My wife bought me a bike

Keep in mind, I have not even ridden a 10 speed since probably high school.  Mountain bikes and stingray’s were what I have had most of my life.

Anyway, this is what happened;

So my wife was talking to the LBS on the phone and they cooked up a plan for an entry level bike for me.  She lured me down to the bike shop and while browsing the selection and taking a few for a ride.  Then she say’s, hey how do you like this one?   It was a Red Trek 1500RSL.  Gee whiz, that’s pretty nice I say, so I took it for a ride.  Wow, it was much quicker than my kid’s full suspension mountain bike.  It was much lower to the ground than the Trek Pilots, 1.5’s and 2.1’s.

So then she says it’s yours, I just bought it for you….happy birthday.  The bike is $1,000 bucks. The salesman said he would throw in some pedals, aero bars or something and possibly reduce the price further in order to make it a sweet deal if I wanted it.  I bought my kids miniature Trek’s from this same shop, when they learned how to ride.  They are really nice, family kind of people at this shop.

Stunned and shocked and wanting a real bike really bad, I was still able to muster the courage to say, I need to think about this can I talk to you on Tuesday?  I continued to describe that I would need to get some advice from my friends at BT.com.

So this is what I am thinking:

#1) Long distance road biking is not really my bag.  I wanna go fast (as fast as I can at least) for T2 during my Triathlons.

#2) The other Trek bikes, Pilots, 1.5 and 2.1’s where a little more comfortable because they were much more upright in the front.  However, they were about 500 to 1000 bucks out of my price range.  The 1500RSL in pretty darn low (that’s good for me I think).  The 1500 is just about the maximum I can afford.

#3) The bike has three front sprockets, I have seen many of the new bikes (compact) that have only two.  Is this a good or bad thing for a bike being used in Tri’s?  Or does it really matter for an amateur bike rider?

Below are the components.  However I think this bike had a 105 rear derailer and Ultegra front.  Maybe I am mistaken. 

Here are the specs and a picture of a very similar bike, what do you think?

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/80232942@N00/473146962/

Frameset
Size: 56
Frame Alpha SLR Aluminum
Fork Bontrager, carbon
Wheels
Wheels Bontrager Select
Tires Bontrager Race Lite, 700x25c
Drivetrain
Shifters Shimano 105 STI, 9 speed
Front Derailleur Shimano 105
Rear Derailleur Shimano Ultegra
Crank Shimano 105 52/39/30
Cassette Shimano HG50 12-25, 9 speed
Pedals Alloy/nylon road w/clips and straps
Components
Saddle Bontrager Race Lux
Seat Post Bontrager Carbon
Handlebars Bontrager Select, 31.8mm
Stem Bontrager Select, 17 degree, 31.8mm
Headset Aheadset w/semi-cartridge bearings, sealed, alloy
Brakeset Alloy dual pivot w/Shimano 105 STI levers