Originally Posted by
stewclark
I am looking for a easy and quick way to replace a back wheel for a tandem while travelling.
Just in case the wheel you have gets damaged in shipment or while riding in a remote location.
Would it be possible to carry just an axle with some spacers that would allow you to walk into any bike shop and purchase a standard road bike rear wheel and use it on a tandem bike?
Not if you have an Arai drag brake. You'd need a tandem specific hub.
If you're going to all the trouble to carry an axle why not just carry a tandem hub in your bikes spacing? You can pick up Sansin, and Sanwa tandem hubs for really really cheap (as far as tandem hubs go). I've got some old 48 drill Sansin tandem hubs and I've got to say they spin as smooth as vintage Mavic (the standard), and Phil Wood hubs (a more well known standard).
The stuff coming out of Japan in the 80s was just phenomenal. You can't compare the modern Tiawanese/Chinese stuff. That's the reason that Rivendell and the BOBish bike group are who they are, the absolutely quality of Japanese bike components.
Almost any shop would be able to get you a 48h or 40h hoop in a couple of days and could build you up a wheel.
However, not to be smart aleck, but if the back wheel gets destroyed why carry a spare hub in the first place. Why not just tear down the taco'd wheel and build up the new wheel on your good hub? I'd be astounded if anything ever happened to a quality hub in transit. I would be absolutely shocked if the wheel would be damaged in such a way as to break the flanges.
I'd invest in a good hardside wheel travel case instead.