I am in the same boat and am going to end up going with a custom build.

Got some WTB i19 rims for a 29" mtb. Went with SRAM X9 hubs and Sapim Lazer double butted spokes. I got a deal on the rims so all in for parts should be $200 or so. Shop charges $50 per wheel to build them up. They should weigh in around 1,700g which is light enough for me.

Like Aaron I have the WTB i19 (on a Santa Cruz Stigmata) which is a a pretty nice wheelset. I too want to get a 700C wheelset and am looking at the Stans Grail or Zipp 30 Course Disc with the Mavic Aksium Disc as something a bit cheaper but still not crazy heavy either.

Are your current hubs fine?

I'm building up some ZTR Grail Stan's rims. I also considered Iron Cross. The rims run like $80-$105 each.

Since I have hubs, my all in cost is going to be Like $300 with spokes and LBS build labor...this for a great set of wheels

Hubs are part of the original wheel build to my best guess- beefy DT Swiss 370's with a MTB application in mind. Probably not worth building up lighter wheels around heavy and used hubs.

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"It never gets easier, you just go faster."
-Greg LeMond

 
Have you actually weighed your current wheels? How heavy is heavy?

The wheels that came on my Cannondale CAADX were around 2,200g. The wheels i am building with the SRAM X9 hubs are going to be around 1,700g-1,750g all told. This is for 32 hole rims with essentially all MTB parts.

Your DT Swiss 370 rear hub weighs the same as the X9 I am going to use. The front should be decent, mine is 165g for the front.

I would weigh your wheels before you get too far with trying to upgrade them. DT Swiss are good hubs, I would have used the 350's or 240's but they are triple the price of the X9 for not a whole lot of weight savings. You might find your wheels are not as heavy as you think and that it is difficult to build disc cross wheels for less than 1,700g unless you want to spend a ton of cash.

Only other thing that really got me excited was some Zipp 303 disc wheels. But that was going to be $1,200, the weight savings wasn't huge over the $300 setup, and then I would care more about crashing my bike through the mud.

And they aren't exactly tubeless compatible. Not that that's a requirement depending on the use case, but still

Everything I have read about tubeless for cross is that it is not a great way to go. They tend to burp when you get the pressure low enough for cross. Tubular is the best, followed by clincher with tube.

I might try some tubies in the future, but for now I will just run tubes in my clinchers. Doubt it will keep me off any podiums (my slow ass will take care of that).

Yeah -- I guess I was more thinking of tubeless for gravel racing rather than cx. I have my eye on the Dirty Kanza, and Brian Jensen for one reported that tubeless was the key for him to avoiding flats.

If you are going to be doing gravel then yes, I'd count tubeless pretty high on your requirements. It will allow you to run lower pressures without pinch flatting vs running tubes. This will be a big boost to your handling and all day comfort (less bouncing around and better traction).

Other posters are right, tubeless does limit how low you can go pressure-wise for CX without tearing off or burping. Exactly how low depends on your rim/tire combo, how it's constructed, and probably a little bit of luck.