I could never get on with grip shifts, I must admit though this was some 10 years ago. You had to wear gloves otherwise when sweating you couldn't turn the grip and yes I frequently changed gear without wanting too, most annoying.

Anyway this has put me off them, I have the ones with a thumb below and one above, I find this is generally the best for me. I remember however I have another bike at my parents that I could scab some gear off.

In all my years on earth I have not had one piece of Shimano gear go wrong, from the very first Releigh Mustang (I believe they first came out with the whit/red/black frame then the next one was the purply number) to XT gearing I had on a Kurt Manetou frame.

My mountain bike has LX on it, but I must say it seems to have gone Bling Bling really big and out there, don't get me wrong it works faultlessly, but still seems a but ugly. My old bike has the older LX gearing, do you think that would pass over OK?