Boost Mode Testing (and feedback) May 12th-14th

Any FTP gain you see in a boost race is real. :ride_on: :fire: The watts we track and record in the game and to your .fit file are all your watts as if you were not in a boost mode event.

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Hi.

I did 4b this time.

Last time I tried it, I got no charge or boost at all for some unknown reason on my system.

This time (I again used 50 w boost) both charge and boost worked properly for me on the same system. I have no idea why it failed for the first test (2b test ride).

My FTP is super low, but even for me the 50 w level felt a bit too easy to charge and too limited in reward.

I feel very strongly that this should be meaningful for everyone, so if someone has at FTP of 100 or less, then Zwift should have a charge/boost they can use so they can have the same fun someone with a 500 FTP has riding with boost.

Would it be possible for it to be a sliding scale or as a % of someone’s FTP?

Could it be 25%, 50%, 90% of FTP or something rather than a fixed wattage?

That would let anyone of any FTP have the same fun.

Eh, wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t do much racing anyway but to me it seems unrealistic and a bit gimmicky, and found it to be just another distraction (when to charge, when to boost). Fine if others like it, but it’s not something I’d see myself using.

Road Richmond Cobbles this morning. Controls are my challenge. Mouse focus still on last charge and hit it when I wanted a boost - not good on hill! Also hit the spacebar first time I wanted to boost - just habit from powerups. Enjoyed it (even an FTP increase) for the tactical aspects. Do I have enough time to charge before the next hill? Will I use a powerup or a boost when caught? Did I choose the right type of boost? Would like to be able to change mid race, even if it cost a boost to do it. Good stuff - not for all races, but certainly for shorter ones. Nice.

I did the 6b race (last night for me) and chose the Efficient mode. I did the Balanced last week. Knowing that the Efficient should be a good bit less, I seemed to struggle a lot harder to maintain speed.

We came out of the gate and most of the Bs and all of the As where grouped up well. We went down the long windy stretch to the far end of the course, and then we make the 180 to start toward Libby Hill climb. As we crossed the marker for the KOM, I hit the boost… and like a brick wall went backwards. The pack left me as if I had been removed from the draft. I didn’t feel like I reduced power, I just lost speed real quick. I looked and didn’t see anyone else boosting at that point… so I assume this was something caused by the boost.

From that point on, I was a solo boost rider :slight_smile: So I would basically use the boost on hills, and recharge on flats and downhills. Once thing that I would notice from time to time, is as soon as the boost was over, it felt easier to pedal. This could be my trainer and the terrain and coincidence of when the boost ended, but it happened 3-4 times it seemed. I am using an up-to-date Neo 2T.

Outside of that, still enjoyed the boost. This time I used both my PC mouse and the Companion to activate boost and charge, and didn’t see any issues. Companion app is used on an iPad Air.