touring wheels

[biker_james]

I think you'll have to spread the dropouts some, as I believe road hubs are 130mm now.
I have a Mavic A719, and its one solid wheel. Built on a Shimano XT hub, 36 spokes. The A719 replaced the original Mavic T519 wheel, which the sidewalls were wearing out on. No problem with either of these mavic rims over 9 years. I do know of people who have had issues with the lighter weight (or maybe cheaper?) Mavic rims under a heavy load. I weigh about 180, and don't pack light, so the total weight on the wheels is probably about 280 pounds when on tour.
I do think the best thing to do is to find a good shop that knows something about touring, and have someone who knows what they are doing build you a wheel. I think the quality of the build can have a big factor in how well the wheel survives.

[paddleboy17]

I have an old (and beautiful) 1993 Paramount Series 3 lugged steel critereum road bike with 126mm spacing on the rear dropouts.  I am able to put a modern (130mm) wheel set in the bike.  It should not work, but it does.  To do the job right, I would have to send the frame to Waterford, and they would replace the bridge and align the lugs.  I probably will never do that, it is just not worth the money, and it would cost a fortune to get the paint job restored.

So you might be able to squeeze a modern wheel in your frame.  If that does not work, you can try to convert your new wheel to fit a 126mm spacing.  You should be able to put a 7 speed free hub body on your new hub, and get it to work in your frame.  If the dish is off, your LBS could fix that.  I am not sure if a shorter axle would be required or not.

See Harris Cyclery for details on free hub bodies.
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/k7.html#bodies
They have 7 speed cassettes too.  When I still ran 7 speed on my Paramount, I was successful at adapting 8 speed cassettes by leaving the end gear off.  That is an option if you don't like what Harris has in 7 speed cassettes.

[Westinghouse]

If you are set on dishing out serious coins on only one of your wheels, make it your back wheel. I have taken very long, multiple, loaded tours with lower-range front wheels ($35.00) with no problems at all. In fact I wore one out, and it never broke a spoke. The rear wheel is a whole different matter. I was using $35.00 rear wheels. Here are some accurate facts on those cheap rear wheels. I got 3,800 miles on a heavily loaded tour before breaking the first spoke. On a more lightly loaded tour I went about 1400 miles before a spoke broke. I have another such rear wheel which has about 2000 miles of touring on it with no problem. Getting a cheap rear wheel is like a toss of the dice. There is no sure way of knowing what will come up; it could be a 7, or an 11, or snake eyes.

[Westinghouse]

Pstutler: 

You should not be having those problems with new wheels, especially on short tours carrying 25 lbs. Something is wrong. I buy cheap wheels, and I still do not have those kinds of problems. If your wheel goes out of round after a few hundred miles, it is defective. I got 3800 miles out of a $25.00 rear wheel once before it broke a spoke, and I was carrying 65 pounds of gear over countless hills, two mountain ranges, and on rough roads in the developing world. Take the wheel back to the store, get your money back, and get a good wheel.