I did some searching but didn't find too much, I haven't had a bike in over 5 years, but I wanna start biking, I'm in pretty decent shape and I'm gonna be entering a mini-triathlon this summer. So I need a bike, Now my question is what kinda bike should I buy? I want one that I could use in the triathlon and possibly in the future many more tri's if I do enjoy my first one, I also wanna be able to ride on paved paths for training, and a little bit of city riding (basically just from my house to the trails. I won't be doing hardly any off-road so I don't want a full out mountain bike. Would you guys reccomend a hybrid or a road bike? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh my budget is around $500 so I'll be looking for a used bike.

thanks in advance
Pete

Road bike for sure since you wanna ride tris and also for normal riding.

not a hybrid? I want something I can ride down paved trails too. Also can i get straight bars than get like a aero bar attachment? I went to a shop and they reccomended a Gary Fisher Kaitai? what bike would you reccomend in my price range? or do you have any suggestions on websites to check out so I can learn more about bikes?

not a hybrid? I want something I can ride down paved trails too. Also can i get straight bars than get like a aero bar attachment?

A road bike would work well on most any paved bike path. Riding them on smooth(ish) dirt is not a big deal either - just be careful to hit any big rocks.

A hybrid will position you so that you're sitting more upright. The advantage to that is possibly a better view of traffic as you commute, and possibly a bit more comfort (at first). A road bike position will give you more power, and less wind resistance - both of which will help you in your tri events.

The straight bar is going to put you more upright. If you want to get "aero" I'd not really look at a flat bar, as it kind of defeats the purpose.

There are also bikes made specifically for triathalons. If you are only going to use it for tris, you may want to look at those. If you want to use it for other things (which it sounds like you do) then a road bike is a better option.

This site is a good place to start. ;)

not a hybrid? I want something I can ride down paved trails too. Also can i get straight bars than get like a aero bar attachment?

When you say "paved" I assume you mean it literally. The surface is just like a road, and you can ride a road bike on it (lots of us often ride our road bikes on "unpaved" surfaces). A hybrid will be slower and less efficient than a road bike. If you're going to do any sort of racing, a road bike will work much better. The drop bars give you several hand positions, including relatively upright ones on the tops and brake hoods. If you're afraid the low forward position will be uncomfortable you can start with a fairly high handlebar position.

Since you're new to biking I'd stay away from aero bar attachments, which make for tricky handling. Regular drop road bars are plenty aerodynamic for a mini-triathlon.

How old are you? How heavy are you? You say you're in decent shape. Are you fairly flexible? If you're going to ride on pavement a road bike is the best tool. If you're going to race, even very casually, anything else will make you feel as if you're at a disadvantage. The bike you mentioned is essentially a mountain bike with farily narrow tires. It would be comfy, but it would feel slow, and you don't need knobby tires and a suspension fork to ride on roads and paved paths.

if you are even half way serious about putting in some training hours DO NOT GET THE HYBRID. They are great for little cruizes around town but spening an hour pushing the pedals hard you'll find the position anyting but ideal. Even my mountain bike is painful when riden in the wrong situation (which is on paved surfaces)

if you buy used be sure to know what size you need
you might be better off buying a lesser quality road bike new that you know fits well.
eventualy if you get into tri racing, get a tri/tt bike. then your other bike is a nice spare or comuter

Cyclocross??

Ok Thank you very much for your suggestions I greatly appreciate your knowledgable advice. So looks like a road bike is the way to go. my next questions is how do I know what size of bike? I'm 5'10" 150lbs in decnet shape but not really that flexible. Also what about tires? 26 or 29's and slicks right? any bikes you would reccomend to me? something that is a decent used bike for about <$500?

thanks again
Pete

A road bike for you will have standard-size wheels -- they're called 700C, for obscure historical reasons. Road tires are essentially all slicks.

Road bike frames come in a range of sizes, usually designated by the length of the seat tube, in centimeters. To find a bike that fits you, you have to try them, with a knowledgeable person watching and advising. You might look for a shop that has a road-bike emphasis, and see if they've got anything used, or last-year's model marked down. Buying used bikes is tricky, especially when you have no experience. Fit is the most important thing, and you don't know without hands-on advice what size you need.

If you have a friend or acquaintance who rides road bikes, ask them to to visit a shop with you.

As for sizing, you could it anything from a 56cm to a 58cm, give and take a little.
But, that's just from guesswork. go to a shop. Try out bikes.

ok thanks again, a couple more questions if youdon't mind? any brand names you reccomend? any to shy away from? or is it all personal prefrence and comfort?


