I just did the FRR Britannia series races and I had a terrible experience with the pack dynamics. Quite frequently there was a nice pack that looked and behaved like a pack should. While at the same time riders near the back were sweep off to the side of the road away from that pack and on what looked like a separate line forming with it’s own draft. If you sped up or slowed down to join with the main pack, you could briefly, until it would spit you off the the side again to form a new line out of the draft of the pack. The experience was extremely frustrating trying to figure out how to stay in the draft only be be thrown out of the draft to start a new line or to be second in that new line with a small draft compared to the large pack right next to me. This was a non-steering race and my steering was turned off. Not sure what the deal is but I’d take the previous pack dynamics over this version.
Yes, many will agree with your experience. Others will say you need to follow with robopacers to ‘learn’ how to draft. But, I disagree. This pd5 is definitely not intuitive. I feel like I’m often pushed aside. My main complaint is that I get stuck midpack at times and can not escape without putting in a sprint-like effort to pass.
I have seen this before, and thought it was supposed to have long since gone.
Does this Make Racing More Exciting™?
It also still happens that people overtaking from behind push those ahead out of the draft. That makes it too easy for those overtaking. They should have to go out to the side to overtake which would take more effort.
I’ve had the same experience, but there is no way that sticky draft will get changed.
Also frustrating is the very sluggish steering when near other riders, while the non-steering rider who has barged you out to the side will zoom back to the draft very quickly.
We need a stick power-up. What’s that? The virtual stick you can jam through the wheel of the rider pushing you out to the side of the road, forcing them to crash. 