Converting .flv to wmv9 (Zune 30GB) without much transcoding

So, the school semester has stared back up for me, and I have my Zune still. Long story short, I have long train rides, and no video to watch. I find SurftheChannel, a streaming video site with TV and movie linkage. Call it pirating, but I'm not the one doing it. (If this is pushing the boundaries of safe talk, please, stop me now) What I need is a way to convert the downloaded .flv files (flash, using the Firefox addon Download Helper) to Zune compatible WMV9 or similar, without too much transcoding.

So far, I have tried Super(c) by Erightsoft, I tried VLC Player's converting feature (with mild success), and even Windows Media Encoder, which failed miserably. As you can see, I'm leaning towards the free stuff here, so if anyone can point out a decent converter that's not some mindless google, something that you know should work, lease give me a shout. Even if someone knows optimal settings for VLC, that would be fine. Thanks in advance.