Ok. First things first. I’m a big guy 105kg so in general my w/kg is pretty low even if I’m putting out some good wattage. I’m also not on a smart trainer but so far the game has been pretty good for me with the Zpower in comparison to my real life efforts. I get there may be errors but I don’t think its of too much. I also get that going up a hill my weight will have a huge impact. However, it shouldn’t matter that much on the flats. This is where I’m getting confused. I checked someone who rode with me for a stretch on Strava today and despite averaging >125W on the flat section at 0%grade they were at 2.3 w/kg and passing me even though I was putting out 250+…so I get it they are light…but I’m putting out double the power and getting dropped on the flats. Its beginning to feel like there is a serious weight penalty on the flats as well…more than what normal drag would be accounting for. In the end I get a great workout and I’m dropping some weight so who really cares but does anyone have ideas on this? Am I doing something wrong? I understand that doubling watts doesn’t double speed.but is my math just way off? Why doesn’t absolute power factor in better on flat sections.
You may be right. According to Bike Calculator, at 150 watts on a level surface, a 220 pound person should go 17.1 mph and a 140 pound person should go 17.8 mph.
If you are riding the TT bike and they are not and in a draft that could also account for them passing you.
Nope not on the TT bike. In this case it was a 120lb rider at 125W riding next to and pulling away from 230lb rider at 250W. No drafting. Flat grade. Bike calculator says they should be doing about 16.6mph and I should have been doing 20.7mph. Even accounting for different Cda’s it shouldn’t make up for a 4mph difference. Anyways, maybe its just equipment error. But it sure is hard to ride with people even on the flats based on w/kg when you are a big guy.
Word. Relatively short 110kg rider with designs on getting below 100kg this year. Gave up on Zwift last year after experiencing similar results putting out decent wattage. I’m now back after a long layoff off the bike and taking advantage of the grandfathering deal. Have got my classic trainer sorted to a much better/more fair level but I’m still being left for dead by lighter riders and suffering serious drag on 1/2% flats (heck, even at 0%) if I stop pedalling, much more so than IRL (not sure if that’s a Zwift thing to encourage constant pedalling/stop the meters going to sleep). I’ve also noticed issues with cadence/watts being a bit off at levels below 60 RPM. Can’t put my finger on it but something is off with the power-to-weight calculations. It’s not stopping me though since I’m tending to ride harder uphill and on false flats, which can only help real-world FTP if nothing else. Upvoted though since I would like the devs to take a look.