Lots of people use their Tri bike as their only bike to train and race. Cervelo is a very popular company that sells many bikes, so even though I've never used one, I can assure you that it is very competitive.

Look around here for others that have asked questions about buying first bikes, and maybe you'll run into a few questions that they asked, but you didn't think to ask.

If given the option would you guys go with:

Used P3SL (300 miles)
New P2SL

Thanks for all the great feedback :)

The bike I am thinking about buying is a straight forward P3SL with about 300 miles on it for $1700.

Would you say that is a decent deal, or, should I step up to a P2? I wanted to spend less than $2k, ideally.

Thanks again for the great comments and feedback :)

I dont think $1700 for a P3SL is a deal at all. Waaaaayyyy too much. Theyre trying to mooch off the popularity of the P3C, and its a different bike. Go for the P2SL. Great bike. QR's Tequilo is also a great bike for the money. Felt also has a couple solid entries for under $2k.

You CAN train on a tri bike exclusively if you are only interested in tris. Have you raced yet? you might want to try to find a solid used roadie. They are substantially less than tri bikes. $500 for a used roadie in pretty good shape is about right. Slap some aerobars on it, and youve got something that can go anywhere and do anything. My buddy is at AG Nationals this weekend. He wins every race he enters. His only tri gear is aerobars and an aero helmet. Its not necessarily about the bike.

I love my bikes! Love to help people love their bikes.

The frame is in exceptional condition. I have some concerns about the aerobars. They look like They were clamped pretty tight about midway up the extensions. The carbon is discolored. I wouldnt buy this without being able to inspect the bars for any clamp damage.

There arent any picture of the drivetrain at all, so i cant really evaluate that. I personally wouldnt pay more than $1k for a used alum tri bike, but that's just me.

This is generally a good time of year to check out your LBS and see what type of deals they will cut you on their remaining 2008 showroom bikes. Its hit or miss because they may or may not have your size, but they are generally willing to come down on price to move the older models.

One thing that I did notice was that the deals on the 2008 road bikes weren't quite as good as years past and I wonder if the sales at the LBS aren't up these days with the gas prices sitting where they are.

Prices already jumped quite a bit this past year due to manufacturing and transportation costs rising. The economy is pinching everyone, and bike shops are hurting too. While they are seeing sales increase, those are mostly in lower end bikes with smaller profits. So they're not as likely to slash prices on '08 bikes. They will likely just order fewer '09s to start the year off.

As far as the jump to carbon- you can get a $2.5k carbon frame with a solid spec on it. $3k is more common. Thats a big jump for a lot of people, myself included. Is carbon more comfy, sure, a little. Is it worth the price jump in a tri bike? Not to me, if racing anything from a HIM under. IMs, I would likely prefer a carbon, but thats not my bag of tea yet, so my aluminum serves me just fine.