convert road bike?
 

Recently was given a Fuji Newest '03 by a friend and would like to know what to get in order to do some tri's(seat post, aerobars etc.). Also, are there any opinions on the the Fuji road bike make?

The most important thing is to make sure that the bike fits you. If it doesn't fit, you're gonna be miserable, regardless of what tri components you put on it. Assuming that the bike fits you, the first thing I'd do is slap a set of aerobars on it. You don't really need to go with a full tri setup with bull horn bars, just any aerobars clip-ons will be fine. The second, optional, thing is aero wheels.

Some people use a forward style seatpost to give them a steeper seat tube angle, but I don't really care for them. It makes the bike look weird, plus it can throw off the balance of the bike. The theory behind this set up is to give you more of a lying down position (more aero) and to work you quads more. The idea is to save your ham's for the run, but I've talked to my tri friends and they can't confirm this theory, either way.

I'm making the assumption that you already have clip-less pedals.

1

Get a professional fitting and go have fun.

Thanks for the advice guys. I had the bike adjusted to my body at the local shop and have been running and swimming for about 4 weeks now. My goal is to participate in the NYCTri in June.

I suggest slapping on a decent set of aerobars. Not a bad investment to drop $100 on them since you can take them with you when you upgrade the bike later. I say this because I went cheap on the first bike I had (a $450 cyclocross bike turned roadie) and although I didn't have to buy new bars for the new sweet ride, I am much happier with the Syntace C2 that I run now over the cheapies that I used to run.

You will need to move your seat forward to get in a good aero position without making yourself sterile, so look and see what you can do without buying a new post. If you do decide on a new post, Profile makes a set-forward post and Thomson has a setback post that can be reversed and will work both ways. My bike came with the Thomson and it was easy to turn it around and get everything to work.