I'm looking at buying a time trial bike and would appreciate any general tips, suggestions or recommendations, as well as any relevant feedback of my current favoured choice.

When I bought my current Specialized Tarmac Pro road bike (4 years ago) I did so in the knowledge that the bike was far superior to the engine, and would therefore require no updating / replacing. With no regrets, I intend to adopt the same policy again (although the amount in real terms will be a little less).

My favoured TT bike at the moment is the Planet X Pro Carbon Dura Ace Elite. Priced at £2,000, it appears to be good value to me. However, are there any other bikes around this price range that I might have missed and should be considering and why? Conversely, are there any reasons why I should disregard the Planet X?

The Planet X website states “favoured 220 Triathlon Magazine bike of the year 2007, 2009 and 2010....”. There are no links to the tests and there are no issue dates provided. Does anyone have any of the 220 tests? I have looked through my back issues (1 year) of “Triathlete Europe” to find a test of this bike, but without success.

There is an also an unused ex-display bike on the Planet X website for £1,800 in my frame size. However it has 54 / 42T chainrings and 172.5mm cranks. I'm used to 52 / 39T chainrings and 175mm cranks. I didn't know such large chainrings existed. With my level of ability, I cannot imagine running out of gears on the down-hills using standard chainrings. Similarly such large chainrings would limit my up-hill capabilities. I suspect that I wouldn't notice the cranks being 2.5mm shorter. Considering these variations, are they worth the £200 saving.

Any assistance in helping me choose the right bike, however positive or negative those comments might be, would be much appreciated.

Matt