Alasdair wanted a stealth wheelset that would be perfect for all round off road train riding. He was specifically after reliability, with a good dose of stiffness and light weight.
Wanting to migrate in the direction of wider tyres as well, we chose Nextie's Asymmetrical 38mm carbon rim. It's 32mm wide internally, dramatically increasing the air volume of tyres on the 2.3-2.5" range so that tyre pressures can be confidently dropped - for great traction, grip and taking the edge of small trail imperfections.
White Industries XMR+ Boost hubs are the logical choice for simple reliability. They are an old school design, and employ the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. Their freehub design is a couple of decades old now, and whilst other designs have come and gone (and gone "snap" in some cases) - their simple design is almost unkillable.
All that, and reasonably priced, and beautifully made as well.
As is usually the case, we used Sapim spaokes on this build - Sapim Race for both wheels, with black brass nipples for ongoing reliability.