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canam73.
Honestly, any front hub that suffers bearing issues or flange failure, over any period of time, because of radial lacing is, IMHO, a piece of crap. The most likely causes are material choices (
using softer, CHEAPER 6000 series alloys and flange placement in relation to bearings).
In the OE work we do, I build and ride every wheel we supply parts for to our customers. Sometimes they source their own hubs which means I build with those instead of hubs of my choosing and I use the same spokes, nipples and lacings as our customers do. This means we can give real world feedback during development and that we can anticipate any real world issues that may arise.
This is the long way of saying I have experience with crappy hubs.
Front radial is mostly cool. Very little weight savings and minimal aero advantage. If the flanges are spaced well and the wheel is built well the front wheel should last forever and need only an occasional tweak once a season or so. Build it and forget it.
The voodoo is mostly in the rear.
Unwinding can be solved with spoke prep and stress relief during the build. This shouldn't be an issue on the front.
Based on how most rims are drilled, a radial lacing should give the best nipple seating and spoke alignment possible unless the rim is drilled SPECIFIC to a hub. This usually only happens on proprietary wheels. Aftermarket rims need to be drilled in a generic way so that they can be used for the greatest amount of applications.
For a 28H rear rim this means 2X/2X. Which yields good alignment and the best bracing angles.