# Help me buy a recumbent bicycle **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-a-recumbent-bicycle/190009 "2003-07-21T21:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-a-recumbent-bicycle/190009/21 "2003-07-29T02:23:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*… As you’ve probably figured out by now, the trick to starting is to first position the pedal of your dominant leg upwards. That way you can pick up speed with one good stroke on the pedal. After that, try not to grab the handlebars too strong. Put all your weight on the seatback, relax your shoulders and only apply a very light touch on the handlebars. Also, each time you are coming to a stop, shift down before coming to a full stop. That way you can start out with a low gear. This becomes automatic after a while. \*\* This is almost word for word what the sales guy said. I’m still trying to figure out which is the best gear to stop/start is. The lowest gear is too low, I can’t get up enough speed to “launch” in half a pedal stroke. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-a-recumbent-bicycle/190009/22 "2003-07-29T02:32:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by N9IWP \* > **Are recumbents banned from races like the Tour de France, or are they just not suitable?** They are banned. The Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and all other major road bike races are sanctioned by the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale). They have extremely strict restriction on equipment design because their position is that bicycle racing is a human sport and not an engineering competition. They banned recumbents way back in 1934 when a relatively unknown cyclist named [Charles Faure](http://www.geocities.com/basiebers/html/body_recumbent_history.html) started racing a recumbent and winning. Today they ban just about every technological innovation like suspension and fairings. They even require the frame to be diamond shaped and made out of straight tubes, with the top tube within a certain range of angles. Innovative frame designs like the [Trek Y-foil](http://www.chainreaction.com/Y-Foil.htm) mostly disappeared from the market when it was ruled out by the UCI. Amateurs usually don’t race in UCI races, but they still want bikes that look like Lance’s. Today there is another organization, the [IHPVA](http://www.ihpva.org/) (International Human Powered Vehicle Association) which oversees bike races with emphasis on technological innovations. Unfortunately there isn’t much money in it and it doesn’t attract many world-class athletes, but there have been some impressive records. Their best known event is the [World Human Powered Speed Challenge](http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2002/speedchallenge-2002.htm) which is a 200-meter sprint race (with run-up) held in Battle Mountain, Nevada. Current record is 81.00 mph achieved by Sam Whittingham of Canada riding a [Varna Diablo](http://www.fortebikes.com/Diablo.htm) streamliner. This is the fastest any human has gone on a flat surface under his/her own power. Another well known record is the Hour Record (distance travelled in one full hour). Current record for that is 51.22 mph held by [Lars Teutenberg](http://www.speedbikebgl.de/eng/news.htm) of Germany. Whether a recumbent would actually be competitive in the TdF is a difficult question. The main advantages of recumbents are comfort and aerodynamics, so it would help on reasonably flat sections and in cases where racer’s fatigue and pain are big issues. But upright bikes would have an advantage on the mountain stages. If both bikes were allowed, I think racers would choose a recumbent for some but not all stages of the TdF. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-a-recumbent-bicycle/190009/23 "2003-07-29T02:58:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boyo Jim \* > **I’ve found a couple of small problems already. The seat adjusts forward and back on a rail, and when I pedal very hard, it slips back.** Unfortunately it’s a common complaint about RANS, but I thought I heard that they made improvements… If all else fails, jam a tiny piece of rubber as a shim somewhere. I don’t have a RANS though, I think Hostel Shoppe can give you better advice. > [@](#): > > \*\*The other is sloppiness in the indexed shipping. Sometimes there’s a significant time lag between my turing the shift knob, and the gear actually changing, or I have to shift down two gears for the bike to shift down one. \*\* You’re not mashing your pedals while you shift, are you? You should be pedaling slowly when you shift, slow enough that the rear hub is freewheeling and no power is transferred to the tire. This is true for uprights too but it seems to be more important on a recumbent for some reason. It could be a minor adjustment problem. Try it yourself, it’s easy. There are only three steps to adjusting indexed shifting: [ul] [li]Shift to smallest cog and turn the limit screw marked H on the derailleur to align derailleur with smallest cog.[/li][li]Shift to the next cog and turn the cable tension adjustment to align derailleur with the 2nd cog.[/li][li]Shift to largest cog, adjust limig screw marked L if necessary. (Loosen the screw if it doesn’t quite reach the largest cog, and if it does, you might need to tighten it a little to make sure the derailleur can’t move any further and hit the wheel.)[/li][/ul] The first and last steps are the same as non-indexed shifters, right? The cable tension adjustment is at one end of the shifter cable - on the shifter if it’s a SRAM setup, and on the derailleur if it’s a Shimano setup, and on both ends if it has both. If you manage to make it worse just take it to any shop, they’d do it for a small fee. (Hostel Shoppe should do it for free but I suspect your time is more valuable.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-a-recumbent-bicycle/190009.md?page=1)