What is a good bike for a beginner?

[fowlercu]

My wife and I are both beginners about to begin training for a triathlon. We are going to stop by a bike shop to look at some and get some questions answered.

Any recommendations for what brands to look for/how much we should spend/what accessories to get, etc?

Thanks

[Rahzel]

If you already have road bikes that fit you and are comfortable, just spend $80-$100 on some clip-on aerobars to "test the waters." That way, if you decide that triathlon isn't for you in a year or two, you won't have made a $1500-$5000 investment in a bike that's not good for much else than triathlons.

However, if you are *sure* you want a triathlon bike, check out the entry-level bikes ($1500-$2500) in the following brands:

Cervelo (P2 SL, P2C)
Felt (B12, S22, S32)
Trek (Equinox 7)
Quintana Roo (Kilo, Tequilo)
Kuota (K-Factor)
Giant (Trinity Alliance A1, A2)

All of the bikes listed above, with the exception of Trek, are designed around riding at a steep "seat angle", which is optimum for triathlons. This is what sets a tri bike apart from a road bike, other than the funky handlebars and the aero tubing. Again, though, these bikes will only be subtly better than just spending $100 on some clip-on aerobars so really do some soul-searching to decide if you really want to buy another bike :)

[fowlercu]

Yeah, I'm ready to make that kind of investment yet. Probably looking for a road bike that I could use

[2wheelchef]

My wife is training for her first tri and my road bikes are to large and besides they don't fit her body type the shorter top tube and seat angle of a tri specific bike are just right for her. Any way she found a Javelin Narni with Campi for a good price, anyone have an opinion about this set-up?

[guru]

P2-SL

Great bike and you will have money left over for race wheels.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2604015264_92561c53c5_b.jpg

[dtipton]

If you're tall this looks like a good deal??

http://bicyclebananas.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BB&Product_Code=Jamis_05_Trilogy&Category_Code=14-Jamis