I would look at Craiglist. You can get a used bike for a reasonable price and you can "see" it before you buy it.

I was in the exact same boat as you a little over two years ago. I purcahsed my first road bike through ebay in pieces and put it together myself. I gained an increadible amount of understanding about bikes. I would recommend it to anyone.

On the point of bikesdirect, I have never dealt with them but getting free service for the life of the bike seems like a good deal. If the guy at your LBS seems like he is an honest person, I would ask him to recommend who he would deal with because from the sounds of it he has dealt with a few of these places in the past. Good luck with your search and feel free to ask us any questions on if a bike is a good deal or not.

both of my roommates purchased used bikes at our LBS. fortunately we have 6-7 shops within a 30 minute drive so they were able to shop around and find the cheapest one that fit their wants.
one of my roommates visited the shop near his home almost every day after work and talked to the employees and scoured their used bike inventory. he got to be good friends with a few of them and they helped find him a really good deal on his first road bike ($400 for a 2 season old Specialized Allez that had only a few hundred miles on it!!)

i bought my tri bike from a LBS. i'd say its much easier buying a bike from a shop, ESPECIALLY if he is offering free lifetime labor on the bike. but make sure you get that deal in writing, cause unless that guy is the owner, his word isnt worth much and he may not be an employee there for as long as you own that bike.

i've had a few kinks in my new bike, some that i caused, some that i didnt, and it was nice being able to go back to the shop and get free repair.

the LBS that i purchased my bike from is more like a walmart then your normal bike shop, but it was nice knowing that they can and will fix my bike either for free or relatively cheap. and i guess for that, it almost offsets some of the mark-up in buying a new bike.

Here's the bike that the guy suggested was the cheapest I should remotely bother with.....it's a windsor wellington....I don't know anything about that brand so that doesn't mean anything to me

I'm on a ridiculously tight budget so the $300 this costs is about as high as I can go without not buying a bike for a year.

here are the specs for those who know what they mean :)

Frame 7005 Aluminum by Kinesis - Handmade MultiShape, Engineered Aluminum Tubing, Precision TIG welded with Double water bottle bosses and replaceable rear derailleur hanger
Fork Full Chromoly DuraForte steel, integrated sloping crown
Derailleurs Rear- Shimano 14 Speed, Front Shimano Double Road
Shifters Shimano Index Easy Stem Shift 14 Speed
Brakes Aluminum side-pull black finish
Hubs Aluminum with 7 speed cassette
Rims 700c Road Aluminum black finish 36H
Crank Shimano DoubleRing Road
Saddle Velo Plush-racing with ComfortFit
Seatpost Aluminum micro-adjust with black finish
Pedals Alloy quill with toeclips and straps
Tires Maxxis 700c High pressure road
Color Yellow
Sizes 50 cm, 53 cm, 56 cm, 59 cm, 62 cm

is this a reasonable deal? does anyone know anything about this bike?

tsilcyc,

yep, that's the one I'm thinking about.......was the "that's a $300 road bike" stating that is was indeed worth $300 or joking about the level of inferiority $300 can buy you compared to everyone else..... :)

I currently don't have bike and am training on the stationary bike at my apartment complex......I'm working hard at it but know that nothing beats an actual bike

as it is though, if I can't save up enough by March I have two options......1)ride my sisters mountain bike (not completely free of embarrassment) or swim faster than someone with a cool bike and take theirs before they get to transition (not completely free of illegality)

that is a good point

in response to your advice I have now become the highest bidder on a trek road bike

I probably wont win the bid but you never know, and it's fun to wonder whether I'll have a bike on tuesday :)

I just got my first road bike everyone......it's a panasonic (wierd huh) but it was $75 at a garage sale and I took it out on the local trail and was able to average 18 on it so I guess its ok to start off with....

thanks so much for the help

also, I'm gonna replace the tires and tubes soon....and then I'm imagining clipless pedals.....after that, whats the important upgrade ?(the seat feels fine)

Yeah, I went out and did 13 good miles the first day on the bike (avg 18) which is slower than good cyclists but i was still proud of myslef........then I got a little macho and went for a 30 mile ride yesterday......not brilliant......i didn't realize how sore i still was from the seat and man i could barely move the last 10 miles

I've read good things in the blogs about treks equinox and cervelos tri series.......but I've also head a lot of people recommend staying with true road bikes.....as cycling does not interest me i don't know that i should go that route