Any suggestions for building a campy-hub'ed road wheelset that is built super tough, mainly for winter riding and maybe cyclocross if i ever get into it, just training in general.

Something that will go through potholes with ease, no issues with truing, etc.

I'm 145 lbs so not too much to worry about as far as abuse anyways...but thoughts?

These will also be potentially going across the country this summer on a cross-country bike trip. Simple radial or cross spoke lacing preferred.

36 hole Velocity Deep V.
2.0/1.8 DB spokes
36 hole record hubs.

If you really wanted, you could do the 'triple butted' spokes that are 2.0/1.8/2.3 IIRC

36 hole Velocity Deep V.
2.0/1.8 DB spokes
36 hole record hubs.

Yep. Or you could live without the oil hole and go Chorus. Super strong wheels.

Any suggestions for building a campy-hub'ed road wheelset that is built super tough, mainly for winter riding and maybe cyclocross if i ever get into it, just training in general.

Something that will go through potholes with ease, no issues with truing, etc.

I'm 145 lbs so not too much to worry about as far as abuse anyways...but thoughts?

I own similar wheel sets, built with Campy Atlanta'96 (on two road bikes and a fixed gear) or Ambrosio Focus rims (on the cross bike). I wanted to stay Italian with the same durability.

Listen to Kerry & Bob. I have 2 sets with Chorus & Deep Vs. They could do double duty on logging trucks.

What would be the most affordable way of getting them built? Are there any wheelbuilders you'd recommend?

I have a set of Dura Ace/ Deep Vs that are 28 spokes front and rear that I use for training and, even at that spoke count, they are pretty much bombproof. I weigh 175 and I haven't put a spoke wrench on them in years. 36 spokes will certainly carry your 145 lbs whereever you want to go, but let the wheelbuilder you choose give you his thoughts.
There are several good wheelbuilders who post here all the time. The only one I have personal experience with is Ron Ruff and I highly recommend him. He built two sets of wheels for me last year and both are great.

I'm gonna buck the trend here and say 'find some box section rims' insteada the DeepVs. MA40s, etc. Them rims will ride nicer and have spokes that pretty much any shop that's been around more'n a few years is likely to have.

MA3s will prolly be just fine too, but I don't have any experience with em.

I have a set of 3 Campy Omega XL rims that are waiting to be built into wheels as soon as I can retrieve em from Phx and the storage unit. Mmmmmmm Omega XLs.

Now, before y'all get yer panties in a wad, lemme 'splain: while the DeepV is certainly bombproof, it also don't flex as much as the box section rim. That means if/when you hit something, its more likely to dimple the sides of the rims insteada flexing a bit and keeping on rolling. Makes for a more durable wheel in the long run.

I sold my pair of MA40s here about 2 years ago. Before that, they'd been my primary training wheelset for at least a few years.

HTH

M

yep - the info here is... interesting...

first, there are no such thing as new chorus hubs, and most if not all of the older 06 stuff has dried up, so no joy NOS... Record quit having oil holes in 07 as well..

your choice is record, or centaur and below, which is cartridge bearing and pretty heavy...

@ 145lbs, you could go for the 32h velocity aeroheads, they would be strong enuff for your weight.... if you wanted beefy to cope with CX, then consider fusion rims.... Deep Vs are obviously even stronger, but they are also really heavy @ c.585g vs fusions @ c475g per piece... also 36 is def overkill on deep Vs or even fusions for a light rider... it would be a shame to sink what is a pretty light hub @ c230g for the rear record...

really with the spec of "just training", the lighter aeroheads or the beefier fusions ought to serve you well...

Any thoughts on a 32h Mavic Open pro with DB spokes and record hubs?

Hub of Choice / Open Pros is another of the "standard" responses in threads about training wheels. Obviously, good rims or Mavic wouldn't still sell them and so many people wouldn't suggest them.
I also have wheels with Aeroheads (3 sets at one time, but I gave a set to a friend to use for training wheels) and kept the other two. One is on a powertap and gets a lot of use training. They are lighter than Deep Vs, but still very strong. I have never had OPs, but did ride Mavic Heliums a while ago and that is basically the same rim. I like the Aeroheads better. At your weight, you can ride pretty much anything you want.

yep - OPs are very similar to the aeroheads, but i'm gunna go out on a limb here and say the aeroheads are better... on top of the better profile and lack of eyelets to pull out, you have the option of the OC rear which *will* build a more balanced, more evenly tensioned, and thus stronger rear wheel.

OTOH if you can get the record/OP combo very cheaply (like performance used to do), then by all means... basically the same thing...

do check out the fusions, they are pretty lightweight for a reputable beefy rim.. basically similar to 24mm Mavic, Fulcrum and Campy OEM factory rims in weight and rim depth - when combined with 32 spokes (record), it would build into a stiff and very dependable wheelset..