Originally Posted by ridelugs

spoke problems are generally caused by crappy spokes and wheel builds, not by weight. tandems would never work if this were true.

heres the key: get a good decent rim, nothing fancy, like a sun cr-18, 36 hole. build it up with wheelsmith xl 14 spokes, which are butted, which makes them stronger, in fact they were developed for tandem use, not weight savings. use a good hub, anything by shimano will work if on a budget, a phil wood if you can afford it. your dad needs to change bike shops. they obviously know nothing. telling a blatant lie like you cross chains too much is ********. that has nothing to do with spoke breakage.
if he doesnt have a good local shop, call peter white, who makes wheels for tandems all the time, and knows all about good wheels that dont break. peterwhitecycles.com