I got a Vendetta for a week, and tried it in hilly area, well as much as its 50/34 + 12/28 gearing allows it since hills tend to be very steep around here.
After a few days of riding I got the hang of it though it was tough the two 1st days of ride as I was constantly wobbling, and by the way I would say that the Vendetta is quite a dangerous bike to take on the open road until you can ride it with a reasonalbe control. I am quite an experience bent rider but never rode a MBB before and the 2 first rides were painfull.
first there is something that I think is a big flaw in the design of this bike, the handle bar is unecessary too long and prevent to turn the wheel enough to make a Uturn because the drop bar block on my belly, not only it is unpractical but can be deadly in case of a fall, unacceptable on a bike of that price. Why not sawing the drop bars so that they could be just long enough for holding the bar but not more.
Asides te ergonomic of the bike is good, and the seat confortable wich was a good surprise since its design looks quite unsophisticated at 1st look. The heigth of the BB is good, not too high but high enough for good aero. The only thing it that the seat is not ventilated and the pad isn't either so could be improved...
As a general comment I would say that it is not a bike for everybody, but for motivated cyclists as it required motivation to get the hang of it and the design at its own limits that makes this bike not easy to use in some cases...
Inherently the geometry of the Vendetta gives a lot of pedal induced steering, it is not a problem at all when you ride at moderate and relatively constant speed, but can be tricky to deal with if you want to ride agressively. Sudden change of pedaling cadence and/or rythsm are not velcome on this bike. Also unecessary move of the upper body translates in wobble, by the way I don't understand how Cruzbike can claim that upper body involvement is productive on this bike, because I observe exactly the opposite. What I feel is that you have to relax your arms and pedal downward to avoid unwanted wobbling.
personally I find that there is 3 areas where this bike is quite marginal :
1 very low speed stability and handling
2 fast pedalling cadence
3 fast downhill (as a consequence of 2)
This bike is not easy to ride at very low speed, the reason is because if the boom move too much sideways then the weigth and momentum of your legs start to destabilize the bike. As a consequence starts are uneasy on flat land and very challenging uhpill, and next to impossible when the slope is steep. The other consequence is that very steep hills are also not a nice place to ride with this bike, you have to stay very focused on steep ramps especially if you run out of gear, it is quite doable but requires strong focus, and if you put a foot on the ground you are good for a walk..
This bike works better with slow pedalling cadence, it is unconfortable and uneasy to sustain high cadence on this bike and I would add not productive, yes it wobbles at high candence, consequently fast downhill are not great unless you don't pedal. But trying to accelerate on downill by spining out can be dead scarry as the bike engage in long wobbling trends, it is particularly annoying when you restart pedaling.
Finally where the bike works better is on moderate hill up to 7% , it climbs well (once you have solve the wobbling problem) though not exceptionally well. On flat land it works too but the aero is not fantastic because of the wide handlebar and the massive front end.
As I said above, the ergonomic is good but the short wheel base along with the triangulated front end makes the bike bouncy on rough road so the ride is not exactly fluid or carpet smooth.
So in my view this bike is more for long distance in flat and moderately hilly environment than a hard core climber or for agressive biking as it doesn't like to be brutalized. In the same time it requires motivation to become proficient on it again it is not a bike for casual riders.
My last comment it that it is a way too expensive bike for an aluminum frame especially considering the limits inherent to its geometry that I discussed above but after all it is a very personal matter of how much too much is too much...
After a few days of riding I got the hang of it though it was tough the two 1st days of ride as I was constantly wobbling, and by the way I would say that the Vendetta is quite a dangerous bike to take on the open road until you can ride it with a reasonalbe control. I am quite an experience bent rider but never rode a MBB before and the 2 first rides were painfull.
first there is something that I think is a big flaw in the design of this bike, the handle bar is unecessary too long and prevent to turn the wheel enough to make a Uturn because the drop bar block on my belly, not only it is unpractical but can be deadly in case of a fall, unacceptable on a bike of that price. Why not sawing the drop bars so that they could be just long enough for holding the bar but not more.
Asides te ergonomic of the bike is good, and the seat confortable wich was a good surprise since its design looks quite unsophisticated at 1st look. The heigth of the BB is good, not too high but high enough for good aero. The only thing it that the seat is not ventilated and the pad isn't either so could be improved...
As a general comment I would say that it is not a bike for everybody, but for motivated cyclists as it required motivation to get the hang of it and the design at its own limits that makes this bike not easy to use in some cases...
Inherently the geometry of the Vendetta gives a lot of pedal induced steering, it is not a problem at all when you ride at moderate and relatively constant speed, but can be tricky to deal with if you want to ride agressively. Sudden change of pedaling cadence and/or rythsm are not velcome on this bike. Also unecessary move of the upper body translates in wobble, by the way I don't understand how Cruzbike can claim that upper body involvement is productive on this bike, because I observe exactly the opposite. What I feel is that you have to relax your arms and pedal downward to avoid unwanted wobbling.
personally I find that there is 3 areas where this bike is quite marginal :
1 very low speed stability and handling
2 fast pedalling cadence
3 fast downhill (as a consequence of 2)
This bike is not easy to ride at very low speed, the reason is because if the boom move too much sideways then the weigth and momentum of your legs start to destabilize the bike. As a consequence starts are uneasy on flat land and very challenging uhpill, and next to impossible when the slope is steep. The other consequence is that very steep hills are also not a nice place to ride with this bike, you have to stay very focused on steep ramps especially if you run out of gear, it is quite doable but requires strong focus, and if you put a foot on the ground you are good for a walk..
This bike works better with slow pedalling cadence, it is unconfortable and uneasy to sustain high cadence on this bike and I would add not productive, yes it wobbles at high candence, consequently fast downhill are not great unless you don't pedal. But trying to accelerate on downill by spining out can be dead scarry as the bike engage in long wobbling trends, it is particularly annoying when you restart pedaling.
Finally where the bike works better is on moderate hill up to 7% , it climbs well (once you have solve the wobbling problem) though not exceptionally well. On flat land it works too but the aero is not fantastic because of the wide handlebar and the massive front end.
As I said above, the ergonomic is good but the short wheel base along with the triangulated front end makes the bike bouncy on rough road so the ride is not exactly fluid or carpet smooth.
So in my view this bike is more for long distance in flat and moderately hilly environment than a hard core climber or for agressive biking as it doesn't like to be brutalized. In the same time it requires motivation to become proficient on it again it is not a bike for casual riders.
My last comment it that it is a way too expensive bike for an aluminum frame especially considering the limits inherent to its geometry that I discussed above but after all it is a very personal matter of how much too much is too much...
