On Saturday, I made another sortie to the Local Bike Shop (LBS) to be bought a 50th birthday present, albeit somewhat early. This took the form of a new time trial frame, and had been generously offered by Mrs Grumpy. The trip to the bike shop was the third in a week or so during which I had been browsing the interweb and think about several different brands and models.
In the end, the decision was (apart from aesthetic grounds) made largely on whether the frame made use of standard components. I decided against the Specialized Transition Module because of its oversize BB shell, which would mean I couldn't use any of my existing chainsets, and its slightly eccentric cable route to the rear brake caliper (I also didn't like the look when I saw it for real). I went against the Argon 18 E114 because it had a rather odd system by which the handlebars attached to the steerer tube - this would have meant I couldn't use any of the existing handlebar/stem setups I have. I looked at one or two other brands before plumping for a Cervelo. But a P3 or a P4? Both were reduced because the 2009 models were about to be replaced by 2010 models.