Second FB. I was going to say about the same thing until I read his post. I haven't built nearly as many wheels as he has but I may have more miles on wheel I've built simply because I have a lot of miles on my legs. And have only ridden a small handful of wheels I didn't build the past 50 years. Many of my wheels are on pre-laced hubs. Re-rims on hubs of mine. Used hubs. Sea changes of rim types. (To clinchers circa 2000 and now back to sewups.)

Sometimes you have to choose between matching the hub's previous lacing and choices otherwise that you are comfortable with. (I like to keep all my spokes inside pulling, ie spokes coming off the top of the hub pointed back, both front and at least the right rear. (With flip-flop single speed/fix gear hubs, you cannot have inside pulling on both sides.) Reason? Inside pulling does its best to reject foreign objects like chains. Outside pulling does its best to suck in those chains. I apply the same reasoning to sticks kicked up and potentially into my front hub.

I've been known to guess a broken hub flange would ruin my ride less than a jammed stick and not adhered to FB and my advice re: matching the previous lacing when confronted with rims and hubs where I could not satisfy both. So far, the hub flanges I've broken haven't hurt me at all anywhere besides my wallet. And so far, all the broken ones have been cheap hubs of unknown history and Campy Record or NR track hubs built up new and used on the street.

FB, have you ever heard of folk breaking Campy track flanges? I'm a skinny, slow twitch guy. Yes I use them on the road, in foul weather, with rim brakes ... But I don't skid. Ever. +