UPDATE:

I dropped my bike off at Bikeman's on Monday. He just called and said that the rear hub was low quality, showing wear, and the holes for the spokes seamed "sharp" and may be contributing to the spoke failure. He said if it was his money, he wouldn't throw it into a rebuild with that hub. He also said that the Deep Vs are a bit narrow for the 35mm tires.

So, he is recommending Mavic A319's 29er's that he sets up on tandem bikes. He also said that these rims could be set up for mechanical disc brakes. We both agreed that this would be a cool way to go on this bike as it is my foul weather bike. I use this bike all winter, and the thought of upgrading to disc brakes really intrigues me. He didn't think that it would be "that" expensive, and that I could use my original cables, and brake levers.

He's going to call back with a quote.

Any thoughts on the Mavics.