I'm kind of in the same boat as the OP - looking to build a sturdy set of wheels, and don't want to spend a ton of money. I'm certainly not looking at Chris King hubs - I'll stick with Shimano's that are fairly easy to maintain and will last plenty long enough. I've been shopping around, and because spokes are so darn expensive, I've found it cheaper to simply buy pre-built wheelsets. Maybe I'm just shopping in the wrong places...
One thing I've noticed - You'll find more hubs and rims available in 32-spoke, as opposed to 36-spoke. Again, maybe I'm shopping in the wrong places. In my limited experience, 32 should hold up just fine. I'm 270lb, and my bike has 24 spoke wheels. I just removed them from the bike after 500 miles of commuting and recreational riding (including some dirt and gravel), and the rear was only out of lateral true by maybe 1mm. Even considering this, I still don't fully trust them at my current weight, thus the reason I'm looking to build a higher-spoke-count wheel.
Last edited by ChrisM2097; 06-27-12 at 12:32 PM.