Subject: RE: New To Triathlons Welcome to the sport! Ironman is about the training. If that's what you want to do, do it. I mentored a couple BT'ers several years back who did IM's in their first year rather than "graduating" from Sprint-OLY-HIM-IM. Ironman is an entirely different race than the others, so it isn't like you need the sprint experience first to be successful. There are a couple online fit calculators that will get you into the ballpark on what size bike to get. At 6'3", you may be challenged to find much in the used market. Repeat after me: "There's no such thing as a 'cheap' bike..." Unless you're mechanically inclined, that $50 garage sale find gets new tires ($50 each), tubes ($6 each), chain ($20-60), tune-up ($100, up to $300 if cables and other components need replaced). It may not be too different with a $500-1500 used bike. If you want to commute, add a rack and paniers rather than use a backpack. Also budget for lights. |