That's good to know. I appreciate the opinion. I don't ride like a banshee in the curbs/jumps sense. I do ride a lot/long distances though (don't have a car in LA)

To be honest, this started with me needing new tires -too many flats. That led to me toying with the idea of getting new rims/wheelset as well. I know the Surly hubs are pretty solid, so I'm really just not sure about just getting rims vs. whole new wheelset. Looking for ideas/opinions is all.

Spoke count... That's something i was wondering about, does lower spoke count increase or decrease strength?