Originally Posted by
eischman
looks like most road tandems are abandoning the extra tube going from the head tube to rear. I figure that may be overkill but I do not mind the little extra weight. what rims do you all recommend? I am almost tempted to go with a 29er wheelset as long as the rims take road tires (probably go with 28mm tires) Are there any other things I should consider? Should I go 135 or 142 rear width? Why did the old tandems go up to 160mm? Was it for big drum brakes?
160mm is a Santana "standard".
145mm seems to have been widely adopted as the tandem "standard"
135mm is currently the mountain bike standard (likely the new CX and Road disc standard) and is effectively the same flange spacing as 142mm with different dropouts.
Deciding on the rear spacing is partially dependent on your team weight and how you intend to ride.
Many people on this site will point you to 145mm spacing as it builds a stronger wheel. I don't disagree, but have also found that you can ride 135mm spacing on a tandem and your bike will not explode (insert sarcasm). It does actually work. If you go with or 135mm or 142mm, you will have the largest choices for hubs. The other advantage of having a more mainstream spacing is that you can swap wheels from your twenty niner or off the shelf at your local bike shop.
With road bikes and cx bikes gravitating towards more use of disc brakes, I would expect to see a lot more of the 135mm hubs/wheels.