One of the bikes that I did a test ride on had shimano rapid fire shifters. I went to the shimano website, but I wasn't sure which one of the products listed were the rapid fire shifters. I was thinking about eventually replacing the existing shifters with the rapid fire ones.
Based on the info above, is there anything else that is worth considering as an upgrade?
I have the Manitou Axel forks and find them to be a bit soft. If I were to consider changing anything it would be the forks to possibly a rockshoks with a lockout. That's just my opinion of course.