Hi all, Love the forum here and am hoping some of you might have some advice for me.

I'm getting back on my bike after a 7 year hiatus. Starting slow, but biking daily (currently 6-12 miles/day). I have a 2002 Trek 7700FX (bought new when they were first released), but even though it is not a road bike and already has a somewhat upright ride, my shoulder bursitis and neck arthritis mean I need an even more upright ride. I also have chronic tailbone pain which predates biking (and I take lots of vitamin I: Ibuprofen) I tried out a Giant Suede, some Sun comfort bike, Townie, Raleigh Detour, but found all them had a worse ride than my Trek (especially shifting and braking) although I loved the seating position. My rides do have over and under passes and I did find climbing with these hard as well since I couldn't stand up -- especially starting from a stop on uphill which I sometimes have to do. I use the lowest 18 gears on my bike extensively, and the next 4 occasionally, and the top 5 pretty much not at all. I bike in traffic and make heavy use of gears and braking.

I've switched out my Trek seat for a large Cloud 9 (that helped with my tailbone pain!) and am having a LBS work on raising the handlebars for me next week.

Even so, the shifting on my Trek is somewhat clunky (I have had the bike tuned up -- 2 months ago) and at the extremes the chain does rub ever so slightly. (though I still found the shifting smoother than the Suede and Townie). Specs on my bike are here: http://www.bikesdetails.info/Trek_7700_FX_2002.html. I suppose I could try one of the new Trek FX bikes to see if there have been improvements, but given my bike specs, could I gain anything upgrading the gearing/shifting on my current Trek? The new topend Trek FXs are pricey, and given my current weight of 250 (and the fact we make grocery runs on our bikes and I have a beefy rack and paniers and often fill them), I don't need to pay for superlight anything (though it is a nice-to-have when you have to move your bike around for storage), but would willingly pay quite a bit for smoother, more reliable shifting if it existed.

I do also have a Easy Racer Tour Easy, but find the recumbent is not the best fit for me in traffic, with tight turns needed to negotiate the multiple very brief sidewalk incursions to reach a pedestrian light trigger (yeah, I could get off the bike, but it's so much faster just to bike up to it) as well as the occasional need to start on incline which my balance and leg strength aren't currently up to on the recumbent.