3alarmer 

...honestly, at this point I would not buy the cheapest Shimano option, because they have some quality control issues at that price. If they run well, they usually last, but if they fail, it's often pretty quickly. But they do have some slightly more expensive ones that are in the $20 and $30 dollar range, and those are pretty darn good for the money. And you can always go with something made in Japan.

3alarmer 

.
...now that I think about it, I have a pair of White Industries hubs that came to me on a used bike I bought. I could never make myself pay what they cost new. When I built them up into new wheels, it was quite troublesome pulling off the cassette cogs because they elected to use a lightweight aluminum freehub body, and the existing Shimano cogset had managed to cut some nice grooves and snags into the aluminum. Had to pry it off with prybars and file the keys smooth again to install new casette.

I'm certain that the things will probably go for a long time without any bearing issues, but it's a design choice that turned out to be problematic.

Cyclist0108

I think it is titanium, but yes, this is a problem (and yes, I have two different wheelsets with WI hubs). Even my steel Chris King freehub body (yet another wheelset and bike) has this issue, which is why SRAM and finally Shimano (for their 12-speed stuff) ditched it.

HTupolev

This isn't a square taper issue, it's a White Industries issue. Nobody else uses that design. Old-school cup-and-cone bottom brackets had a similar situation with the lockring preventing the use of drive-side spacers, but in their heyday there were a lot of spindle options available. Modern one-piece cartridges don't have a lockring, you just thread the cartridge in from the drive side and then thread the retaining cup in from the NDS and you're good.

Some cartridge brackets - notably Shimano - have a flange on the NDS that limits how far you can thread it in. If you put a spacer on the drive side to move the cartridge over, this can prevent the NDS cup from securing the cartridge very well. Since Shimano cartridges have the flange, I'd recommend going with a longer spindle rather than using a spacer to offset. If you want a non-flanged BB, the Tange LN-3922 is a reasonably affordable option.

If you go with Shimano, I'd recommend a UN-55 instead of the ultra-cheap UN-26. The UN-26 gets into "corner cutting" territory, with questionable choices like a plastic NDS retaining cup. UN-55 is nothing fancy, but it's rock solid.

Cyclist0108

Thanks.
I think I will get the UN-55 in 118 mm.

I put the WI one together with a washer inside the non drive-side cup, and it all works, but the idea of the asymmetry bugs me, and I can't seem to get the pre-load adjustment quite right (there is still a slight amount of play in it even when it starts to bind). I think I am ready to get rid of it in favor of the Shimano UN-55, or else just get a 46/30T GRX crank (which has been a flawless replacement of the WI crank/BB on my other bike).

Stupid WI crank was more expensive than the frame.

Cyclist0108

Ordered. Thanks. (It was the one I already had picked out.)

Cyclist0108

The BB-UN55 arrived. Installed. This design is vastly superior to the >$100 White Industries version, and has the additional merit of being available in the correct size (118 mm is perfect).

Thanks to everyone who suggested it.