Not sure if it is a concern on the road tandems, FWIW, several off-road tandem teams are known to have spare WI freehub springs and pawls always on hand. Relatively inexpensive, and often an easy fix with parts in hand.

I agree with the Tandemgeek about the DT hubs, they work very well with little maintenance, but no maintenance will select neutral. As he has mentioned, most high end hubs are not maintenance free. I have found that most high end hubs are maintenance friendly. We all just seem to get lazy, or intimidated.

PK