Introductions - New rider in Ames IA

Hello, my name is Zachary and i just purchased a new 2012 Mercier Kilo TT Pro from BD. I'm going to be commuting to work everyday and in the fall to ISU everyday, its about 2 miles either way. I'm very excited to start biking instead of driving all the time. I thought it would be a good idea to join this forum so if i ever have any questions ill be able to get the answers. If anyone who lives in Ames wants to go riding with me let me know, or if anyone has good general knowledge about bicycling or has any good biking routes around town let me know. I'm still searching the forum, but if anyone knows where to get some White Industries pedals let me know. I bought there 16t Eno freewheel because i don't really like pedaling all the time; and they seem like a good, solid company with great products. also, i heard that the Alex rims aren't the greatest but they should be good for the mean time right?

thanks for all the help in advance.

Hi Zachary,

Welcome to Bike Forums.

Look around and have fun posting.

All bikes are good "for the meantime," whether they cost $100 or $10000! You'll save a fortune riding rather than driving and your heart will thank you when you're an old geez like me. Welcome to the forums.

so I've started biking to work and back and i love my fixed gear. I'm kinda sad i preemptively bought a freewheel, hopefully i can just ship it back and get a refund. I absolutely love riding around, i dont know what it is, it just feels right.

the only question i have for right now is when is my bottom going to stop hurting? i can barely sit on my bike seat its that bad. I've just been pushing through it but how long will it take until I'm somewhat comfortable?

Dunno about the sore ass. I rode 1500 miles last year before a two week touring trip (where I rode about 600 more miles), and mine continued to hurt. This year I've only ridden about 10 times (20-30 miles each) and it isn't sore--go figure. Some of getting a sore bum is from putting too much weight on it. E.g., when I see bumps in the road, I put more weight on my legs to reduce the pounding. Likewise if you're sitting very upright, you'll put more weight on your ass and less on your arms. You could ask this in other forums and you'd probably get other advice, but that's "what I know about that."

Welcome! Do you use cycling shorts?

I wear traditional-looking padded road bike shorts. Sometimes I find that more padding isn't a good thing. I think my most comfortable shorts have a smaller pad. Sometimes I wear mountain bike shorts, which have traditional bike shorts underneath (with padding) but they look baggy on the outside.