[Lonnie Seachris]

I am wanting to setup another set of wheels for our tandem . Am looking at 32 to 36 spoke 700c set up with 25 to 28 tires. We currently are running the stock wheels with 40c's. we weight just over 300# as a team.
My question is that it appears that all I would need to do is to purchase a spacer ot adapt a 130mm spacing to fit our 145 .
Is this correct ?

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[TandemGeek]

If you are building a new set of wheels, you'd do well to start with a hub that was produced for the 145mm rear spacing. It will provide you with a near dishless or dishless rear wheel.

However, to your questions, 36 spokes would be more than adequate for a set of good, lightweight yet durable wheels for your stated team weight. You could easily drop the front down to 32 spokes as well without pushing the margins.

Tires as specified are also the default for performance oriented riders.

With regard to respacing 130mm road hubs for a tandem, while respaced 130mm rear wheels can and have been used by many teams over the years, they do not usually produce wheelsets that will last as long and are most often time only used by competitive teams for racing events. Friends have a Litespeed Taliani that was respaced from 140mm down to 135mm to allow for the use of Campy Record hubs with custom-made spacers mated to Campy Montreal rims for racing:

http://www.bicycletech.com/images/campy_hub_axle_extender.jpg

The Campy wheelset was subsequently pressed into regular service when the default tandem wheelset (135mm Chris King tandem hubset & Velocity Deep-V rims) were dinged up and the regular, long-term use for daily training rides eventually did them in. Ultimately, most tandem teams that aren't building race-specific wheelsets that will see daily or weekly use will be better off going with a wheelset that takes advantage of the wider rear axle drop-outs.

[Lonnie Seachris]

Thanks Mark for your reply. Think I will take your advice and build a set .
Can you tell me where I can get a 36 hole hub in the 145mm spacing ? Also what spokes would you use ?

[NJWheelBuilder]

Most of the after market hub manufacturers make a 145mm hub. Check out DT Swiss Hugi TD's. Nice hub. I'd build it up with DT Competition spokes (2.0/1.8/2.0) or the equivalent.

[TandemGeek]

Thanks Mark for your reply. Think I will take your advice and build a set .
Can you tell me where I can get a 36 hole hub in the 145mm spacing ? Also what spokes would you use ?

Any of the tandem speciality dealers will usually have a few different models in stock and most bike shops can get them from wholesalers or manufacturers as special order items.

145mm / 36h hubs are available from: Shimano produces a decent & inexpensive tandem hubset (HF08), and on up the food chain are hubs from White Industries (Racer-X, which we use $), DT/Hugi (OEM on Co-Motions $$), Phil Wood (Got those too, $$$$), and Chris King (Got those for off-road, $$$). Personally, I think you're better off shopping the tandem dealers as they will ensure you get the tandem spec. model hubs which often times use either a beefier axle, wider flanges, or a steel/Ti cassette carrier.

Spokes: Stainless 15/14 double-butted from DT or Wheelsmith are my default choice for most tandem teams, super heavyweight teams being the exception where a larger spoke diameter and higher spoke counts / crossings are required for the rear wheel, e.g., DH13, 48h, 5x.

I would be remiss if I didn't at least make mention of Peter White's web site & services (www.peterwhitecycles.com). Peter is a long-time tandemist and an exceptional tandem wheelbuilder who is able to offer lifetime warranties on his wheelsets. Even if you opt to build your own wheels like many of us do, you can find a good blueprint for which brands and models of wheel components to consider for use in your wheels by reviewing his web site. Mel Kornbluh of Tandems East (www.tandemseast.com) is also an excellent tandem wheelbuilder with very competitive pricing and a full range of hubs to select from. Alex Nutt of MTBTandems.com uses John Kovachi of Kovachi wheels as his wheel builder and is able to offer price competitive wheelsets for off-road applications and, if you ask, road applications as well.