[Rob Channell]

OK. So I am 6'1", 235lbs and not in great shape. I decided it was time to lose some weight and live a little more of a healthy lifestyle. A buddy is doing a sprint triathlon in August and I decided to sign up as a way of committing myself to the changes required. I have started running/walking and would like a bike. I have no aspirations of winning or even being very competitive. For me it's all about losing some weight (lowers both my weight and my car's at the track), being more healthy, having more energy and endurance, possibly sleeping a little better, etc... For the race my first goal is to just finish with the secondary being a time as near to or under an hour and a half as I can get.

I took my old Shogun CroMoly 300 bike (vintage 1983) to the local bike shop where they said they could straighten the rear wheel(aluminum) and do new tires/tubes,seat post(was cracked), brake and shifter cables and the associated cleaning and adjustment for $234. It has a few small surface rust places but nothing major. That may not be a lot of money for the work being done but it is a fair amount to end up with an old steel bike with friction shifting. Even the $229 Schwinn at Target has indexed shifting now, although the frame is a mid 50s cm frame so "one size fits some" applies.

The local bike shop (LBS) has a Scott Speedster P4 flat bar road bike for $415 and a few other Scott and Fuji models for more. They also carry Felt and Lynskey but I think they are a little pricier than I need. They also had a used Cannondale R200 in a large frame size that looked fair for an older bike. I think it is probably 8 years old or so and does have indexed shifting but has the shifters down low on the front down tube. The upside is the used bike is about $300. The shop guy said if I did buy that one it would not be too hard to sell it for $150 or so should I change my mind. I plan to do some street riding and also ride some of our local bike paths. At this point I am thinking of these two bikes but could be persuaded to move up the price scale a little if the value is a lot better. I don't need a super light bike as the easiest way to get a lighter biker/bike combination is for me to run and ride more and lose the extra 30 lbs off of me instead of the bike.

The things that do interest me are reliability, good personal fit, and indexed shifting. I do tend to lean towards the flat bar road bikes as I am no speed demon and typically enjoy a more upright position. If I got the used Cannondale I might be tempted to try a flat bar on it along with one of those gel seats for comfort. I plan to go back when I have a little more time and ride several of the bikes before deciding. Any recommendations or advice? Any features that are worth the extra money?

Thanks in advance.