The reasons I wanted to replace the wheels:
1. crap braking in the rain
2. they aren't round (makes for a very harsh ride)
3. the rear makes some sort of scratching noise once per tire revolution, only when there is weight on the rear wheel, and it kinda comes and goes randomly (???)
4. live in a hilly area
5. the lack of hook beaded rims has probably led to a few more flats than I care to manage.
6. new old bikes are somewhat hard to come by in this area.
7. $60-80 in wheels etc. is better than $250+ for a used or low-end new bike