Hi! I'm new here but have a long term goal to get involved in triathlons. I've been running for a year or two but I'm not a strong runner and admittedly am a little thick at the moment after having kids.

Before kids, 2 yrs ago, I biked a lot. I miss the days of being a bicycle commuter and going out for long rides after work. No matter what, I want something faster than my 15 yr old beat up mountain bike. I've never owned a road bike but I'm thinking about purchasing a Fuji Cross Pro or a Fuji Aloha 2.0 bike to get me started. Does anyone have any advice or experience with either of those bikes? I'm 5'3" with a 30" inseam and am pretty certain I'm looking at a 52" frame by the way things feel. I'm going out again tomorrow to look around some more. I'm mostly looking at Fuji simply because I have a friend who can get me a pro deal on a bike and it is a company with a solid reputation. I have been periodically checking Craigslist and other places also looking for a deal. I'm simply just not educated enough to know what it is that I want. I feel like I'm making a major life commitment and I want to choose something I will feel good about for a long time. Maybe I should be just looking at dedicated road bikes instead of a starter tri bike or a cyclocross type of bike? What would be most useful for someone who is starting as a road biker and headed towards triathlon training?

I went to 2 different bike shops yesterday that generally have good reputations and pretty much got blown off by the workers at both stores. One carried Fuji bikes (I already knew they did when I got there) and the other did not. The bikes I am interested in were not in stock. I flagged guys down at both places and pretty much got no help. When I asked a guy to tell me a little about the bikes all he told me was that the company has been around for 100 years in a patronizing tone and asked if I had any more questions. I realize this is partly because I had an infant and a toddler in tow (both quiet and well behaved, but nonetheless... little kids are deterrents to salesmen). When I'm not working and my husband isn't home I have them with me. When I go out to look for bikes he doesn't want to be left at home so I'm kinda stuck on bringing them. For the next year or two I will probably be towing them in a bike trailer also while I'm training fairly frequently. I realize this probably isn't the standard way to train but if nothing else the added weight makes for a killer workout. I already push them when I'm running which is harder than it looks. Anyone ever dealt with this situation?