I haven't tried any bikes with SRAM on them, but your problems with Shimano may be a matter of grade rather than brand. My old 105 triple bike was a bit of a haul to shift the front, but my Dura Ace double shifts like a dream - its so smooth that sometimes I look to see if it really shifted... I'm guessing that an $8,000 SRAM equipped bike more than likely has the top of the line DA equivalent gruppo on it.