When I first became interested in buying a more "serious" bike was right after I had ridden in a duathlon on a hybrid. I wound up buying a road bike because I thought it suited my all around needs better, but it wouldn't have been unreasonable to buy a triathlon bicycle. I did not own pedals and shoes at the time - I had just participated in an event, thought it was fun, and decided I'd like to get involved. This isn't some wildly unheard of story that's shared by absolutely no one else.