In fairness Chicago streets got ripped the f up this winter....worse than I have seen in a long time. Recent rides have led to a lot of wheel problems tht you normally don't see (admittedly they are wheels that are near end of life anyway).

That said get something respectible. Off the shelf pre-built and cheap...hard to beat Performance's OP/Ultegra combo. It can usually be had for $200 out of one of the 3 Performance stores local to Chicago area and they will basically swap it out at any point in time in the future if you have a problem...for the life of it.