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@lae
Yeah, since steel tends to fail when subjected to over its UTS (ultimate tensile strength) rather than through cyclic-loading fatigue, then reducing UTS failures is the most important aspect. Or in other words, axles tend not to fail through normal use, but through big shocks. Wider tyres = less bottoming out = axle doesn't break.
It wouldn't be too expensive to rebuild the hubs into wider rims. Pair of A319s £40, strip ano and polish £0, bunch of spokes and nipples £25 - that makes 65 for a decent wheelset which is also not bad to look at, and less than half the price of the fugly offerings from Spa Cycles (why does nobody (except VO) make nice hourglass shaped hubs any more?)
Tomorrow I will be stripping the ano from, and polishing up, the cranks for this bike, since I have nothing to do.