Thanx for all the great advice! I am kind of a front brake whimp since I have a disk in front and I've washboarded out a couple of times from applying it too aggresively on turns on slippery surfaces so maybe I should use it more. The bike itself weighs 40 lbs with nothing on it and I'm 187 lbs myself. I routinely load it up with 50 lbs of gear for touring although 95% of my riding is commuting with about 15 lbs on the front. I never clean the bike and that is probably a big contributing factor in rim wear along with riding a lot in wet and gritty conditions.

Does anyone have advice for a really strong 26" wheel? I've bought machine built wheels and laced my own, all with the same eventual results. The last two rims I've had were Sun Rhino Light XL and Sun Mammoth, all with 32 spoke XT hub. The mammoth seems like the strongest and lasted the longest, but it is super heavy.