Thanks guys.
I don't have a bike right now, I had just started riding a hand-me down mtn. bike that got stolen last week due to a cable lock. All my friends had them and I assumed they work, well 2 of their bikes have been nabbed since then.
I'm looking at road bikes because the only off roading I do is hiking and I'm looking at biking around town to friends' houses, to different gym locations and general exercise for off-gym days. I like the aspect of doing triathlons since I've already been running more as I've lost weight. But right now it's just training, fun and transport for me.
I'm thinking of aiming to buy my bike in the fall/winter. I hope to be able to find some deals as we start to get dark early and maybe some early rains will push the more casual and trend followers to sell off their bikes.
I used to do my own maintenance work, brake adjustments, chain work, derailleur adjustments and usual tightening before I started reading about this stuff and finding out what all the parts were called.
Right now I'm saving up my miniscule funds and soaking in as much info as I can. I should be able to get a bike in the $1k-$1200 range by October, and obviously more the longer I wait.