Accurate distance on Zwift or not
Is the distance reported by Zwift (and also reported back to Strava) somewhat accurate. I know speed is not but I care more to keep track of the distance I’ve completed during a year.
If not accurate, what can I do to make it accurate e.g buy a bicycle GPS and speed sensor?,
the reason why I prefer distance is to keep an overall view on how many km’s I did in a year. I’m keeping that already for years and it provides me some level of trust I’m better or worse prepared then the year before. Of course I know this is not to be used for monitoring my physical strength.
There are actually 2 aspects to this question.
What every one seems to focus on is the speed * time = distance answer, which in Zwift is only as good as the estimate of speed. That has quite a few variables and should be taken as an estimate.
The question not asked is: How does the stated mileage for a Zwift route compare to real world miles? The route distances are fixed is the game, so when any player rides a given badged route, say Volcano Loop, they are all riding the same distance (time and speed are variables). I assume all the routes are overlays on a 3D wireframe grid that is constructed to a fixed scale. If that is the case, it should be a straight forward calculation to translate a route into an accurate distance.
Zwift assumes everything is absolutely perfect and you never have to slow down for any corners.
IRL a hairpin downhill you have to slow right down, while Zwift lets you blast through at 90-100km/h. With that point, it cannot be accurate.
On my Kickr Bike I can pair the Garmin with it to track speed and distance from it and have Zwift on screen and the two never match up, Zwift always much more optimistic and the flatter the route, the more optimistic it is.
Time is also questionable. The ride timer seems a bit slow as compared to watch time, or even in-game workout time (which seems to match my watch time).
