LOL. I was hoping they might have worked something out themselves. Previously in relation to the summer classics they had also talked about using shorter-term power measures which would be sensible, but thinking back to some of the extraordinary decisions made in that series, perhaps time on course is the most likely explanation for them. Bizarre that anyone could think that was a relevant metric to use.
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Agreed. I would rather do away with categories all together. Think in terms of pens instead, that can be different from race to race.
The progression system (also used for matchmaking if that comes further down the line) is a rankings system.
I like the idea of entering a race, no idea of what pen you are in, and riders are sorted a minute or so before the banner drops.
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Without doubt . that must be how it is supported to work …
We are getting more information now on the calculation in place.
I cant remember the course categorisation thing being shared before .
I think this is too difficult and whatever the system is, it will allocate pen on sign-up. I don’t think that’s really a problem, the key is having a credible ranking system. With that in place, pretty much any approach will be good enough. It’s not like any other sport would claim to have the One True Ranking system in place, they all have their own quirks and limitations but none of them (IME) have zwift’s particular handicaps.
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I am not adverse to that being an option available for any event of course ( we share the vision I think that the more different types of events that can be supported the better) . However must admit that my preference is to know what pen to enter , who will be in that pen with me (Entry list ) , and most importantly that the parameters that put me in the pen are clear , shared and verifiable by me in full and at (and before ) the point of entry.
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I agree I need to know what pen and parameters pit me there before I enter or atleast what parameters will be used.
That is how I will determine what races I will enter.
Frankly I want a goal to work towards currently my goal is to be a A. If it is ranking then I want to move up.
There is a place for fun pickup races where they split all the racers in 4 equal groups so you never know if you are top or bottom.
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Being open and verifiable is an important point IMO. There’s plenty of data loss and errors on zp and without knowing the intended logic it would be impossible to challenge or trust the decisions.
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Certainly too difficult for Zwift in the foreseeable. Plenty of other games manage it it though. It’s not difficult ‘technically’.
Personally, I don’t need to know who is in the pen before the race. I would like to know the pen split criteria / rules. I also am not that fussed about matchmaking anymore as there are too many other things that need to be done first and considering how simple those things are in comparison yet have not been delivered, matchmaking seems like pie in the sky.
Looks like the series got pushed back a week. Starting Wednesday 1st December 2021
Really looking forward to some actual changes put into production. Just ran into this profile for a race I plan on doing later this morning. This person is signed up in C.
How can you go from C to almost A+!!! SMDH
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What a farce.
Seem possible.
If he only did group rides over the summer then he would be classified as a C. Now he did a race and are back to his original numbers.
But how it can show C almost A does not seem correct. Math is hard. 
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I guess because you need 3 results don’t you to be set a value.
Without looking he must have 2 results in scope that are way below making his average.
Zwift forced a downgrade 4 days ago; presumably beacuse he upgraded his trainer recently.
If only there was a cleaner way to apply a trainer upgrade so that old results get filetered out…
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I’m sure it’s a trainer thing but still shouldn’t you notice that your FTP is inflated by 33% 450 down to 300.
He’s still new at level 14 so we should congratulate him for taking steps to improve his accuracy.
HE IS DEFINITELY NOT THE PROBLEM.
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He could manuallly update his FTP.
Alternatively, if Zwift properly used the function I alluded to; the estimated FTP would be based on data from completed events with the new trainer.
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Ah the old myth of perpetual improvement.
Not everyone can improve and a lot of riders who get stuck at the bottom of a category they can’t even become competitive in demotivates as much as goals motivate you.
Case in point, i’m now a B based off recent good team time trials, but nowhere near able to compete at the top end of Cs races unless its a tiny field.
Means racing is a complete bust on zwift for me, i can probably still race TTT but otherwise i might as well just solo ride as thats what happens in B races to me anyway. (And even in some C races before UPG).
If your answer is “the rider just needs to get better because of some arbitary w/kg limit” then zwift is always going to have sandbaggers who manage their maths to stay lower levels than they can perform.
YMMV
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No. I know one can only improve so much, and I know If I am a A rider I will be at the bottom. But with any system some will be at the top and some at the bottom.
The reason why you cant compete in C even if you are a low B is because most of the top C’s are sandbagging. Once cats are enforced you will have all of them racing bottom B with you.
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While every race will have a winner and a loser, it’s certainly not the case that in any system some will be permanently at the top and others permanently at the bottom of restricted categories. On the contrary, a key aspect of a competently designed system is that this should not happen.
This is much of the problem of zwift racing in a nutshell.
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