First Sprint Tri (Lake Lanier)- Need Advice

Hi Andrew...welcome to the sport.  I'll take a stab at your post and know that others will likely be chiming in as well.

You're definitely on a tight budget if you need all of that gear used or new, but since this is your first tri, here's what I would advise.

Re: the bike, forget about buying one now and see if you can borrow - esp. for your first.  Do you know anybody approx. the same size who would be willing to lend you a bike?  Even a friend of a friend?  The tri community is a friendly and supportive one, and many people would likely be more than willing to lend you a bike for the day.  It might simply be a road bike, but for the Lake Lanier Tri, this is fine because the bike portion of the race is quite short.  As with the bike, you can probably borrow shoes and a helmet; at most you might need to invest in some clips to make borrowed shoes compatible with pedals on a borrowed bike.  Lots of money saved here.

So, with the money saved and as it sounds like you need a good pair of running shoes, head over to Fleet Feet or Big Peach, among others, and get fitted.  Both places will analyze your running style and recommend several shoes/brands based upon same.  This should be your number one investment at this point.

Re: tri shorts and a top, you can find lots of inexpensive stuff online that'll work just fine.  You *could* spend some nice coin here, but you don't need to.  And to your question about wearing a top - some races allow shirtless, some don't - not sure about Jim's races, but somebody else might know.

Most people competing in tris are very competitive, in one fashion or another; whether using tri as a means to overcome an unhealthy lifestyle, or as a means to maximize their athletic gifts, or as a means to compete head-to-head against other like-minded athletes, everybody's looking to beat something.  If you've never done a tri before and are not riding regularly (based upon your comment that you don't have a bike), be realistic in your expectations regarding finishing competitively.  Depending upon your age group, you might be competing against the equivalent of wolves.  Because the Lake Lanier Tri is one of the last races of the season, it's usually filled to the brim with lots of very fast folks.

Rather, since this is your first, I'd recommend that you set some finishing time goals based upon your training.  Make sure you're logging your swim/bike/run workouts and after you start working some bricks into the mix, you'll start to gain an idea about possible times for each segment.

Hope this helps a bit and all the best as you prepare for your first - congrats!!

thanks for the advice!

I guess for now my biggest task is finding a $400 bike! I do have a coupld friends of friends I'm waiting to hear back from that might have a bike. I would preferably have a bike asap so that I could train on it rather than my exercise bike.. =/

Anyone know of a $400 they would recomend...bikesdirect has a few in that price range but I really don't know if one is better than the other...like these...

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/wellington3_IX.htm

or

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/lt1200.htm