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@MichaelG
I pulled the trigger on the groupset this morning- I didn't see much point in hanging around I'm pretty settled on the 5800, I went for silver. It was £325 from merlin cycles, but this included carbon 5800 pedals- something I've been considering for my summer bike, so I'll do some swapping around. Merlin also allowed me to get 175mm cranks which CR did not.
I've also realised that my 11sp campag wheels+casettes should work with the new 11sp shimano groupset, this should allow me to get the bike up and running very soon. This is good as I plan on taking my time wheels.
Wheels:
Handbuilt, 105 5800 hubs, 32+ spokes. These are the things I'm certain on concerning the wheels this bike will have. The main things to decide on are:
I'm coming round more and more to the idea of building them myself; it's something I've always wanted to try and this (high spoke count, strong) seems to be the perfect place to start. The possible savings are also a bonus, but the satisfaction of building my own wheels is the main draw.
I think it's now time to do some proper research on different rims and also lacing patterns. The things I think I'm looking for are:
Long lasting braking surface- this will presumably mean hard and thick. I really hate worn rims, these will be used lots in the wet and I'd like them to last a while before re-building.
Wide- I'm pretty sold on the advantages on wide rims, these will never have tyres <25mm so it seems a no-brainer.
Classic looks- Despite the modern groupset, I'd like this bike to maintain a classic, British look. I think what will work will become more clear once I get the groupset on and can experiment with different wheelsets. I really like the look of classic ambrosio rims and also slightly older mavic ones, research is needed to see if I can get get anything which also meets the 'wide' criteria.
Strong- For ease of build and durability on bad British roads/lanes/occasional tracks.
Not too pricey- Don't really want to go too much above archetypes; willing to sacrifice a bit of weight in the old 'light,strong,cheap' adage.
I'm pretty sold on the idea of having more spokes drive side than non-DS, not sure if possible with 5800 hubs, research needed. I've also read about using heavier gauge spokes on ds than non-ds and front, this might be a nice way to run 32 f+r whilst still biasing strength where it's needed.
Any advice/thoughts on wheel choice would be appreciated, cheers