I am new to triathlon and my birthday is coming up. Should I buy an indoor trainer for my bike or buy clip less pedals with bike shoes?
since I assume you do not compete on a trainer, then the best bang for results will be a good pair of shoes and cleats hands down. Really it is hard to say it is an either or, you really need both but the pedals are an A item the trainer is a B item IMHO.
+1 Pedals are pretty fundamental
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Couldn’t agree more. But trainer can get you a lot more experience on the bike!
additional reason for pedals and trainer is that the pedaals will make your trainer workout even better, try one lg drills without clipless pedals 
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IF you use the turbo properly and consistently - that will bring you way better results than pedals.
Sean Kelly won Milan San Remo in toe clips - didn’t slow him down much.
If you currently don’t have a way to train on a bike (aka you’re actively losing fitness all winter), I’d highly recommend the trainer. If you’ve got a gym or bike machine already to do workouts on, then I’d recommend the shoes/pedals.
Clipless pedals are nice and make everything feel nicer, but I found they didn’t really improve my speed that much. 3-4 months just maintaining fitness (even just 15-20 minutes a day) on your trainer will make you a lot faster next summer than clipless pedals will.
I’d get a trainer if you’re not riding right now. If you’re riding, for sure the pedals. Both are great and the more experience/ training you get with the pearls and trainer the more you’ll get out of yourself.
Like many have said…
If you don’t have a method of riding all winter, and you are in a climate where you cannot ride outside… the trainer will help you maintain your fitness.
For any semi-serious rider, clipless pedals and shoes are basically a must have. But they can wait until you can ride again, just save for them now. The best scenario would have you using them on the trainer before you go out and ride with the. That will allow you to get them set up comfortably (cleats should really be set by a fitter unless you know what you’re doing or have the skill and knowhow to try things and reset them.) And by riding with them on the trainer you will also be able to practice clipping and unclipping before setting out on the road.
Thank you all for your suggestions. i am going to get the pedals and shoes because I am still able to ride outside.