So I have done some experimenting.
I changed the watt reporting from 3s average to 1s.
To get the ‘sticky watts’ thing I need to make a hard stop pedalling for at least 3 seconds.
If I soft pedal, or stop for 1-2s, it doesn’t happen, the numbers go rapidly downwards, they don’t ‘stick’.
If I do engage the sticky watts on purpose, I do indeed get 3 seconds where the power stays at the last recorded level, before dropping to zero. But, when I start pedalling again, it takes 1-2 seconds before the wattage registers, so by my estimations, at the most you get 1-2s of free watts.
If I put the 3s average reporting on it’s a real mess - this is where my over acclerations have been coming from I fancy.
I don’t believe I am regularly stopping for 3+ seconds and I ain’t doing any of this on purpose. I also believe I’m burning unnecessary matches by smashing too much power due to the slight delay, which I’m then compensating for by coasting / stopping. This balances out.
I’m returning to cycling in my mid 40s after racing elite zonder contract in NL/BE in my late 20s.
i race on Zwist very much in a ‘real life’ manner, and in real life there are times when you stop pedalling. For example, you bridge up to a group that is off the front, you are carrying more speed than the last rider in the group and you enter his draft. In real life you’d stop or soft pedal to avoid either needing to brake or ride up his backside. I tend to instinctively do that in Zwift. Hell, on some of the tight corners in Zwift races I instinctively stop pedalling on the approach then blast out of it. That’s what you get from years of racing criteriums in NL.
Also, if there is a fast few minutes and I’m hanging at the back of a strung out bunch, once the speed at the front slows and the bunch spreads out, I’ll tend to (as I would in real life) crank out a mini sprint, then freewheel into the lovely draft of a spread out bunch. Cos yeah, if you just keep pedalling, you’d need to brake, and when you race in real life at a high level you’re doing everything you can not to brake. Also, I want to get in that draft and slow down as soon as possible.
Also, IRL i might crank a little sprint up the gutter around the edge of the bunch, then freewheel rather than ride off the front and make everyone think you’re attacking. I’m not attacking, I want to get to the front and slow down to recover. I might also want to slow the bunch down a little.
The Zwift Hub is renowned to under report power by 7-8% above 300w once it is warm. There are posts on this very site about it.
Honestly, the idea that a 400 Euro trainer is more accurate than 600 euro power meter pedals whose only job is to record power and whose manufacturer claims a higher accuracy than Zwift Hub is for the birds. Especially when you can literally feel the Zwift Hub under reporting power in the second half of a race or interval training.
My view now is that as long as I don’t stop pedalling for more than 1s, and am not knowingly triggering sticky watts, I am not cheating.
So I will just not stop pedalling and focus on trying to ride smoother. Tbh I really want to do this, I’d like to spend more time in Zone 3/4/5 and less in Zone 6/7.
I use Training peaks and in a race on Friday I did 28% of the race in Z6 and 18% in Z7. Now, perhaps I ‘stole’ a few extra seconds of stickiness here, but I’m still putting in a massive effort that’s hammering my CNS and knees. And then you get called a cheat…
I mean, if you did this on purpose, your power file would look like castle battlements.
Mine look like an ECG of Atrial fibrillation.
