Originally Posted by
L0NE_W0LF
Thank you so much - this was very helpful. I've been doing a lot of research and talking to the folks at my local bike store. I would love to build my own wheel on the custom builder, but the bike store people recommended the Mavic Open Pro Sport / Ultegra hub rear wheel - with the deal going on it would be about 180$. What are your thoughts? Do you think I could get a better wheel building my own (within roughly the same price range)?
I have Open Pros with Ultegra hubs on my road bike and they are a fine wheel. I would not consider them for loaded touring, but pulling a trailer you'll probably be fine. I would still want at least 32 spokes and prefer 36. The Mavic website says the rim will only fit up to a 28mm tire so if your frame will accept bigger you may want to go with something like a Mavic A719 with XT hub.
The shop's price seems fair.