Regarding the gel gloves and numbness, I really love gel gloves. What I found was the prob was the stock HUGE grips that my bike came with and I got a Juliana Wylder woman's bar which is tapered on the ends. Only prob is now standard rubber grips are too big!

Am working on this with LBS.

The narrower diamater of the women's bar is really nice. It is also only 58MM accross, which is good. I am riding a road bike with an upright set up, like a commuter bike.