low budget = bad bike..? (Page 2)

If you keep an eye out and know what size you're looking for you'll come up with a great used bike for under $500. I got mine off ebay in 2005 after my first year of doing tris for about $600 and it has taken me to 2 IM's and 3 years of a lot of training and racing. It was only a few years old and a poorly written ad. Giant bikes come in S-M-L so the size is a little more flexible. 

Definitely stay away from the dept store bikes and I would even stay away from the low end LBS bikes with anything below Shimano 105 for components.

Keep looking, they're out there.