I thoroughly enjoyed riding with Maria this weekend, and the opportunity to not ride solo. She’s a strong and consistent rider that never wastes a good downhill. Unless I was in her slipstream, she consistently pulled away from me on the downhill. That was a new experience for me, it never happens, I’m always riding my brake if I’m behind someone. Superior aerodynamics of the V20 over the S40, perhaps, but I weigh at least twice Maria, and no one pulls away from me on a downhill.
As I’m prepping my S40 today for the next ride, I see the drive wheel is not spinning free. I spin it by hand and it goes for 3 seconds. I walk over to my V20 and that wheel spins for 40 seconds. I removed the disc brake caliper, so that's not involved. After I fix this wheel, I’m going to need another crack at chasing Maria to be convinced that aero beats excessive weight on a downhill.
Oh, did Maria mention this ride had 5100 ft of climb. I took my S40 because its geared for the hills and I like it in the hills. My V20 is currently geared for the flat lands and it clearly out runs the S40 there. I did 211 miles in 12-hours on my V20 two weeks ago at the Mid-Atlantic and was completely comfortable. That was my first time on a Cruzbike at a UMCA event. All my other 200+ mile days were on a DF bike that was incredibly painful.