How often is this done? I’m doing my first 1/2 this summer and I’m curious to know common it is to not have anything but just a road bike set-up…
Not super common, but also not unreasonable. If that’s what you’re limited to, go for it.
Not terribly common in my experience in the big races. But certainly not impossible. I volunteered at IMC '07 at the bikelot, and one of the top 50 racers came into T2 on a road bike, (and in full roadie apparel, too, FWIW). So a half should be even more doable.
f its your first one, who cares.
Just go with what you have and have FUN. You have probably trained hard and made many sacrifices… Go out there and enjoy it. If all goes well and you want to do another, then consider other options…
Well done!!!
Mick
Anyone know how much time you would lose over 56 miles on a roadie versus a fitted TT bike? I know there’s no way to know exactly, but curious what the range might be.
You would lose at least an hour, maybe two just on cool factor 
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I think you’ll be more than fine. Get in the drops on the flats and downhills and you should be ready to beat people up the hills! Lot of people on aerobars who barely use them anyway.
Depends on the race and how much drafting is taking place 
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How often is this done? I’m doing my first 1/2 this summer and I’m curious to know common it is to not have anything but just a road bike set-up…
You should definitely buy a pair of clip-ons for 50 bucks and put them on the road bike. It really makes a massive difference; even if you are not particularly worried about performance, finishing the bike without getting roundhouse kicked by the wind for 56 miles is great for run comfort.
Most people are riding either triathlon bikes or road bikes with aerobars. But, why do you care how often this is done? I did my first seven tris, including at HIM/70.3/whatever, on an entry level road bike without aerobars. You are going to be a little faster with the aerobars so if you are trying to qualify for Clearwater or something, you probably want aerobars. However, if you have trained enough, whether you have aerobars or not is not really going to affect your ability to finish the race or how fast you run.