I've been much happier with Force than Shimano, but unfortunately one of the main reasons I went with SRAM was that I hoped it would last much longer. I still wore out the rear shift lever (a new one is on its way), but fortunately is lasted about twice as long as my 105 levers...
Is SRAM replacing this for you? One reason I went w/ SRAM was their rep for customer service. Be interested to know how they stand behind their new road groups.