The Alivio gear shifting is wearing out far more rapidly than I expected. When new, it worked just fine. Now at 1600km, I have to push the shifter lever way past the click point to get the gear to engage. It works best if I downshift 2 clicks and then upshift 1 - that gives me a guaranteed shift. A single click just results in a grinding noise. If I adjust the shifter to give a guaranteed downshift, then it won't upshift. The shifter seems to have changed its pull ratio.
I've found the gears on my Touring to be similar, which is the reason I'm about to upgrade (parts listed in another thread). That aside I'm enjoying it like you.