well, i guess this is turning into nick's thread. maybe at some point he can start his own thread on this board. in the meanwhile...
nick - your carbon fiber rims and spokes are perfect for the world of racing, where they 1) deliver somewhat more energy to the tire and 2) reduce drag by needing fewer spokes.
unfortunately, i think you are confusing rigidity (or stiffness) with strength. the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. to provide a couple of examples: in the world of climbing there are 2 types of ropes: static and dynamic. while you can hang a car off of either one, static ropes can support larger loads (are stronger) than dynamic ropes given similar construction. however, they are only used in raising or lowering operations. no one actually climbs using them, because they snap relatively easily under the sudden stress of a fall. dynamic ropes are actually "stronger" because they stretch, absorbing much of the impact. someone who didn't know what they were doing and only looked at strength specs, would probably choose the wrong rope and end up in big trouble (hospitalized or dead).
one more example: consider plaster of paris. amazingly stiff stuff. strong???
i think you've bought in to the advertisement copy about stiffness and not needing to maintain or repair them but may have missed the smaller print at the bottom of the page, where they talk about the embedded magnetic chips to provide better customer support and (cough,cough) "repair service".
if they're indestructable, why need a repair service at all? the fact is that they are well designed for racing but will never survive a significant crash. what you are intending to use are the "static ropes" of the bicycle wheel world.
as has been said before, simple aluminum rims with steel spokes will: prevent damage or considerably lessen damage in the first place and; allow you to get back on the road in relatively no time at all in most cases with only a spare spoke or two, spoke wrench and perhaps a little brute force.
about your milage:
- i noticed on your homepage that the current record was set by someone doing about 60 miles (100 k's) per day. why do you feel you need to do 150+ miles per day? tour de france riders don't come anywhere near that daily milage, and they only ride for 3 weeks, not 3 months. totally unrealistic even for riders like lance armstrong, pettachi, etc.
however, 100 miles per day average is well within reason. especially with long summertime daylight hours. i've topped 100 miles per day average for over 2 months easily. most days i did over 120. go a piddling 10 miles per hour and put 10 or 12 hours of saddletime in,and there you are. of course, i was a skinny 18 year old at the time. these days at 50, my tours seldom last much longer than a week or 10 days. still, 100 per day with a full load of camping gear is no problem at all for that length of time, even during short winter days.
- rest days: well, this is really a personal call that no one is qualified to call except yourself. but, i think a day off after 4 days riding sounds not only unnecessary, but more like a luxury vacation than a world record attempt. of course if you're determined to maintain an average of nearly 160 miles per day, especially at the beginning of the trip until you get into shape(what's your training regimen like?) and towards the end when your physical & mental reserves are depleted you might find you need check into a hospital every 5th day instead of a hotel.
-it was mentioned on your homepage that this attempt was much closer to the raam than a tour. not at all. the raam is a race where the 1st person there wins, so they deny themselves sleep and break time about as much as humanly possible. after a bit over a week to a week and a half, they are woobley on they're feet, and frequently need help off or back on their bikes. there's absolutely no reason for you not to get a perfectly restful sleep each night and take several fairly long breaks each day.
- you mentioned not being too good at bicycle repair work and i got the impression that you're not bringing much along in the line of tools, so i guess you're pretty confident at getting on your cell phone and using your conversational spanish, turkish or arabic to find a bike shop that can help you out if you should break down somewhere.
- i know you're bringing along both a credit card and some camping gear, but it all sounds a bit fuzzy and maybe not quite thought through yet. do you actually have a complete list of what you're bringing along and how much these items each weigh?
- i would hope that the fact that pretty much everyone who has done long tours before is giving you pretty much the same advice about what kind of frame and components will work best would start bells ringing. the bike shop where you've already spent what amounts to a second mortgage on your house and the wheel manufacturer who's wheels cost more than a very fine bike obviously have a vested interest in nay saying the the people with experience.
