Hi Abbot, I'm a very new Vendetta-lover also - and now an ex-DF rider. I just wanted to share some of my experiences over the last few weeks. I apologize in advance for the long-winded novel, but my wife has just about heard enough of my Vendetta stories. I think she is becoming suspicious of my new love affair. First, I found the Vendetta neck rest very harsh on my eyeballs whenever I rode on anything other than pristine pavement. The problem was that the vibration went from the road to the wheel to the frame to my neck and head and then to my eyeballs. So I bought a large Volae carbon seat (I'm 69.5 inches tall) as recommended by Rick Youngblood (a truly amazing guy when it comes to customization). I also purchased the Ventisit seat pad to fit the Volae seat to be both comfortable as well as to allow sweat to evaporate (it works beautifully and I highly recommend it as others have done so here). Then I made a slight modification to Rick's design by adding strips and blocks of Sorbothane under the seat between the seat and the frame. This is an advanced material that acts like both a liquid and a solid and therefore absorbs vibration better than other materials (imagine trying to hammer in a nail with a water balloon). For a headrest, I bought the ADEM headrest as recommended by Rick Youngblood. The tricky part was determining exactly where to drill the four holes in the seat since the seat is all curves. By attaching the headrest to the seat and isolating the seat from the frame with Sorbothane, I can now go over extremely recessed manhole covers and other road imperfections and not even be bothered by them. It is as smooth as silk. I still go up and down on the really rough stuff, but it feels great. Regarding tires, I used to ride 23 mm tires at 120 PSI on my DF. After doing some research, I found that wider tires would roll faster and be more comfortable (basically). So I installed 28 mm Continental Gatorskins and larger tubes. The wheels are now a little heavier, but they are more comfortable at 100 PSI, roll faster, and are less susceptible to flats due to the tubes, the tires, and the pressure. Regarding water bottles, I tried the cage on the boom but found I hit it with my legs sometimes and that it was annoying. I also did not like the extra weight on the boom. If I need to have three water bottles at some point, I can always easily mount a cage under the boom if I have to. So then I purchased a couple of Minoura strap-on bottle bosses from Amazon. I had tried a different design, but the Minoura product functioned much better, although is is not as easy to install or adjust. I angled my bottles so the wouldn't bounce out and so they would still be pretty aerodynamic. I purchased the Cateye BC-100 water bottle cages ($6 each on Amazon) and mounted them on the Minoura bottle bosses. These are the best I could find as far as not dropping bottles. But they will still drop bottles eventually on rough roads if they are mounted horizontally, but not if mounted at an angle. Then to the bottles. I bought some 24-ounce CamelBak Podium bottles, which are amazing. They don't leak and can blow some water into your mouth when you need it. I mounted the bosses, cages, and bottles to the frame down under the seat on the left and right sides so that I could reach them while riding. I'm still learning to drink without killing myself, but the part I am working on is getting the bottle back in the cage. The difficulty is not being able to see the cage, so I have to learn where the cage is and at which angle to hold the bottle when I put it back in the cage - just something more to learn. The reason I mounted the bottles on the frame instead of behind the back of the seat is because I wanted the weight to be low, centered, and to not negatively affect my seat weight, which would happen due to the leverage of the bottles behind my back. One last tweak: I purchased a bar-end shifter and mounted it on the right-hand side - this is for shifting the chain-rings. I like this much better than a brifter for chain-ring shifting. I also found it much easier to tune. I bought a cheap brake lever for the left hand and I still have a brifter for the right hand brake and cogset shifting. So I do all my shifting with my right hand. If I would have known how great a bar-end shifter is, I would have put one on my DF years ago. So my goals are comfort, eliminating all of the medical problems that can be caused by a DF, and to be even faster. I've been making great progress and feel much more in control than I did at first. I am past the WHID moment (what have I done?) after crashing three times in the first two rides. But now I am much more stable. I went out riding a couple of different times on my V with strong riders who were on carbon DFs. The most recent was 100 miles yesterday with a fresh victim. The result was that a strong climber can match me in climbing (my Vendetta is about 10 pounds heavier than a comparable carbon DF) and the steeper the climb, the more advantage the DF rider has. I expect that as the frame technology changes and allows a much lighter Vendetta, this climbing disadvantage will eventually be drastically reduced. But - I can easily drop a strong DF rider on the flats. This is extreme to the point of ego damage. I can ride along without working hard at 23 to 26 mph on the flats, while the DF rider is dying trying to draft me (which is pretty much pointless) until he blows up and become a distant point in my two mirrors. (Of course I eventually slowed down and waited even though the V kept telling me to "keep going there's no reason to slow down." But I'm not a total dick!) So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I can't wait to get out on the roads again on my "V for Vendetta".
