I have been thinking about buying a cyclocross buy now for a while, mainly to commute to work and take recreational trips with both on and off road/trails. I do want to commute all year round and reading the winter cycling forums has lead me to believe that mountain bikes are great in the winter. Reading this forum, and practical knowledge, leads me to believe that street/road bikes are best for the summer. A speedy bike that will let me put on fatter tires for the winter = cyclocross.

My issue is that i would like to put an internal gear hub on the bike. The winters here are harsh, my city likes to dump sand/salt and some liquid chemicals down to keep the streets clean. I figure that an internal gear hub would be easier to maintain in these situations. I also would like to get disc brakes, i hear hydraulic brakes can withstand colder temps than mech ones, and they work/feel better.

I have written the few cyclo crosses that we actually have here in my town, the Tricross sport, Kona Jake, and a Poprad( my current fav). They were, for the most part, all very nice bikes, but they all lack an internal gear hub. Would it be cheaper/smarter for me to purchase one of these pre-fab cyclocross bikes and get a new rear wheel assembled for it? Of would i be better off selecting the pieces of the bike i would like and building it myself?

Has anyone here built their own bike and have any comments on the process and how it turned out?

Thanks for any comments.