Hey, welcome jeff. Texas is a good palce to race. I've done a race out there and my Dad lives in Houston, may even be racing with you.

On the bike, don't worry about purchasing a bike just yet. Most people just getting into the sport use an old road or mountain bike to start. I must warn you though, they quickly get hooked and end up spare cash in new equipment.

Since you're no doubt on a college budget, just use the Walmart special and make sure this is something you want to do for a lifestyle. Then (when you decide it is :)) check out ebay or other sites for a used bike to get started. Some of the hard core guys swap out bikes every couple years so you might be able to find a decent buy. When that time comes, check back and read some of the posts on how to get fitted and choose a bike.

hope that helps, good to have you onboard.

Thanks for the advice on the bike. I really think I could get very interested in this. The excitement is building!!! Is there anyone on the board from the Houston area that has done the My First/Next Triathalon in Galveston or no? If so any training or race information would be helpful.
Jeff-

Thanks for the tip. Where can I get a pair of them?
Jeff-

Alright thanks for the help. I really like the threads all my questions are being answered almost immediately it seems. One more quick question though, should i train with the reg mtn bike tires or on the slicks???
Jeff-

For the 15-19 age-group, chances are you can still be a contender with a mtn bike. I don't know the size of the tri you are doing, but its likely there won't even be five of you.... Check last year's results and see. Then based on your training guesstimate a goal finish time. I haven't done a race where there've been more than 4 F15-19's and it seems like there are about the same number of guys at that age...

I never road mtn bike for a tri but I got my road bike the day before my first tri 2 years ago...
Of course, having a mtn bike will raise the chance for the girls in your age group to beat you :) That's one of the fun things for me about tri's...beating all the guys in my age group who think they're such hotshots.. (as long as they haven't a competitor on a xc or cycling team and haven't too much experience they're toast and I'm not the only one :cool: )

How many speed to go with depends on how hilly the course is... You probably will want to spend as little money as possible, because when your hooked you'll want a road/tri bike for next year (1500-1800 $ list price seems pretty standard). Just make sure the bike fits you. That's really most important. I would train on the slicks at least some of the time to get a feel for them.

Good luck!