Here are some answers to your questions:
My original rim died when a spoke broke out on the rolling prairie, about 40 miles from home. It broke crossing some railroad tracks. It was a weird break, occurring in the middle of the spoke, and on the opposite side of the drivetrain. I suspect it was seriously nicked by something beforehand, like someone's pedal at a bike rack. I took it easy on the way home, but the spoke next to the broken one developed a crack in the rim, where that spoke is pulling through the bottom of the rim.
The current hub is original to the bike. It is a 1986 Malliard hub with some pitting on the cones. The axle is a little bent as well. I've had three rims on that hub over the last 20 years or so. I'll probably use the old hub to build a new wheel myself this winter, to use as a backup rim. Probably put a Velocity Deep V on there.
Last edited by Pinyon; 08-27-10 at 11:14 AM.