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@the_meat
So the reason people will often suggest drop bars instead of bullhorns is pretty simple: you can get essentially the same hand position(s) that bullhorns offer by simply riding with your hands on the top of the drops, and you get an additional sprinting position in the drops. I don't mind bullhorns all that much personally, but also don't run them on any of my bikes anymore.
The reason people are recommending against the Pista stem is that it has a rather extreme angle to it, and if you're going for a fairly generic level of comfort, a stem with 6–17° with some spacers can provide a lot of the same height adjustments without use of such an extreme angle. The only real reason to use one is if you need a very drastic downwards slope, which tends to only be necessary in situations where comfort is not the primary goal.
Wheelbase I can't really speak to this with the level of expertise a track racer would be able to, but my understanding is essentially this: track sprinters need to make lightning-quick steering adjustments, and having a steep headtube angle, low trail, and a short wheelbase all contribute to making that possible. In terms of using a track bike as a city bike, that same quickness in handling translates pretty well in my experience, which is one of the reasons a lot of people who enjoy riding in traffic enjoy riding track bikes.
Rims: sorry, I'm a damn Yank and thusly haven't a clue what shops to point you to in the UK.
Hope this helps.