I also do some touring (in addition to being a Clydesdale) and I've had many problem with breaking spokes, even on 36-spoke wheels with DT spokes.

I finally came across the Weinmann ZAC-19 wheels, which are 36-spoke, but what separates them from other wheels are that they come in 12-gauge, which is much beefier spoke than the normal 14-gauge spoke. https://www.amazon.com/Weinmann-Zac1.../dp/B005LY4OWU

They also come with the standard 14-gauge spoke, which I only use on the front, but the 12-gauge that I use on the rear is bomb proof.


This happened to me a few months ago and convinced me that this wheel is bomb proof; it's the best bike purchase I've made in years and I no longer fear broken spokes.

Copied from another thread:

I ride around with panniers on my rear rack, the current ones are very old and had developed a hole in the bottom, which I didn't noticed. As I was starting off from a red light, I got to about 15 mph when all of a sudden my rear wheel came to a sudden stop; I thought I had a catastrophic blowout, but I was extremely surprised to find one of my wrenches sucked into the spokes of my rear wheel.

I was expecting to see at least three spokes broken, but not a single spoke broke, only one spoke was severely bent and heavily marred by the metal-to-metal contact. I was able to make a quick on-road repair and ride the bike home. I ordered a new spoke (and a couple spares) and I replace one spoke. I did a 30-mile test ride yesterday and all is fine.