out as many kinds of wheels as possible. Hooking up with a large club with an active race team (with a sizable Campy cult) gave me that opportunity. I've been able to borrow wheels to see how they could or would not work for me. There are also a number of bike shops that will let me test out wheels, too. Maybe you can look into something like that.

Good luck!