27.5 wheelset suggestion in the €500 range?

I've been running Hunt 4 Season Gravel Disc 622 wheels for the past 3-4 months:

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/products/mason-x-hunt-four-season-disc-brake-road-bike-wheelset-tubeless-ready

Sadly it looks like they're not going to work out. I have issues with the rear hub (haven't yet sent them back for warranty), both wheels are constantly going out of true, and there are 4 little dents on the rims already. The joint on the rims is really inaccurate too and there is a big hump there which I would only expect on cheap rims. 

I've heard that Hunt uses Kinlin rims, Pillar spokes and Novatec hubs and brass nipples in this wheelset

So i'm on the lookout for new wheels, I also want to move from 37mm tyres and 622 wheels to 47mm WTB Horizon tyres and 27.5 wheels. 

The asphalt roads where I live are terrible and I also ride my bike offroad. We don't really have super smooth gravel roads, mainly slightly more rough dirt roads. Sometimes I also take my bike to rougher terrain like rocky singletrack, although i'm very cautious and slow when things get rough since it's a drop bar rigid bike, not a MTB. I only weigh 65-70kg.

My requirements are:

- stronger than my current Hunts
- under 1700 grams
- option for standard quick release and XD driver
- tubeless compatible
- centerlock mount if possible, not a huge deal if not
- a bit more than 20mm inner diameter, probably 23-25
- under or around €500 (so that's around 600 USD)
- I don't care about aero at all!

I live in Europe, I usually buy stuff from all the big retailers like Wiggle.

I've looked at some options already.

These are the factory options that look pretty good:

Mavic Crossmax Elite:

https://shop.mavic.com/en-int/crossmax-elite-rv0854.html#1028=3283

DT Swiss X 1700:

https://www.dtswiss.com/en/products/wheels-mtb/cross-country/x-1700-spline/x-1700-spline-225/

Stans Crest MK3:

https://www.notubes.com/crest-mk3-wheelset

Or I could go custom. I really like this wheelset just as an example:

http://www.justridingalong.com/gecko-gravel-road-plus-wheelset.html

WTB KOM rims, Sapim D-light spokes, Sapim Aluminium nipples, Bitex hubs. I've heard really good things about this company. 


Any kind of help would be appreciated!  

Thanks for the suggestion, they have pretty good prices!

KOMs with DT 350 hubs sounds like a pretty good combo. 240s are out of budget. So basically with D-light spokes it's the same as the JRA KOM wheelset but for a ~80 EUR extra I get DT hubs instead of Bitex. 

How would this compare to the X1700 factory wheelset in terms of quality and reliability? Can I trust the hand built wheels more? 

For the 350s there is a 5/100 and 5/135 option, I guess that means quick release.

Yeah i'm moving to a much bigger tyre but i'm also moving down to 27.5" instead of 28". Right now I have 37-622 tyres, there is room to the sides but the chainstay and seatstay bridges are about 2-3mm from the tyres, that's why I want to go down to 27.5". Running 47mm tyres with fenders would be awesome and the bike originally comes with 28mm tyres so I don't think i'm going to have problems with pedal strike or anything like that. 

There is more than enough room in the front, the chainstay clearance is going to be tight. If I go down the 27.5 route I think i'm going to buy the tyres first and borrow a 27.5 rear wheel to see if everything fits. 

Thanks! Yeah i've been eyeing the XM401 rims too. Actually the 23mm 27.5 KOM is 430g and the 27.5 XM401 is 410g. So both can be built pretty easily in the lower 1600g range. I'm a bit afraid of the super light rims in the 3xx gram range.  

Actionsports looks pretty legit, thanks for the suggestion! I'll play around with their builder. 

I think first I need to borrow a 27.5 rear wheel and buy the Horizons to see if they fit between the chainstays... I might ask a local frame builder if he could dimple (if that's the right word) the inside of the chainstays. That would help a lot. 

But even if I stay on 700c i'll need new wheels, still DTs or KOMs wtih DT 350 hubs will be pretty much perfect I think.