cyclers

Hey bikers..  I was wanting to buy a bike to ride around the hills.. with dreams of maybe eventually heading towards a tri.  Do you guys think the best approach is to buy a cheapo bike from a walmart or large sporting goods store, or should I spend some money and get something quality?   I am still a pretty big guy at 6'1" 230.  I'm not made of money, but I hate throwing away bucks on junk and would rather just buy something decent from the git go - just don't really have any idea what that is, and most of the info on the web seems often contradictory (some say go cheap at first, others say do it right from the beginning).

Go to a Local Bike Shop, (LBS) and get properly fitted for a bike. You do not necassarily have to buy a bike from them, but it will give you a basic idea of what you need. I think starting off with a solid Road Bike would be a good choice, and then if you get into Triathlon, you could buy some bolt-on Aero Bars or graduate to a Time Trial / Tri Specific bike. Craigs List has some smokin deals... Also, if you need some suggestions, I am sure many of us would be happy to give you insight and opinions. I for one, would highly recommend FELT, but of course, I am biased. What is your budget?

 hadn't really thought about budget too much since I hadn't even looked at bikes.. maybe I could find something decent used for around 1k?

Do not buy a cheapo bike.  I did this and now I regret it every day I have to ride it.
I have had to replace parts and have maintenance done on the bike.  I could have put that money towards a better bike and I would have had a much better bike than what i have now.
The only good part about going cheap is you get a chance to make sure you like riding before you spend a lot of money.  It would suck to spend a couple thousand dollars and then decide you don't like it.  However on the other end if you do like it and you decide you need/want a better bike, you have spent all that money and you will never be able to get it all back, even if you sell the old bike.

Your size isn't that big.  I'm 6'1" and am pretty close to the 200 pound mark myself.  I weighed more than you do when I got my first bike.

You can get a named brand quality entry level bike from any of the major manufacturers.
Cervelo, Trek, Specialized, Felt, Giant, Cannondale.

I have a couple questions for you:
How much do you want to spend?

What is the primary purpose of this bike? (while I do triathlons, I probably ride in a more social or touring type of event more frequently than I do triathlon, so even the owner of the triathlon store recommended I get a road bike instead of a tri bike. 

You realize that there are extras, It's never just the bike.  (helmet, cycling shoes, clipless pedals, water bottles, cages, cycling pants, gloves etc etc)

Many local bike stores have rental of try before you buy.  My local Trek store will let you take the bike out for a day and ride it.  You can't tell what the bike is like with a 5 minute ride around the block.  You need to put some miles on it.  Climb some hills, ride on a rough rode that kind of thing.  One of the other local stores has a rental plan, but they will apply the rental fee to the purchase if you decide to buy one of the bikes.

You mention a used bike, that can be a good way to go, but be carful of the frame and parts.  It's like buying a car, get the local repair shop to give the bike a once over.  It may be 1k now, but if there is a crack in the carbon fiber or the parts have a lot of wear and tear, you may be spending a lot more in the near future.

Here is the bike breakdown of bikes and parts from the 2009 Kona championships

Bike Count
Cervelo – 462
Scott – 109
Specialized – 93
Felt – 92
Trek – 90
Kuota – 85
Cannondale – 68
Orbea – 56
Kestrel – 54
QR – 52
Argon 18 – 43
Giant – 40
Look – 39
Guru- 28
Pinarello – 26
Ceepo – 24
Isaac – 18
Litespeed – 18
Stevens – 15
Elite – 15
Cube – 12
Beyond Fabrications – 12
Ridley – 12
Colnago – 12
Serotta – 11
Storck – 10





Canyon – 8
Blue – 8
Planet X – 8
Griffen – 7
Jamis – 7
Aegis – 7
Fuji – 6
Softride – 6
BMC – 6
Calfee – 5
BH – 5
Principia – 4
Parlee – 4
Willier – 4
Time – 3
Cheetah – 3
Merlin – 3
Teschner – 2
Titan Flex – 2
DeRosa – 2

