Having used V-brakes on a bike with straight bars and drops, I can say that V-brakes work fine. They are quite powerful, easy to adjust, and very reliable. Durability of pads depends on the pad material, just as with cantis or calipers.
If you use V-brakes with drop bars and STI brake levers, you need to install a product called a Travel Agent at each caliper. Drop bar brake levers only pull half the cable as MTB levers and the Travel Agents make up for this.
V-brakes are commonly used on tandems because the provide such good stopping power.