what rim is it?

araya super aero sa30 650c tubular 24h

Given the depth of the rim, and the smaller diameter (650c), it'll probably hold up pretty well if its built with good even tension.

what's the advantage of a good hub, anyway?

not trying to troll, I'm really not sure. other than durability in bad weather and maybe a little weight difference, what makes a new Phil any better than a new Formula?

There is no performance advantage to a "good" hub. Bearing friction is not a significant source of drag. Its all about bling really. Even if trashy hubs come with bad bearings (which they don't usually), its cheap to replace them with good bearings. What other aspects to a hub are there? Hubs almost never break, not even the cheap ones. As long as the axle spins, the flanges don't brake, and the threads don't strip, its doing its job.

^^+1^^

this makes me feel like i should just get the cheapest hub i can get no matter what

But don't buy total garbage. The cheapest of the cheapest hubs seem prone to stripped threads. This could be due to pairing a cheap hub with a cheap cog...I dunno.

Formula hubs are almost universally regarded as the best fg hub for the money. As for the front hub, its less of a concern, and don't need a special hub anyway. Road hubs are everywhere. You can get decent name-brand road front hubs for $5-10 if you look in the right place.

I'm a huge 'football-player build gone fat' guy that rocked Formulas for over a year with no issues whatsoever. As long as you're not trying to BMX with the things, you'll be fine.

The bang/buck for Formula is awesome. You're not getting much after that. Just build a decent wheel and go.

the problem with formula is that i don't think they have 24hole

So use ANY 24 hole road hub. But if you really want to do tricks, I would seriously consider not using a 24 hole tubular rim.