Yes, Aerobatics will shorten gyro life significantly. As Mel said, Horizons don't care much about rolls, and DG's not so much about loops, but do the opposite with either one and they get pretty bent out of shape!
Just an FYI on "Cageable" Gyros. Most current gyros sold to GA as "cageable" gyros are not in fact permanently caged. They simply re-erect the gyro and don't hold it in caged positions. There are a few that do, but not many. If you look closely at most of the Cageable Gyros for sale today and read the knob, it says "pull for quick erect". Like I said, there are some others availble, but they are not common and not cheap.
The world as a whole is going away from spinning pieces of metal to solid state...even long time gyro maker RC Allen has a new solid state digital LCD unit. Couple that with the fact that you can buy a Dynon (it doesn't care what you do to it in aerobatics) for $1600+/- or a TruTrak ADI for elss, and it makes the $1500 vacuum and $2500-$5K electric gyros not so attractive.
My 2 cents as usual!
Cheers,
Stein