Subject: RE: 1st Tri ( in more ways than one)... ACK! Please don't buy a bike at Walmart. It will be a peice of crap. You will hate it, then you won't ride it, and you'll give up triathlon.
Better to save up a while and get a decent bike at your LBS (local bike shop ). I got my first road bike at an end of season fall sale for $1000 (on sale from $1300 ). Now is a good time to shop.
My first bike was a road bike with clip on aerobars. It was (and still is ) great. I now have a tri bike that is worth about the same ($1300 ). It is amazing and I wish I had just gotten a tri bike to begin with. Again, you can get one on sale now! You don't need a carbon frame. Only down side to a tri bike is you can't really ride in groups with it. So, if centuries and riding clubs are on your wish list of things to do, maybe a road bike would be better.
Oh, when I first started out, I read somewhere you want at least Ultegra components. I have to agree with that rule of thumb. My tri bike has 105's and just don't shift as smoothly as my road bike, which has Ultegra. I'll probably upgrade the derailers at some point on the tri bike.
Good luck! Edited by keyone 2008-10-22 5:38 PM
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