Maybe the V20 is a fast bike afterall

paco1961

paco1961

Zen MBB Master
DavidCH said:
Well you could wear a funny lid and increase your wattage
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Has anyone wind tunnel tested the traditional road (DF) Bike aero helmets on a V? As I understand it, the the difference between a very efficient design and a clunker can come from tiny design shifts. I wonder what the different head/helmet position on a V vs a DF would mean to overall aero performance?
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
That aero helmet is huge. 2nd time out I used a halo sweat headband catcher under the mask and it blocked the air from whipping under the visor. The visor reaches the tip of my nose.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
Might have to give one of those a try. I bought a new lense that attaches to my helmet by a trio of magnets like my other lenses (Giro Air Attack lense) and while it is excellent on so many ways, I had to attach a liner to the edges, particularly the bottom for it to be my favorite. It is a SWANS MIT snowboard lens with polarization. The slim black nose piece is from an Air Attack, but the other ones I got from Japan's version of Home Depot. With those the gap for air to flow through is much smaller. That is a nice looking helmet though.
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DocS

DocS

Guru
Frito Bandito said:
When they start trying to chase with the usual result being able to latch on and then taking a break at a higher speed, it must be pretty disheartening to get passed and then during the huge effort to not be able to close the gap. They are just burning a match in the middle of the ride for absolutely no reason. If I am not pressed for time I might slow down afterwards and have a chat with them a bit. It is just so hard to do that when I just want to ride. The V20 is dulling my social skills for sure haha.
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I absolutely love it!
I have a couple of DF buddies who are of smaller stature that continue to try to latch onto my back wheel and get some draft relief...
One of them actually sits on his top tube, so he can get lower... He can hang for a bit, but it's so uncomfortable that he can't keep it.

Blessings,
Rudy
 
MrSteve

MrSteve

Zen MBB Master
Upright/diamond frame riders operate in a different performance envelope.
With that in mind, On my Cruzbikes I've caught and passed every other recumbent I've ever met on the hills.
FWD Cruzbikes, like upright bikes, have the advantage when going uphill.
I like to remember the time I (on my '07 Sofrider) caught up to a beautiful purple P-38 recumbent bicycle on my favorite flat road.
We rode together until the road got pretty hilly and the P-38 rider slowed too much for me.
Never saw that bike again.
Another time, I intercepted (on my '11 Vendetta) a beautiful blue Bacchetta CA2 on a slight downhill and drafted him for a mile or so,
until I felt the desire to resume my workout. Drafting him, well, was too easy.
The vendetta pulled steadily away until the overpass, where I left the CA2 standing still. Not really, of course, but the speed differential was pretty wide.
On the downhills, Bacchettas always won VS my Sofrider and have a chance to keep pace with my Vendetta.
Overall, Cruzbikes rule.
 
trplay

trplay

Zen MBB Master
MrSteve said:
Upright/diamond frame riders operate in a different performance envelope.
With that in mind, On my Cruzbikes I've caught and passed every other recumbent I've ever met on the hills.
FWD Cruzbikes, like upright bikes, have the advantage when going uphill.
Drafting him, well, was too easy.
The vendetta pulled steadily away until the overpass, where I left the CA2 standing still. Not really, of course, but the speed differential was pretty wide.
On the downhills, Bacchettas always won VS my Sofrider and have a chance to keep pace with my Vendetta.
Overall, Cruzbikes rule.
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You should join us in the Zwift community sometime and find out if this advantage is a power thing or if it's due to aero. It will quickly become evident.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
At least you get some potential fun. All I get around here are DF bikes. Most of them on road bikes on weekdays are elderly men, likely retired, and just getting out of the house. I see a few younger enthusiasts later in the afternoons. Rarely I see TT/Triathlon bikes, but never going the same direction as I. So, it was a little easy for me to get a false sense of ability on my DF bike, and even more so now on the V20. But since I know I cannot compete with the young bucks I have been switching more to distance than speed, and like you wrote Chico, being comfortable on the bike means more pedal time. I wonder how well the V20 can handle 300km days, day after day, after day.
 
