Originally Posted by waterrockets
So you're saying 40H Deep-V tandem wheels I spec'd above aren't strong enough for a tandem? Or is it that they would be strong enough if I had more tandem experience?
For the team that posted the original question, they're overkill. I'll elaborate this evening if I feel so inclined and I think others might benefit.
For the OP who I believe is riding a 145mm rear spaced tandem, 36h Deep V with DB spokes laced 3x is more than adeqate. While I'm biased towards conventional wheelsets, the Bontragers ($519 on Ebay when last I checked) would also be great wheels.
Forget about the Rolfs if they don't come as OEM on your tandem. While there are many teams, big and small who have had great success with them, there are just too many other teams that ride them hard -- lightweight teams included -- who continue to struggle with durability issues, spoke breakage as well as front hub flange breakage. However, to Rolf's credit: (1) none of the failures have resulted in a collapsed wheel, (2) even with the failed spokes and hub flanges the wheels still got them home. Moreover, (3) Rolf's customer support folks get rave reviews and have fixed the failed wheels under warranty, and (4) they continue to incorporate improvements to address the weaknesses, e.g., a new front hub without the weight-saving drillings. However, several of the teams we ride with who have the Rolfs that had problems are now carrying around a second set of conventional spare wheelsets when they travel to rallies (just in case) and/or using the spare conventional wheelsets when they go touring away from home.