Shifter Recommendations

thats a slippery slope to go down. You obviously have an older bike so upgrading to new shifters will entail upgrading to 10 or 11 speed which means new shifters, deraileurs, cassette and chain, possibly chain rings too??.

Used you will need to find some older RSX shifters which might work - I cant say I have any experience with 7 speed set ups. I would suggest talking to an old guy at the LBS about your upgrade plans

Here is one on Ebay - probably the best bet to keep it reasonable (if it works with your deraileurs).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RSX-3-X-7-Speed-Shifters-STI-Shimano-/11209...

Save yourself a headache and buy good used bike with the shifters you want.
Keep the bike you have for commuting and early season rides.

Thanks!

While I did purchase this bike new back in 2011 - it literally has only about 200+ miles on it and 95% of those are within the last 2 months as I have started riding for this sprint triathlon. So I would prefer not to spend hundreds of dollars yet until I complete my first event to see if I'll do more...my gut tells me I will but until then...trying to not get to deep.

I am thinking of replacing the shifters because I just don't like them and the feel very much like a "kids" bike.

Based on both of your responses though...brings another question to mind...am I hurting myself with a 7 speed bike? Should that be my starting point to determine if upgrading or buying a used bike is the way to go?

Thanks again
TD

By the time you've replaced the shifters, front/rear derailleur, cassette, chain, cables, housing, etc. you might just as well buy a used bike with the equipment you want...

Also, the spacing of a 7 speed wheel is different than 9 and 10, which means that those won't fit in your frame. Basically, you can't really upgrade.

As to if you're hurting yourself... the answer is the unliked, it depends... if it's flat, then not really that much (you will have some larger steps between gears, so it's a bit more of a challenge finding the right gear as you will be slightly overgeared or undergeared); if it's hilly, then more than likely yes you will compromise your time, you won't have enough gears on the high end or the low end.