Tri-Shorts or clipless pedals and shoes.

Tri-shorts (~$40.00) will be way cheaper than pedals/shoes (~$300) and you won't have to worry much about the whole transistion thing getting on/off the bike.

x2

You can get shorts for $40 or less.  Shoes and pedels will cost around $150 for middle of the road stuff (on sale or at Nashbar).

$150? Nah,  Shimano r540 or the nicer Nashbar brand pedals are $40-$50.  They ALWAYS have clearance shoes at Nashbar for less than $60.    You could get the pedals setup for $100 or less.

I think I'd still go Tri shorts.   You can't really change clothes and riding on a soaked/swollen bike shorts chamois is going to suck.   I think the suckness factor of wet chamois offsets the 30 seconds you'll gain with clipless pedals.   If you have some unpadded bike shorts, those would work OK. 

The tri shorts have a pad that does not collect much water and dries fast, so you can wear it on all 3 sports. 

Several of the top ten finishers around here forego the clipless pedals/shoes in sprints, gaining in transition what they may lose in cycling efficiency.

I couldn't imagine swimming and running in cycling shorts...

I disagree. It (probably) will take more time to change out of bike shoes and into running shoes than just going straight from the cage to the course with running shoes.

 For a first timer, I'd recommend getting a good tri suit (shorts) and benefitting from the comfort during the race.

yogus - 2008-02-29 7:21 AM Excuse my stupidity, but "HTFU"? All I got is "hurry the f*** up" . I know that's not right in the context. Please enlighten me.

Harden. As in "toughen up".

I agree that you can find pedals & shoes cheaper than what some of the other respondants have quoted. I love my Crank Brother's Quattros and they are only about $70 new, around $40-$50 used easily. "Scrimping" on shoes is subjective: what fits you well (i.e. $200/pr) may not fit me at all and make my ride hellonwheels. On the other hand, I have a $40 pr of gently used Pearl Izumi vipers that fit like a dream - so much better than my last pair of Time shoes that were muuch more money and supposed to be "better". Bah.

I also would agree that pedals/shoes are not a necessity in a sprint. Go for COMFORT and fing a cheap tri short or cycling short with a THIN synthetic pad.

Most of all, have fun - or what's the point?

This might go slightly outside the scope of your question, but I would go for clipless shoes/pedals.

Why?  Because even though they may or may not help you during this particular race, they WILL help you throughout the season.  If you are only worried about the race and can get money later for the shoes/pedals, then it might not matter.  I know when I went to clipless I saw a 1-2 mph increase in my bike speed (terrain dependant) because my power was actually getting transferred.

But like Sty said, Have fun!