I also recently built up a monstercross from a frame and fork set. It's a Gravity Zilla that I got on Bikesdirect the day after Thanksgiving for $135, delivered. They are currently available on Bike Island for $199. Had I remembered the CX700 I might have gotten one because I prefer steel to aluminum. It rides just fine, though, much better than I thought it would, the fork is steel. Bigger tires mitigate the harshness of aluminum. For road duty I'm running Pasela wire bead, 700x28. The gumwalls make them ride so plush and they roll really well. They are very large for a tire of this nominal size, as big as some 700x32s.
The build went perfectly. No problems with the disc tabs, headset installation (included), BB installation, or dropout spacing.
I was given a set of 36 spoke, 9 speed, 29er wheels with nutted axles, so that's what I used. The rear spacing on the Zilla is 135mm. The rims are very wide which contribute to the ride quality. I don't think I could run a narrower tire than I'm using.
I'm using old, 9 speed Dura Ace levers with Avid BB5 Road discs, 160/140mm rotors, front/rear. It probably would have been more prudent to go 160mm on the rear but I was intrigued by the 140, I'd never seen one. I handles the job just fine. The Zilla is disc only so I really had no choice but I would have used discs had I gotten a CX700. I wanted a disc brake bike.
I used a SRAM trekking crank with steel 48/38/28 rings and Powerspline BB and SRAM 12-26 9 speed cassette. The Dura Ace levers are for a double crank so I removed the inner ring. I'm using an old Dura Ace long cage rear derailleur and an old Ultegra triple front der. I believed it would do a better job of chain retention than the Dura Ace front der. The Zilla has a braze-on for a derailleur pulley which I'm using. I got my pulley from the hardware store for 4 bux.
I have used WTB Mountain Road bars and I really like them but I wanted to try a Woodchipper. It turned out to be a bust for me. The biggest problem was the reach, there just wasn't enough for me. The second problem was the positioning of the brake levers. I could not brake from the drops as hard as I could with the WTBs. I only ride the drops. But, I ended up using neither the Woodchipper or the WTB. I ended up using a Nashbar moustache bar in the upside down, drop position, looks good. It is as wide as the WTB but the "drops" are much longer, like the Woodchipper. The reach of the Nashbar is much longer than either of the other bars and I needed that. The Nashbar feels very much like the WTB from the drops, but better ergos. The thumbs are under the bar and I feel "hooked in", confident of my grip. BTW, the Nashbar is made of steel which I think has it's benefit on the dirt and is frequently on sale for $9.99. The Woodchipper is reasonable at $38. I already had a WTB but the cheapest price I saw while shopping for the Woodchipper was $80. It should be called the WTF bar.
I spent about $400 total on the build and other people estimate that it weighs about 25lbs.