3bs

3bs

whereabouts unknown
one of my friends just got a new bike. canyon ultimate sl. sweet bike. i put it together for him and fit him, and then we went for w whirl. really nice bike. so he is dutch, and so recumbents are fine with, especially since i have a couple m5's. of course i havent ridden in a month, but i want to see how the bike works and that he is fit proper on it. so we zip out and he settles in and i am behind him making sure i have him fit right, and he looks pretty clean, and so then i come around and see if i can ease him up on speed. so i do and he figures out if he is in my ear, he actually gets a bit of a draft. when we are about a mile from my house, he pulls out and goes around me and walks away about 50 yards. i cannot reel him in. i was going like 23 or thereabouts at the time.
i tell one of the other guys who rides withe me and he says, you always suck early in the year. he is self employed and rides his peleton every day and works out and he is at least 10 years younger. i felt better. so @Frito Bandito i was trying to live up to your stereotype of the old out of shape guy on a bike using recumbent tech to keep up....
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
Well, if you haven't been out for a month then that is gonna hurt your speed a lot so don't be too rough on yourself. Like in golf where some players get a handicap, us old farts should get one in cycling too. This month my routine has been a pretty quick 100km ride every 3 days, with about 15-20km on the commuter in town on the other 2 days. I might bump the rides up to 150km in April, but that is going to take a serious look at properly fueling up for them and fine tuning my hydration.
 
jond

jond

Zen MBB Master
Frito Bandito said:
At least you get some potential fun. All I get around here are DF bikes. Most of them on road bikes on weekdays are elderly men, likely retired, and just getting out of the house. I see a few younger enthusiasts later in the afternoons. Rarely I see TT/Triathlon bikes, but never going the same direction as I. So, it was a little easy for me to get a false sense of ability on my DF bike, and even more so now on the V20. But since I know I cannot compete with the young bucks I have been switching more to distance than speed, and like you wrote Chico, being comfortable on the bike means more pedal time. I wonder how well the V20 can handle 300km days, day after day, after day.
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Yes yes it can. And loaded too.

Great audax bike for me. Except in real mountains for me. Without doubt John Tolhurst nailed the design. I recommend a pneumatic neck rest for comfort on poor roads. Never tried the sprung cruzbike rest. As time has rolled on through iterations of vendettas the bike has become only more relevant and quality is outstanding as good as any other name. We owe a lot of gratitude to those crazy lovin parkers. Thankyou both for tending the flame. Vroom.
 
jond

jond

Zen MBB Master
chicorider said:
One interesting thing for me is that while the V is definitely faster than the S40, it is also more comfortable. The S40 isn't bad, but I can ride the V all day.
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yes twenty degrees seems like the ideal recline for power generation mbb and not being pushed up the seat and even weight distribution with pressure distribution from nape neck to buttocks being even. Of course we are all pests and we are built in a variety of ways.
 
Frito Bandito

Frito Bandito

Zen MBB Master
jond said:
Yes yes it can. And loaded too.

Great audax bike for me. Except in real mountains for me. Without doubt John Tolhurst nailed the design. I recommend a pneumatic neck rest for comfort on poor roads. Never tried the sprung cruzbike rest. As time has rolled on through iterations of vendettas the bike has become only more relevant and quality is outstanding as good as any other name. We owe a lot of gratitude to those crazy lovin parkers. Thankyou both for tending the flame. Vroom.
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Yep. I have only had this 2018 V20 and love it for what it is. I saw a V20 with an M5 seat on it that had a nice bag mounted behind the head and thought that it was really nice in allowing the V20 to be even better at touring (along with the Scarab bag of course). That or an S40 for the TransAm race would definitely be something to watch out for.

I gotta quit dreamin'
 
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jond

jond

Zen MBB Master
Frito Bandito said:
Yep. I have only had this 2018 V20 and love it for what it is. I saw on BROL a V20 with an M5 seat on it that had a nice bag mounted behind the head and thought that it was really nice in allowing the V20 to be even better at touring (along with the Scarab bag of course). That or an S40 for the TransAm race would definitely be something to watch out for.

I gotta quit dreamin'
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I used banana racer bags and bachetta brain bag on original seat. Made an aluminium flat bar paddle shape hung off existing supplied hardware. Still have it same two three brain bags down the road. Salt buggers the zip.

the paddle idea is old like Eric w. Lol who inspired me along with jt s efforts at luggage.
Just search vendetta luggage in the forum. Pretty much it’s all been done before by the likes of Eric ratz jt rojo larry slim etc etc etc. great resource this forum.
Having trouble uploading photo at moment.
 
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benphyr

benphyr

Guru-me-not
Frito Bandito said:
He should just flip his saddle forward on his DF to act as a head rest, cut the top tube off and sit with his butt near the BB, then crank with his hands :D
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With the $ he saves from regenerative genital medical attention he could go to a company we know and buy an ergonomically superior seat that comes with the fastest road bike. I’m sure @DocS would help him learn the basics until he started competing at least.
 
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