Abstract: To improve the lightweight design and adaptability of cable-climbing robots for bridge inspection, and to address the critical issue of insufficient output force from the clamping mechanism, a cable-climbing robot featuring wheel-based propulsion and spring-loaded clamping was designed and optimized. The robot can be applied to the inspection and maintenance of typical cable structures such as bridge stay cables, ropeways, and mining steel wire ropes. The following design and optimization strategies were proposed: First, the overall structure of the robot was designed, with force analysis conducted during both static and dynamic states. Key components were selected accordingly, and a dual-motor drive control system was developed. Then, to reduce structural weight, topology optimization was applied to the robot’s drive and driven base plates, achieving significant weight reductions of 39.6% and 36.5%, respectively. To solve the problem of insufficient clamping force, the clamping mechanism was analyzed in depth, leading to the design of a longitudinally mounted spring clamping structure. This mechanism uses the lever principle to amplify the spring’s elastic force by a factor of 1.6, converting it efficiently into normal force acting on the drive wheels. Moreover, the number of springs can be dynamically adjusted based on real-world conditions, such as cable diameter, load, or obstacle difficulty, enabling flexible and enhanced clamping performance. Finally, a physical prototype was built and systematically tested for overall performance and obstacle-crossing capabilities. The results show that the robot can steadily adapt to cables with diameters ranging from 40 to 120 mm, achieving a climbing speed of 0.22 m/s under a 5 kg load, and can cross 5 mm and 8 mm obstacles while maintaining stable operation. The lightweight design effectively reduces energy consumption and drive load, while the optimized clamping mechanism enhances adaptability under complex operating conditions. The proposed method achieves the design goals of structural weight reduction and clamping force enhancement, demonstrating good engineering feasibility. Future work will integrate finite element and multi-objective optimization methods and gradually incorporate vision inspection and magnetic flaw detection modules to extend its application to the health monitoring of cables and mining wire ropes.