High flange hubs were considered to be stiffer "back in the day." Some folks insist they can tell the difference; I can't, but I don't have a powerful riding style (understatement). If you look at old pics and video, you'll see that high flange hubs were often used for time trialing. In the Eddy era, you also tend to see them on French bikes, while Italian bikes usually have low-flange hubs (there was at least a perception among some racer types that Italian frames were stiffer than French ones).