The stock wheels are actually not bad at all*, butted spokes (would normally expect plain gauge as OEM), the rims are decent, nice and wide and not that heavy, hubs are OK, but come adjusted too tight and with too little grease from the factory, sort that on day 1 and they’re OK for an OEM C+C hub. When they eventually die I’ll actually be tempted to rebuild with the OEM rims as they are better than expected.
I’d buy complete and ride it for a bit, then work out what/if you need to upgrade anything, that way you get a bike right off the bat to go exploring with!
Personally I’d avoid the frameset only option unless you absolutely must have the adjustable dropouts, just too much potential for faffage, creaking etc. if not needed. And the difference between 725 and 520/525 is negligible, I’d be surprised if you could ever tell in a blind test…
* for ref, mine have done > 2,000 miles now mix of road and offroad, unloaded, loaded and towing a trailer while loaded, not even needed to adjust a single nipple yet, checked the bearings the other day as a precaution and they feel as good as the day I adjusted them when new, I’ll check on them again in another 2,000 miles but not expecting any drama.