Originally Posted by kakman
Actually that raises a question for me - just how serious are these guys in 'mature' triathlons? Would I look silly turing up with a normal road bike? Are aero bars a necessity?
Only if you want to be competitive.
The serious competitors will have full-on TT/Tri bikes, but for newbies a good set of aero bars (e.g., Syntace C2's) are a pretty good, inexpensive, option. Riding on aero bars requires a bit of practice, but it sure is fun...every time I get down on mine I see the speed go up by about 2 mph.