I'll go first:
1) Bike tires need to have directional treads to prevent hydroplaning.
2) When building a wheel, the greater the spoke tension, the stronger and stiffer the wheel.
3) A stiffer rim will give you a stiffer wheel.
4) Bicycle wheels need to be balanced to within precise limits, less than the weight of valves.
5) Rotational mass will slow you down much more than static mass.
6) Aluminum doesn't corrode.
7) Carbon fiber is more prone to catastrophic failure than other materials.