I was looking on the Specialized site and you have a different brand crank than my wife does. Hers was "Specialized" branded not Sugino

I believe this is the crank you have? http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=CR1033 But with different rings. With that said unless specialized put the same crappy rings on a better crank I think your rings are better than what came off my wife's bike.

Still it could be part of the issue as could the shifters and FD. Can you think about upgrading the shifters and derailleurs?

These are what are on both my and my wife's bike (she has the older 8spd version). And you will need this FD and the RD of your choice. Of course you will also need a new cassette and chain as this would be a 9 spd system. As an alternative maybe you could find an older pre rapid rise set of XT shifters for a good price and use those and a MTB FD. Of course you could also go Campy or SRAM if you are getting new stuff.

I feel like I am confusing the situation here.