I remember riding my Giant Defy, getting dropped or out sprinted regularly, and then coming home and searching relentlessly for 38 page threads like this one where I wondered - would the Vendetta be faster for me? It's not totally obvious because you never know how strong the riders are, but now, having one, the difference is clear.
There are some comments back a few pages about pace lines. So, I wondered also since I'm always riding in groups. Is the pace line such a huge advantage that it would nullify the aerodynamic gains of the recumbent? Well, I don't have hard data, but I do have some good anecdotal evidence. First, guess what - recumbent pace lines are faster than upright pace lines even when the upright riders are collectively stronger. Second, if you want to break away solo from a group you can, but you can also draft the upright pace line and it's glorious! Even drafting an upright, it takes less watts on the Vendetta than on another upright to hold onto a pace line. Attacking and surging is perhaps harder at first but as soon as you learn that it's a momentum machine and realize you don't need to be afraid of losing some space because you can just claw them back, you'll see that it's actually easier.
The Texas Roadhouse cycling team comes down here to Florida for a couple weeks each winter and they train together. One of my favorite rides on the Vendetta was when they joined our group on a Saturday. I sat patiently behind the chaos for twenty miles before going to the front. While on the front leading at 25mph, I hammered into a full sprint. No normal person attacks when they're on the front so, it came as a surprise and I lured their strongest rider out with me. I rotated with him, but I let us drift backwards until we were caught at which point, I attacked again and this time a different rider started a solo chase to catch me. I rode about 10% under my threshold while he chased and when he reached me, I attacked again and it just completely broke him. He drifted back into the peloton and I began riding at threshold alone out front. They got organized. They looked like a Tour de France breakaway group smoothly rotating their tight pace line and they brought me back in around seven miles. Their coach was there yelling to leave me out front so, I stopped pedaling. I slowed until they overtook me and rested again behind them for another seven miles. By that point, I was fresh again, we were close to the finish, and everyone in that group was worn out. I launched again and no one could follow. We talked about it afterwards and one of them had said he oscillated between thinking "It's not fair!" and "This is great training!" - both were correct.
So, yes, a pace line of pro riders can bring back at CAT5 solo breakaway on a Vendetta but that part didn't matter, and if that team had it to do over again what they could have done instead is ignore my attacks. If they had simply stayed together they would not have expended energy disrupting the one weapon that does work - team work, but it would have been a risk because they didn't know in advance what speed I might be able to hold alone. The next week, I rode my upright with them - S-Works Tarmac, which for reference retails for more than the Vendetta. I was pleased that I made it twelve miles before getting dropped!
