Bunch 'O' Questions
 

My dad has employed me to fix up a few family bikes we have so he know who needs a new bike and such stuff. Right now I'm working on a bike for my mom. It's and older Trek Antelope with Shimano Exage shifting, actuated by thumb shifters. The thumbies are hard to use though, and the integrated brake levers are crap. My plan is to switch to Gripshifters, I think that they will work better for my mom. Plus I'll be able to swap brake levers. Will lowend Gripshifters(SRAM or Sunrace) work with Exage? Shifting doesn't have to be superb, but I don't want to spend money if it hands down won't work.

I think the grip shift shifters were all made to be shimano compatible, I don't think the spacing ion the exage comps is different than the others IIRC.

Don't forget that you will have to buy cantilever brake levers rather than v-brake levers. You should have no trouble finding these used, through a shop or private sale.

The numbered SRAM stuff (7.0, etc) is not compatible with Shimano. Go here for details:

http://www.sram.com/product/shifters/index.asp

Ah haaaa!!! V-brake levers are not compatible with canti's. Should I upgrade to Alivio v's while I'm at it? I think the added stopping power would be better for my mom.

Actually, the stopping "power" of cantilever brakes depends on how long the bridge wire is. They can give you just as much (or more) stopping power than V-brakes, if set up properly. You can adjust them, too. V-brakes can't be adjusted.