Originally Posted by cyccommute

Good for you! DT Swiss are about as good as it gets. Go with the Alpine III and ride with confidence.

One caveat: Go find an old wheel (check a local co-op) and dismantle it, then use it to practice lacing and tensioning before you build up with more expensive spokes. I used this four part series of articles from Bicycling magazine to teach myself how to build wheels nearly 40 years ago. It’s the basis for a class I teach on wheel building as well. You can pretty much ignore the first of the series which are about wheel parts and selection but the three other parts are still applicable