Hopey, You can probably get away with just changing the chainrings rather than the whole crankset. But either way you'll probably need a new chain as the present one will probably be a bit short, and you might want to change the rear cassette, as the largest cogs will probably be too large to go with larger chain rings. Changing the cassette might offset needing a new chain. Everything will need adjusting after you've changed either of those bits.
I've just gone from a road bike with a 53/39 front to one with a 50/34 and I much prefer it as I was struggling to maintain any pace on the uphills after I'd been out for more than a couple of hours.
Just emailed the local bike shop and asked them to price it up for me.
Cheers for all the info.
Barter with them. You should get at least 10% off in accessories or 10% off price ...I managed to get 15% off the actual price of a 2008 bike at my local bike shop last week Hopey...
get it bought hopey! It's a Trek Daz btw
Some places of employment i.e Fireservice, NHS, University have worked into this 'bike to work' scheme where you can a considerable discount on any bike you want.