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.
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 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 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 (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 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 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 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.
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.
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.)