After almost a decade, my Planet X Stealth and I have parted ways. I originally bought the Stealth all the way back in January 2013 during a Planet X flash sale. I was living in Berkshire (England). Even though it was one of their lower spec’d time trial offerings, it was a huge purchase for me at the time. A birthday present to myself!

Originally the Stealth came with SRAM Apex 10-speed and 50mm carbon-faired alloy wheels. I had big plans of riding a whole load of club and open time trials on it, but in reality I only managed to get to a handful while in the UK. A few club 10’s and only one 25 mile TT.

The Stealth has seen some changes over the years. When I moved to Tasmania I converted it into a road bike with drop bars, first with SRAM Apex 10-speed (which I hated), then Shimano 11-speed (much better), then a further “upgrade” to SRAM RED 11-speed eTap electronic shifting (nice, but way too expensive). I also switched the wheelset for my full-carbon ROVAL 60mm wheels, my last staff-discount purchase before I left Sigma Sports.

After a while I missed having a time trial bike, so I sold off the overpriced SRAM eTap groupset and converted the bike back into a TT weapon. I’ve never been a great time triallist. I just really enjoy it! As a lighter weight rider, I lack the raw outright power of the bigger guys (I can make up some of that difference in aerodynamics). Fitted with a rear wheel cover from EZDisc, the bike certainly looked fast!

But all good things come to an end. I recently got my hands on a modern time trial bike, so the Stealth was somewhat surplus to requirements. It was time to say farewell and move the bike onto a new home where it’ll get a new lease of life.

I say “farewell” but I will likely still see this bike around. I sold it to a friend. I am sure Andrew will put some serious power through the pedals and get great use out of the trusty Stealth. In fact, I’ll most likely see the bike again when Andrew storms past me in a race some time…