ha, her 1000 is almost as old--she can't remember when she got it (?! how is this possible, I almost had a birthday party for my bike last week!), but I know she got it before we got together because I've never seen her on it so probably a 1991 or so. I just went and looked at it and it seems to have something different from what you described, but I'll keep it in mind if she starts having trouble with it.

Sounds like that first AIDS ride was an experience in every way.