Greetings From a Newbie

Hi Cassie,

Welcome to this great sport of triathlon and this friendly website. I wish you the best in your tri adventures,and sounds like you're off to a great start already.

If the bike you ride around town in works, is comfortable, and you enjoy riding it, I don't see any reason NOT to use that bike for your first race and even first racing season. For my very first season, I used my husband's mountain bike, which happened to be the nicest bike we had in our garage at the time. It wasnt' fast, but I liked riding it, and didn't really know what I was missing as compared to a road or tri bike. And I even passed some people at races on the bike leg that season, because I had trained hard and had good bike legs. (It's all about the engine!)

After one season, I decided I liked the sport enough to get a nicer bike. I ended up buying a good road bike (in the $1300 range) because other folks had told me a roadie was more versatile than a tri bike in terms of you can use it for triathlons and group cycling events like centuries. (You can't use a tri bike in some roadie events, as they don't allow aerobars) I visited alot of local bike shops and test rode alot of different bikes before choosing one to buy. That was time well spent. I raced well on that bike, and still love that bike and still ride it alot! It's a Specialized Dolce.

Several years later, I did eventually get a tri bike as well, and I am a little faster on it in races. I love that bike too and ride it alot as well!

Here's my bike buying blog post from way back when if you care to read it:
http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/post/gotanewbikespecializeddol...


Good luck!!!
Carol