Newbie looking for bike ideas

Welcome!  There are a lot of ways to answer your question...

1.  What size are you?  Height, weight, etc.  If by some miracle you are around 5'5'' or so, I have just the bike for you!   But that's probably just wishful thinking on my part...

2.  If you want a tri-bike, your price range will be for a used bike.  There are bikes available on Craigslist list occasionally.  I would definitely look there regularly.  You might be able to find a tri-bike for 1k or less online, but you will need to put it together somewhat and you give up the support of a bike shop.

3.  You might want to visit Gear West.  They have both tri and road bikes and will help you get an idea of options.  You can afford a new road bike in your price range, and could get accessories to make it more tri specific (aerobars, etc).    I suggest Gear West because they are the most triathlon-friendly shop in the area.  However, another local bike shop can certainly give you ideas and get you started.  I bought my first road bike at Bokoo Bikes and liked them (and the bike) very much.  In fact, I still ride that bike - a Trek - a lot.

I'll start with that for now, perhaps others will have ideas or if this sparks more questions please ask.

Best wishes in achieving your goals!  Welcome to BT.

Thanks for the help.  Thankfully, nothing against you, I am 5'11" so I don't think your bike would work.  I have looked a couple of times on craigslist but haven't found anything yet.  I will go over to gear west and talk to them since I need everything.  I just started training a couple of weeks ago so I want to start looking for the proper gear.

Thanks,

Tom

My suggestion would be to find a decent and very used road bike for less than half your budget.  $1000 is a lot to spend on a sport that you are just trying for the first time.  Then put some aero bars on it and you'll have almost all of the advantage of a tri bike anyhow.  

If it turns out the tri life isn't for you then you still have some of that money.  If it turns out that you become addicted to the sport like so many of us have then invest in a tri bike that fits your needs based on what you've learned to that point.  You'll already have over $500 saved toward your purchase.  Plus when all is said and done you'll have an old road bike as an option in case you start doing rides with local groups or to just use as a beater. 

My first bike cost me $300 and was used for 2 years before I built a tri bike.  It now sits in the basement attached to my trainer and still gets used frequently.