General Cycling Discussion - Want To Start Riding (Triathlons, Training, ETC) Need Help With Bike

Hey guys,

This is my frist post here, but my question involves training for triathlons. I started running a little while ago, and I am doing marathons at the moment. However, I loved biking when I was a kid, and I am also a very good swimmer, so I want to start doing some triathlons. My question is this, I have only around $500-$600 to spend on a new bike to train and practice. If I do well, I don't mind spending a lot more money, but first I need to find out if I like it.

There are a lot of different bikes to choose from, and I would like to find the best quality for the price. Road bikes seem to be more for racing and are supposed to be more comfortable, but I have also found some inexpensive hybrids which are supposed to be good for all round use. Here are a few that I am looking at:

Cadillac AV-H
Trek 7200 or 7300
Schwinn Speedster Flat Bar Road Cycle
Schwinn Volare 700c Road Bike

Keep in mind that I am 6'6" and 220 pounds. I am sure that at first, I will probably be hard on the bike, and perhaps do some off road biking. If you guys have any recommendations and advice, it would really help me out.

Thanks

$300??
The cheapest bike we sell at the shop I work at is ~$325 (hybrid).
You don't want a hybrid for triathlons. Hybrids are made for "comfortable" casual riding.
If you know you're size you can look for a bike on craigslist.org. Locate your city to find the bikes in your area.
The cheapest road-worthy bike you'll find will probably cost around $600 - new.
If you're going off-road you may want a cyclocross bike.

with that budget, and given your new to cycling, i'm thinking you might actually be better off going with the Schwinn Volare, as long as you buy local (someplace with a decent return/trade policy), rather than craigslist. luck with craigslist depends a lot on your location - the Volare may be a POS that won't last through a year of heavy usage, but it should be more than enough to give you an idea of whether you want to spend more on the sport.

good luck!

oh, and although you didn't ask, if you need help getting into swimming, i highly recommend Total Immersion (http://www.totalimmersion.net/). if you can't afford classes/a coach, there are books as well. i've just started a group class, and it's fantastic.

I was able to find a couple bikes that may be better:

Iron Horse 5.0 Road Bike
Lamborghini Classica Road Bike

Are either of these good?

Also, would you guys be able to recommend something in the $500-$600 range?

I was able to find a couple bikes that may be better:

Iron Horse 5.0 Road Bike
Lamborghini Classica Road Bike

Are either of these good?

Also, would you guys be able to recommend something in the $500-$600 range?

Don't know anything about those bikes.

If you can make the jump to the $500-$600 range, make a little bigger jump and check out this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=268941) :)

How bout these bikes:

Ibex Aprisa 4500
KHS Flite 250
K2 Mach 2.0
Tomaso Monza 2008