Interested to know how you compare the Encore and the Performer, which is quite close to my (now defunct) Optima high racer.
I always preferred tiller steering. I'm sure a lot of it is what you're used to but it always feels like a lot of bar is in front of you with the open cockpit designs.
This must be one of the latest ever replies - very sorry!
I have actually been recovering from one of the worst colds I can remember (definitely not Covid) so my opportunities for testing and comparing have been limited.
I have done a couple of hundred kilometres now on the Performer and it's a nice bike to ride but I get the feeling that it doesn't respond so well to a maximum effort as the Encore. I am not sure why this is; David (@Laidback) suggests the frame is likely to be a bit bendier and therefore less efficient than the carbon Encore. The other possibility is the difference between tiller and open cockpit bars. I am much more used to the open cockpit now although my first recumbent - a Grasshopper - was also tiller, so maybe I am more used to trying hard in that position. You can certainly counter the leg push with a pull on the bars on the open cockpit, whereas with the tiller I am pressed back into the seat.
Comparing aero efficiency - I really don't know. The Performer is a bit lower which will help but my upper arms are vertical and probably add as much (or more) drag as the bars on the Encore and the straight arm position of the Encore means the torso as a whole is less drag - I think.
On one of my regular rides which takes me about 2hours 15 these days on the Encore (used to do it in under 2 hours a few years ago) the Performer seems to add at least 5 minutes. It's a moderately hilly ride. I suspect it might be closer on the flat.
Sorry to hear your Optima (High Baron?) is no more! Have you foresaken the Darkside? Terrible question to ask, I admit
Regards
Alf