I've tried SRAM and had one component that came stock on my roadie...not a fan...Shimano girl here.

In comparison to Shimano imo I think it shifts rough. And the SRAM chain that came stock on my roadie for some reason with my Shimano groupo was just junk. It was rough and made the bizarre squeaking noise. Once I swaped it out for a Shimano chain I never had the problem again.

I am not sure if the LBS gets more of a profit margin with SRAM? Seems like I've read that before somewhere. But they seem to push it. No thanks!

As far as the hand issue that keeps being mentioned... I have thin lady hands, weak grip, but long fingers. A guys size small glove in full fingers works best for me fwiw. However, I have the Shimano short reach shifters and have never had a problem. There is a way to shim them too.

Good Luck with your shopping!