"life is too short to buy crappy cogs" -- yeah, i hear that! I'm curious about the spacing issue, and will reinstall the cog and lockring to check it out--but I won't ride on it!

Like the hub, the cog is what came on the bike when I got it. I plan to get a new cog to put on my new wheelset, and while I am at it, a new chainring to fiddle with my ratio so I can get smaller/ DA cogs, etc.

OK, so this confirms my suspicions. I guess this hub/wheel will serve as a singlespeed for some future guest bicycle. thanks yo.