Beaten in TTs by guys with lower w/kg

General Discussion
1

Why am I being beaten on TTs by people with lower w/kg?

I’m using a TT bike and in my last race I was beaten by a guy with a lower w/kg of 0.5.

2

On the flat ? If so because they are strong heavy riders putting out more raw watts than you.

2 Likes
3

If you are light weight, you better find some uphill TT event, otherwise the heavy folk with bigger watts overall will beat you. That’s how it is.

Unless… We can propose some Pace Dynamics changes to adjust that. :wink:

1 Like
4

Could be several things.

  1. Pacing - perfectly even power is a good strategy on a perfectly flat course. Going above your avg power uphill even if you’re slightly lower everywhere else will give you a better time than even power with same average.

  2. What everyone else said about weight - on a flat course, a heavier rider will need lower w/kg (but higher watts) than a smaller rider for the same speed.

  3. There is a difference between TT bikes and wheels in performance - if you’re using the default Zwift carbon wheels and they’re using the DT Swiss discs, that’s 60 seconds over 2 laps of Tempus Fugit at 300 watts steady with an isolated 75kg rider 183cm tall (ref ZwiftInsider tests)

5

Yeah, a flat TT is the most understandable case of a larger rider winning, all else being equal.

6

Height also matters. If you’re relatively tall, you’ll be significantly slower. It’s unlikely to be as much as a 0.5W/kg effect but may be a contributing factor.