Hi djb and thanks for the reply. I agree with you, as my former bike was acera and I didn't have any problems with it for many years. It was an old bike (klein mtb from the 90's) but the shifting was solid. With this new (to me, I got it used) bike I feel the parts build quality is cheaper and I'm not getting any feedback from mechanics who have looked at it in regards to shifting issues that some parameter is out of spec. All I can chalk it up to is cheap parts.

I'm open to any ideas on what might cause a bike to need monthly gear adjustments. My expectation is that I should be able to run through all gears without issue. When I got it back from the shop (I've taken it in twice) after adjustment, everything shifts great. A month or so later gears are jumping. Maybe I need to find a new shop. My former bike was not like this, and I'm looking at it as 'they don't make them like they used to', or maybe I got a lemon.

Maybe the question I'd ask back to everyone is, if you're bike is behaving like mine, what should I be looking at?

My other question would also be if the lower quality components work fine, why does anyone upgrade? Is it weight?

I'm not a racer but I ride hard/fast on bumpy urban streets and my bike gets rattled a bit. My reasoning for an upgrade is function/durability. I don't race so weight doesn't matter.