I guess you could say that Im sort of new to biking, I used to do it as a kid to have fun. Now reciently got back into it as an adult to attempt triathlons. I picked up a used fuji legacy a few months ago for $100 to see if this is what I really wanted to do. Now I think Im ready to pick up a better bike. My only problem is Im not quite sure what type of bike to get a tri or a road. Ive been looking at the trek equinox 5 thinking it would be a good transition into a tri bike. But am not completly sold on it, Im not sure if it would be something that I would like to ride on the weekends. I have also been looking at the trek 1500 and the specalized allez. Could someone please give me some info on what to look for in these bikes or any other bike. I would like a bike that I could use in my first triathlon, that would last me a long time, be worthy of upgrades down the road, and still be fun to ride. My budget will be about 1,600, thanks

Do you live in a flat area, rolling hills or what might be considered mountains (are you in Hawaii?)

Will you be riding with a bike club, meaning with lots of folks or primarilly alone?

Will you be doing sprint (short distance), olympic or Ironman (really long) distance?

Do you plan on any road bike races, either club type or cat type?

What are the traffic conditions where you will be riding? If moderate to heavy traffic, you need shifter/brake combo. If wide open spaces, maybe aerobar end shifters.

Do you prefer the idea of:

a.more of a tri bike that can be ridden safely in traffic and with other riders
b.more of a road bike that can be used for a tri once or twice a year
c.full blown TT machine cause they are chick magnets

Been there, just about done that. I recently made a comeback to cycling after a 30 year lay-off and suggest that you can do a lot of excessive and pointless spending without much effort if you don't do a lot of homework before rushing off to a bike shop.

I went through several bikes when I should really have skipped the lot and just bought the Ultegra equipped Gunnar Sport I finally did. However, I hadn't been cycling long this time around before I realised that racing was really out of the equation - I used to revel in short course criteriums, didn't care for those hill things and got bored silly (still do!) after about four hours on a bike (except that now I start to hate the thing after four hours).

So, more questions that your tri experience is better placed to answer. Are you going to be doing enough races, and will be you be so competitive that a fairly dedicated tri bike is necessary to your happiness? Or would you be better served by a decently comfortable road bike that's great to ride around on, that's made more tri-suitable by the addition of aero bars and a position swap?

Do you really have to go out and 'buy a bike'? Sounds silly in these days of instant gratification, but I soon realised that many things on a 'bike in a box' - important stuff, like saddles, handlebar shapes, gearing and pedals - are selected by a marketer and usually because they bought them cheap in bulk. You only have to find yourself spending another $100 on a decent saddle, maybe $200 on a bar and stem combo and changing the cassette and chainrings to some that better suit you, and your 'bargain' isn't that good any longer.

If you go to a decent 'real' bike shop, find a frame you like and order all the parts from them, they'll certainly obtain them as a 'build kit' at prices even Ebay shopping can barely match - and get it all professionally assembled with some level of service back-up, which you won't get on an Ebay buy...

You've started off right though - just keep thinking and asking

Good luck

Dereck
So, if you are confident enough to figure out what you want, maybe you can get it with far less by way of compromise.

The bike I have not is actually the fuji league, with the shifters on the down tubes, which makes it hard to shift at higher speeds. Im not sure exactly what components are on the bike, I do know that there shimano, but down towards the lower end. The bike is also pretty unstable at speeds, and feels really shaky.
As for the type of area I live, it is mostly hillsand mountains, with some flat areas, oh yeah I do live in hawaii.
I plan to do a few sprints and olympic type events next year, when I feel that Im ready for it. I also plan to do the honolulu century ride, which is every september. But most of the time I ride by myself or with a friend. As for traffic, its usually low to moderate, I usually ride in the morning after rush hour or late at night.
I guess you could say that I would like a bike that is good on hills and I still could use for triathlons and a sunday ride. I am still really new to this sport, so Im not totally sure about the benifits of having a tribike vs a road bike.
I think I have narrowed my choices down to the trek equinox 5 and trek 2100, but am still very open to other options. Those are just the bikes that I have come across that seem to be along that seem like pretty good options.
The equinox 5 looks more like a road type of bike than a full blown tri bike, I guess you could say its almost a cross between a road and tri. It has some of the aerodynamic designs with regular road bars on it and a set of aerobars. It also has tiagra and 105 components it that helps.
The 2100 looks like a road bike with better components than most others in the price range, ultegra.
Thanks for your help so far, like I said Im still open to options, I usually start researching things that Im going to buy a few months in advance so I dont end up with something that I dont like. Learned the hard was as a teenager.