Beginner issue - Cadence of 125 to do 80w?

Bugs and Support
1

Hi all

I’m new to here and to Zwift. I’m am doing the Zwift 101 plan to start off but resistance feels off at low wattage requirement. I have to do 120rpm just to keep at 100w.

Should it feel like that or if am I doing something wrong. Its on a Wahoo Kickr

Thanks in advance

Richard

2

Hey Richard and welcome!

  1. How are you pairing your trainer to Zwift?

  2. Does it behave like this when you are free riding or only when doing a workout?

  3. Is EEG mode turned on when you see this behavior?

3

Hi Bob

Thanks for taking time to respond.

I do have the erg on as it said I should for workout plans

Pairing to an iPad, via Bluetooth

It seems fine in normal riding mode.

Am I right to say that kind of cadence is wrong ?

Cheers

Richard

4

What gear are you in? Does changing gear help?

You shouldn’t have to be doing 120rpm to maintain the wattage asked by a workout, but are you in an extreme gear? It’s normally recommended to use the small chainring and a gear that gives you a pretty straight chainline, at least to start with.

5

Hi Steve

Thanks, I always end up in the hardest gear just trying to resolve the issue.
I have erg on so in theory as I understand it j shouldnt need to change gear.

Glad you ha e confirmed 120rpm is excessive, I thought I was just rubbish.

Cheers

Richard

6

Richard,

Did you get this figured out? You might be chasing the prescribed wattage here. If you are in ERG (electronic resistance mode) while your doing a workout the trainer will make you hold 100 watts or whatever the wattage is for that portion of the workout regardless of your cadence. Holding 100 watts at a cadence of 50 feels very different than that same 100 watts at a cadence of 120. In your settings make sure your trainer difficulty slider is set to at least half way if not 100%. If by chance it has been moved all the way to the left or zero that could impact your trainers ability to add resistance. Then if you can ride around zwift in free ride and feel the hills as you go up and down then your resistance is working on your trainer. Once confirmed try your workout again if you find yourself at 120 trying to hold 100 watts slowly back down your cadence. You will notice the watts come down a bit initially when you start to slow your cadence but within 1-3 seconds the trainer will respond and your watts will return to 100 based on your new cadence. It may be a case of getting used to how ERG feels. Hope you get it figured out!

7

After calibrating my trainer on Zwift I started the FTB Builder, day 1-Foundation. My cadence ranged from about 70 to 120 while my pedaling remained the same. Nothing I could do changed that. Anyone able to help on this? This has not happened on any group rides.

8

Your pedaling remained the same? Do you mean power?
Maybe you have ERG mode turned on.

9

My power remained the same but also my pedaling speed remained the same even though the screen showed different rpms.