Recommend some bikes

Best bike to buy is one that fits you well so that you can ride and be comfortable. Next you need to have a budget....the more you spend the better parts and frame you'll get. I have had back surgery so I'm more cautious in buying a bike as I need/want it to be comfortable. I have a carbon tri bike (Kuota K Factor) now that I bought in June...love it!

If you are only going to do tris it makes sense to buy a tri bike if you can find one that fits well and is within your budget.

My suggestion is to go to many local bike stores and just look around, ask lots of questions and come up with some ideas. See if there is a tri store in your area or a tri team that uses one bike store more than others. Working with triathelets can be a littel different than typical riders. Make sure any store fits you well by measuring you like your torso length, leg length, arm length...it can take 30 minutes or so. Sometimes they charge for this and credit you if you buy a bike...if that is a route you need to be sure you want to buy a bike from them.

You can get a starter road bike for maybe $550...or get a nicer bike with 105 parts for a few hundred more. Big bike companies buy in bulk and tend to be cheaper with similar parts than other companies.

Big question is do you want a tri bike or a road bike...the discussion about this is frequent and you can search the forums for some good information on that. There is a bike shop in Michigan that has great articles on-line with bike shopping tips...I'd read all their articles.