Wheel Count (includes aero wheels only)
Zipp – 1936
Hed – 229
Mavic – 165
Xentis – 134
Bontrager – 100
Reynolds – 63
Shimano – 48
Corima – 37
Campagnolo – 35
Easton – 34
Lightweight – 29
SRAM – 23
Planet X – 22
Rolf – 17
Nimble – 17
Edge – 13
Ceepo – 11
Fulcrum – 6
Other – 212 (Includes unidentifiable wheels plus wheel count of less than five)

Aero Helmets
Giro – 288
LG – 272
Rudy Project – 102
Bell – 62
Spiuk – 31
Specialized – 23
Lazer – 18
LAS – 15
Met – 12
Uvex – 9
Selev – 6

Saddle Count
Fi’zi:k – 477
Selle Italia – 383
Specialized – 167
OE Spec’d Saddles – 131
San Marco – 130
ISM – 119
Terry – 74
Profile Design – 57
Bontrager – 51
Cobb – 36
SMP – 33
Serfas – 22
Prologo – 10
Koobi – 9
FSA – 6
Forte – 6
Velo – 4

Aerobar Count
Profile Design – 572
Vision – 392
Zipp – 144
OVAL – 126
Syntace – 123
Easton – 86
Hed – 81
Bontrager – 68
Pro – 32
3T – 18
Deda – 18
Xentis – 12
Felt – 11
Giant – 9
Ritchey – 7
Drop Handle Bars – 7
Use – 6
Valdora – 3
Cinelli – 3
Cheetah – 3
Walser – 3
ITM – 2
PlanetX – 2
Scott – 2

***Extension Shape***
S-bend -880
Curve – 837
Straight – 59

Component Group Count
Shimano – 1360
SRAM – 289
Campagnolo – 107
Other – 8

Power Meter Count
SRM – 134
PowerTap – 89
Quarq – 14
Ergomo – 13
Polar – 6

http://www.cannondale.com/

http://www.cervelo.com/en_us/

http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA.aspx

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/home.jsp


Scott

That's some good info.. I think for me primarily it will be more touring/social - I mean the idea of a tri is just that at this point - considering I am only just now thinking about getting a bike and I haven't swam a lap since I was a wee boy (not to mention I am only running in my first half in a few weeks)! I've been really committed to running, but looking to biking to cross train a bit and also like I said, look to new adventures and challenges.  

Around where I live you can't go more than 1/8 of a mile without hitting serious hills (at least they seem serious when you're running), I don't know how that plays into a bike selection.  As I told Dan, I guess $1k doesn't seem to bad, but I could do more if it seems worth it.  

I think you could do pretty well with $1000... When I get home I will look at some stuff in your area to see if there is a good deal out there... Albany area right?

 Hudson Valley, Albany works too as does metro NYC

i'm 6'0" and a solid 235 (fluctuate +/- 5 lbs weekly), i bought an entry level specialiazed road bike (allez) for around 800 bucks, it ended up being right around 1K when you add in all the accessories (helmet, tire pump, bottle cages/bottles, spare tube kit etc).   i've used it on 3 tri's and hundreds of miles on the roads and mountains including a century ride.  i will upgrade later on, but will probably use it for my 1/2 iron man in may (will add aero bars and will finally go clipless as an upgrade).  i wouldn't suggest you go any cheaper than that, it will just not be worth it.  good luck!

I just bought a Giant TCR 1A.  I'm your size and I can push that bike as hard as I want.  It's last years model so I got a good deal on it.  I'd recommend going to a local bike shop.  Proper fit is so key in riding.  I would suggest using Shamano 105 components or better...some may have a different opinion on this.  Goodluck!
Duane

One more thing.

Look for factory demo days, where you can try out the bikes.

I just got an email from a local shop
(We got a last minute Felt demo going on at Windsor Bicycle Center.  11 AM thursday, TT, road, MTB and cruiser are ready for test ride.  This is the real deal where you can take the MTB in the dirt, do a real TT on the TT bike... that sort of thing.  You should bring your own pedals and shoes to do it right.)

If you can find something like that it's a great opportunity to try out the bikes.  The Trek store is running them all the time at our local state park.  You can get on their MTN bikes and go abuse them in a real setting, not just around the neighborhood.

Some times the manufactures will also list them on their web site.

Scott