Winter commuting can be very hard on bikes. Just use good quality components and maintain your bike and you'll get many years of service out of your it. As for hubs I use both, cartridge bearing hubs and shimano deore/xt, my shimano hubs have never given me any problems, I've taken them apart to inspect the grease and bearings and everything was clean even after several winters. I also prefer to ride SS/FG, this eliminates any need for maintaining the drivetrain other then lubing the chain. Disc brakes are great for winter time, no need to worry about rims wearing out.