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@veLLo
Speaking of Singer, check out this beauty...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EXCEPTIONAL-Alex-Singer-56-cm-chrome-late-40s-Nivex-/370625658378?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564b02be0ahttp://rover.ebay.com/roverimp/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?pub=5574889051&toolid=10001&campid=5336525415&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]http://rover.ebay.com/roverimp/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?pub=5574889051&toolid=10001&campid=5336525415&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]http://rover.ebay.com/roverimp/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?ff3=2&pub=5574889051&toolid=10001&campid=5336525415&item=370625658378&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]
I do not have a straight answer to this. I was bending rear axles on my geared bikes, which were all fitted with freewheel hubs, old fashion yo!
I would bend, even break axles on my touring, or road bike, with different wheelsets. So I've replaced many axles in the years. I tried hollow, solid, standard KF imports products, posh "wheel manufacturing" aircraft grade steel ones with rolled threads (as opposed to cut threads). I bent them all. The only one I never bent (touching wood) is the axle of an old mavic hub, which I still use on my Mercian. Never tried titanium, my wheels don't justify such expensive quality stuff. On my road bike, I now use "modern" cassette hub and so far no complaints. BTW, that means my old wheelset is for sale, fitted with a brand new wheel manufacturing axle, serviced, it will be perfect for someone lighter than me (road wheels, Perrin Maillard Professionel Hubs - sometimes they are branded Spidel - 28H, gold in colour, laced to open pros, black rim and black spokes, double butted. Rear rim has a bit of cosmetic damage due to flippin brake pads fitted to low and who removed a bit of pain over the braking surface, but plenty of life left)
And by the way I'm not mad, although not known by most people and even amongst bike mechanics, it is a recurrent problem. I heard someone saying that in the "old days" they would replace their axle twice a year.
From what I gathered on internet, talking to bike mechanics, etc the reasons I consider believable are:
-Freewheel technology appeared at a time bikes only had up to 3 speed blocks max. That means the overhang between the the bearings and the frame dropout was quite short. Over the years blocks had more and more speeds, up to 7 on some old mountain bikes if I remember well. The overhang increase made the axle weaker, and people carrying heavy panniers, climbers, riders above 90kg like me, would tend to bend or break axles.
-The guy at Alex Singer said a heavy rider should avoid fewer spokes (he said "oh well of course you bent it!" when I refered to my 28h rims) because force distribution is not right. Not sure I believe that...
-He also said that it could be because I pedal "square", not smoothly. I told him I ride fixed, that I'm not so bad. He said I should be offended, he said even pro riders don't always have smooth pedal rotation, and this create damage to bikes. For instance, he noticed that bent axles, spoke breakage, etc mainly happened at the end of a race or audax, when the rider is tired and pushes irregularly onto the pedals, not having a smooth rotation. So I sould really work on this, have a straight back as opposed to round, have my ass out (not sure how to explain this) on my saddle as it affects alot how well I pedal... I tried, it works. Saddly most of the times I forget about it...
When I asked the question about bending axles here (mechanics and fixing) someone posted a very interested link on the subject, can try to find it if you want...
L