Thank you EVERYONE, for the valuable feedback! Clearly, there are lots of differing opinions on SRAM...which I fully expected. Like several of you have pointed out...I will have to try it out for myself to see if I like it.

To answer some questions that were asked -

@smilingcat - I've had 2 separate bike shops look at this issue. Between the 2 shops, there were 6 mechanics that actually looked at the bike and all of them agreed that there was indeed a problem, but none could offer a solution or fix. Between these 2 shop/6 mechanics, we tried new cable & new housing, new cassette, new chain, new shifters, and more RD adjustments than I can even recall. All of this was at my expense, except for the shifters, which were replaced under warranty by Shimano. I finally took the bike to an independent mechanic and he was the one who suggested lengthening the cable because there was such a tight loop right where the cable goes into the RD, that he felt it was creating a lot of friction..thus causing the hard to move shifter. He replaced the cable with a brand new one (and new housing) only in a longer length making the "loop" at the RD entry much larger. I immediately felt a difference in the downshifting. It's been about a month since then, and now it's starting to feel stiff again. I feel as though I've exhausted every option up to this point.

@blue_angel - I would love to consider Di2, or even the new Ultegra electronic that is due out soon...but the cost factor of electronic shifting is preventing me from doing so. Believe me...I have seriously contemplated it, but DH is standing in the way.

@hulagirl - What you just described in your last post about using 2 fingers to move the SRAM shifter....THAT is what I go through with my Shimano shifters. Infact, for the big ring...I require all 4 of the fingers on my left hand to move that lever...it is THAT difficult to move. And, on top of that...I either have to HOLD the lever in that position until the chain "catches" onto the big ring...OR...I have to continuously push the lever over and over again (usually as much as 3-4 times) before the chain goes onto the big ring. It gets to the point where if I'm approaching a hill, I just say "F it!" and stay in the big ring and mash my way up instead of dropping down into the small ring and spinning up the hill.

So...with all that said, my goal this weekend is to find a shop that has a bike on the floor equipped with SRAM (and maybe even Campy) in my size, and go ride it. I'll never know unless I try it for myself. I don't want to be stuck with another new bike, wondering if I would have liked another component group better than Shimano.

Linda