Also how smooth must a trail be for a ride bike? like I can still ride on grass and rougher terrain just not rocks and jumps right? what about going off curbs in the city if I had too, is that gonna wreck the bike?

thanks

As for sizing, you could it anything from a 56cm to a 58cm, give and take a little.
But, that's just from guesswork. go to a shop. Try out bikes.
I'm 5'10" and ride a 54cm. But the point is valid, test ride bikes and don't be afraid to switch out stems.

You might also try getting a slightly used bike off craigslist or local classified ads. You can get more bike for your money until you get hooked and spend your remaining account balance on bike stuff.

ok thanks again, a couple more questions if you don't mind? any brand names you reccomend? any to shy away from? or is it all personal prefrence and comfort?

Also how smooth must a trail be for a ride bike? like I can still ride on grass and rougher terrain just not rocks and jumps right? what about going off curbs in the city if I had too, is that gonna wreck the bike?

It's personal preference and comfort. Certain manufacturers will fit people differently based on your body type (long legs/short torso vs. short legs/long torso), your flexibility, and riding style. Most/all brands sold in bike shops will be fine. Most brands sold in Target/WalMart should be avoided.

How smooth a trail needs to be for a road bike is a combination of what you can tolerate, and how wide your tires are. If you really think that you'll be riding a lot of dirt trails, the suggestion for buying a cyclocross bike is a good one, as you can run both narrow 23mm race tires and 32-35mm knobby tires too for dirt use. However, for most dirt paths, a 25 or 28mm slick tire would work fine.

I drop off of curbs, and wheelie on to them, on my road bike, but I do it very controlled and at slow speeds. If you drop off a curb at speed on 23mm tires you'll rattle your teeth, and likely pinch-flat (i.e. pop) your front tube. On the other hand, with 32mm tires on my CX bike I'll ride nearly any trail, and if I put 38mm tires on it (the largest that will fit) there's little that I wouldn't ride (although I might be a bit slower than I am on my mountain bike).

Ok now i've been doing some more research and was considering a trek 1000. But I was wondering what exactly a front derauler is? and what are 105's?

Derailleurs are the metal cages that shift your gears, you have two. 105 is a mid-level parts set by Shimano.

None of that really matters from where you're at.

I would definitely get a road-type bike, but something with more tire clearance and easier geometry than an all-out racer -- either a cyclocross bike, or something like a Surly (a brand). With that, you can run skinny slick tires for roads and mostly roads, but you could also put on a slightly burlier tires if you will be riding mostly dirt and gravel trails that day / week / whatever.

A "real" mountain bike is only necessary for, like you say, big jumps and rocks and technical stuff. "Hybrid" trail bikes are just bad compromises for anyone who wants to really ride their bike -- they are for getting around school or for puttering down the local MUT for a few miles, but that is about it.

For a specific recommendation -- it is just a little more than your budget, new, but the entry-level Redline Conquest Sport would be a great bike for you. It has wide, road-style tires, a triple crankset, and mounts for fenders and racks, should you need them. It is designed for riders like you that want a bit of everything. My local shop has one for $575, I think.

Oddly, more expensive cyclocross bikes would be LESS of what you need. They will have things like knobby 'cross race tires, two-ring compact gearing, no fender mounts, and other features of a "race" bike.

Good luck!

You're certainly welcome to ask any questions you want here, but you're asking a lot of really basic stuff. I suggest you read some stuff. Here's a lot of good stuff to start with.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html
Go to a shop and find a talkative salesman, and look at bikes and ask LOTS of questions. A lot of these questions are much easier to answer if you have a bike in front of you to point to.

To answer your other question, the Trek 1000 is probably a very acceptable bike for you, IF it fits and you like it. I think it may be a bit more money than you were talking about, but maybe you found a deal. There are similar bikes from other manufacturers (Giant, Specialized, probably others). There's nothing magic about a brand name.

Go test ride a bunch of bikes.

Have fun.

Thank you very much! I'm gonna go a LBS this weekend and check out some bikes and get some more advice. the sheldonbrown link was helpful but didn't really help alot in terms of telling me what to look for when buying a new bike. If anyone thinks of any more advice that would help me feel free.

thanks again for your help guys.

+1 on the find a talkative salesman idea. Also lurk around here for awhile, both in this forum and in the others. People around here (not including myself, I'm a n()()b too,) know pretty much everything there is to know about bikes, if you use the search function you will probably find answers to most of the questions you could think of. I've learned loads just lurking around, reading threads that look interesting.