Thanks for all the great vintage hub suggestions. I assume because of the nature of this forum in not going to be suggested many hubs newer than the early-mid nineties.

I totally agree with the idea that the look of the front hub matters more because it's just so much more visible, and less fussy/specific.

I measured my current spoke tension distribution on the back and it's better than spokecalc calculated so I assume I brought in the right side as well as the left. That's what I meant by "just barely respaced", as the cone flats are just barely accessible on the right side.


​​​​​​It makes more sense to me now that if a hub is originally designed for a wider spacing, bringing in the NDS more than the DS is gonna result in a greater difference in tension, all other things being equal. Except for maybe the transitional hubs of the early nineties.

I'll try to remember to let you all know what I end up doing, this is really all inspired by the fact that I need to replace my front rim and I'm thinking about whether to just buy the same rim or to make a more elaborate project of the occasion.

I might consider reusing the original hubs except that the rear is both a freewheel and forty holes, so that's just super extra limiting wrt to functionality and rim choice. The original Araya rims are single walled and besides not being quite round anymore are also quite shallow and very flexy! I'm my experience this actually gives a rather compliant/comfy ride and at moderate speeds the bike is less twitchy. Not sure if I like these qualities enough to pursue them in new rims but it's interesting to note. Maybe people appreciated more compliant wheels back in the day?