To be even more encompassing, the Cruzbike Vendetta V20c is the world’s fastest practical road bike; using the word “practical” to exclude racing bicycles designed solely for track use.

The power and skill of the racer will strongly affect performance. But when competitors are of equal caliber, the victory will go to the bicycle with the best aerodynamics, ergonomics, and biomechanical efficiency every single time. 

The aerodynamic superiority of racing recumbent road bicycles, like the Cruzbike Vendetta V20c and various models of rear-wheel drive (RWD) recumbents, over standard racing bikes is well known. By placing the body in a feet first recumbent position, the frontal surface area of the racer is drastically less compared to a standard bike, even when they assume the dangerous and uncomfortable tuck position.

Ergonomics become extremely important in longer races. If you aren’t comfortable, you can’t perform as well.

We won’t delve into all the ergonomic problems of the traditional road bike, but they are legion. Recumbent bikes distribute the body weight over a much larger surface area, eliminating chronic pressure-related injuries to the prostate, genitals, wrists, and shoulders.

However, RWD (rear wheel drive) recumbent bicycles have a problem called “heel strike” which is when your foot runs into your wheel when you are turning. In order to reduce this, many RWD racing bikes position the feet very high in the air, which causes issues of foot numbness, visual obstruction of the road, and delayed planting of the foot on the ground in an emergency stop. The Cruzbike Vendetta V20 has none of these issues because your feet turn with the cranks.   

The ability of the Cruzbike to allow the upper body to add torque to the cranks, much like a standard road bike, has been proven; and this is a feature that is inherently lacking in all rear-wheel drive (RWD) recumbent bicycles. As a separate issue, the chain on a Cruzbike V20 is less than half the length of RWD recumbent road bikes, thus reducing moving mass and wasted energy.

For these reasons, RWD recumbents may match the aerodynamics of the Cruzbike Vendetta V20, but they can never match the biomechanical efficiency. This is why the V20 has set so many records since its debut in 2012. The proof is in the pudding.

For the reasons summarized above, the Cruzbike Vendetta V20 is the world’s fastest bike built for the open road. We have no doubt whatsoever that a well-trained team of professional cyclists on V20s would crush a similarly trained pro-team on standard road bikes on any long road course with a good mix of climbs, descents, and flats. They would lose some ground on the climbs simply because they weigh a bit more, but then more than make up for it everywhere else. The Cruzbike racers would also be safer (much less likely to sustain a head or neck injury) than the standard racers, and would enjoy a better view of the road ahead of them. All we need is a corporate sponsor with deep pockets to demonstrate this to the world.

Now here is a list of Cruzbike cyclists and their records. These are NOT professional cyclists. These are ordinary people working desk jobs, operating machinery, raising children, etc. Well-established course records, especially if they do not allow drafting, and World Ultra Cycling Association (WUCA) certified records are the best evidence to show what the Cruzbike Vendetta V20 can do when ordinary people strive to do extraordinary things on it. Pay special attention to the hilly races, like the Hoodoo 500 and the Texas Time Trials.  If you think your bike is faster than the V20, pick one of these records and go try to beat it. 

This list is NOT complete and is always changing. If you would like us to add or edit a record,  please send a detailed description of the record, with supporting links, to: records@cruzbike.com.