Chas. Andrews raised some questions that may deserve some thought. I snip to focus.
<snip>
Charles: My question is this: of all the sew-up rims made from 1965 to 1975, which were the most robust? I'm going to take a set of 40-hole hf hubs and have them rebuilt with sew-up rims, and I'd like the wheels to actually be strong enough to take the abuse they suffer on the Pogliaghi. I'd love to use a pair of 40-hole bow-tie Martanos I have here (need washers), and they always seemed pretty strong, but without ferrules, I wonder. Would Fiamme red-labels be the best choice, or what?
Harvey: I certainly would want washers, but a visit to a hobby shop should take care of this. I'd even venture that I prefer steel to brass. And, take a nipple with you when you go, for inner diameter...
Charles: On a related subject, is it possible to get after-market solid axles for Campagnolo road hubs? Long enough for a road rear, standard threading for cones and nuts and track nuts. That's the other thing that worries me about these wheels: the hubs are standard road hubs, with standard hollow axles, and it's easy to imagine the rear axle snapping right in half under the kind of torque two tandem riders put out.
Harvey: I'm probably terminally ignorant, but I have no reason to expect track axles to be better at resisting bending or breakage than road ones. Indeed, the coupling of a tension member (skewer) with compression outer seems quite robust compared to the solid axle. The solid axle might be better at resisting pull-forward in the drop-outs (a reason I prefer verticals for road bikes with derailleurs), but that is a different story. I'm also not at all sure that the major stress on an axle comes from rider-applied torque, rather than from bump impacts.
Harvey: One other point: for tandem loads, I'd avoid radial and choose 3- or 4-cross (or 5-cross with 48). Not for anything about the spokes, but to put more meet behind the pull on the spoke hole.
your mileage may vary.
harvey sachs
mcLean va