As for the breaking spokes:
Never had problems on the front on my X2,
but on the back they broke like being of paper. (guess it's from the weight of luggage on the back)
they always broke at the threats inside the nipples. after breaking and exchanging maybe 20 or 30 of them on various trips on the side of the road, the whole rim was bent.

so I swapped the whole rear wheel for an X5 one. the spokes are same diameter, but not tapered. The rim is about 2 cm wider and has a stronger profile, because of "edged steps" instead of smooth curvy hump (if you know what I mean). The hubs are exactly the same, so it fits without any issues.

On the big trip last year I brought a whole bundle of spare spokes, but didn't break even a single one. And that was more than 20.000 km in 4 months from Shanghai to Europe!

if you want to see what I changed on the bike see the list here:
http://monkeykings.jimdo.com/bikes/chris-bike/