Commuting Wheels

On my commuting bike I run a set of Mavic A319 rims using DT Swiss Competition (rear) and Sapim Race (front) spokes (just what I had lying around in the right length) onto some Shimano Deore hubs, 36 hole 3 cross pattern. I've tied/soldered the non drive side rear spokes for even tension.

I've done nearly 3000KM on them and all I've had to do was light general maintainence on the hubs (new balls and a race in one side of the rear hub, I forget which and a regrease with Juice Lubes) and a minor true to get them back into the +/- 0.5mm range.
I'm not the heaviest person out there but at times my pannier rack has been seriously loaded up and at other times I've actually taken the bike out in preference to my mountain bike (if I'm doing a big distance let's say).
They may not be the lightest or most fancy wheels out there but I think they're a winner!

You could easily substitute these parts for say Open Pro on 105 and get the same sort of strength and performance. I built mine myself but there are plenty of good shops out there that will be able to build them up for you, I'd choose a shop to build them rather than going mail order personally.
Including labour they should set you back about £235-£250 including labour & rim tape a pair.

If you want some properly built let me know.

For the budget minded still concerned with robustness you can't beat Mavic Open Sports, handbuilt with DT spokes on the hubs of your choice.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=17148