Originally Posted by
jimmuller
I'm curious how you trashed two A119's (and one sputnik). I put an A119 on the front of our tandem (only 32 spokes!) and it has been flawless after 10,000 miles. When the rear rim (a 36 spoke Matrix strung onto the original Atom hub) developed a crack I rebuilt the wheel with another A119. It has maybe 5000 miles and has also been flawless. Granted we are not a heavy team, but tandems always carry heavy loads. You say you aren't concerned about weight, but maybe you should be.
I did say "accident prone"... One A119 lost due side impact fom a car. One due to LBS not fastening the axle nuts and wheel coming out of drop outs mid traffic at high speed.
The Sputnik suffered a flatspot after hitting a curb in the dark at high speed fully loaded (I was fine but a physiotherapist who saw me come off the bike was convinced I needed to go to hospital - so violent was the dismount!). The wheel was perfectly true - but the flat spot was just so annoying to ride on. I tried all the tricks on Sheldon Brown, but the rim was just too stiff. Local mechanic didn't feel it would be safe to use on a loaded cargo bike even if I did get the flatspot out.
BUT - This bike (grey longtail above) still has an A119 on the back and a Sputnik on the front! Its my pride and joy and alloys are great for it and plenty strong - as seen in the picture posted earlier, its handled the Alps and Pyrenees mountains wonderfully.
But after an accident - which I seem to be prone to - the ability of my steel rims to bend back into shape has impressed me - thus will be going to use on my world tourer bike - especially after reading about some folks temporarily stranded in central africa after their alloy rim cracked!:
https://www.davestravelpages.com/cyc...-khartoum.html
Beyond the Saddle ....Cairo to Cape Town -
#12 . Iringa to Lilongwe - Some inside realities and maybe a different perspective...