still trying to figure zwift out, I am using a mountain bike with a 30t front sprocket.
Does this affect power and cadence in game for all the standard training and race events (non mountain bike specific) ?
I am using a wahoo kickr v5.
Yes, you may find that you have trouble on the flats producing enough power at a comfortable cadence during free ride events and races.
Workouts and training plans will use ERG mode, so you should be fine there.
Consider getting a larger chain ring or cheap used road bike for the trainer.
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Mike,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, that is exactly what I am experiencing. On the flats I have to crank a high cadence to stay in pack while barely matching the power required.
Thanks for the tip on erg mode. I only have 3 workouts so far.
Hey Billy, I’m doing the same thing. I had an old full suspension mtb. I am trying to get in better shape so I started the 6 wk beginner ftp builder. When they want higher power at lower cadence it’s impossible. Im looking at a used road bike to swap out so I can get more power. Have you done a ftp test yet?
Justin,
I looked into a bigger chainring for my mountain bike, but would have to remove the whole crank.
As I am primarily a mountain biker (never ride on road) and like the current gearing, I will be picking up a giant road bike locally.
I should have the new bike on the trainer tomorrow night for the ftp test.
My other headache is my Heart rate being picked up by Zwift (I do start and connect the companion app). It worked once out of my 3 rides, so decided to purchase a wahoo chest strap.
Also, I find navigation in the Zwift app frustrating to say the least
Yeah I’ve had the same experience with the HR. I believe so strongly in zone training and using HR monitoring as a metric for how I’m doing that I stop the ride to fix it before I’ll keep going. I bought the tickr and I have to say that my polar was way better. I don’t think my polar will work with Zwift.
I am a geek at heart and most of my life is consumed by work and kids etc so I spend a lot of time reading about bikes and zwift. I’m 45 and at this point I’m my life, if I spend money on myself it’s completely worth it even if it’s over the top. For me, I went to the whatsonzwift site and found workouts that I wanted to try and I found it helpful so that when I got on the bike I wasn’t wasting time that I wanted to be exercising on fiddling with the app. I have a low W/kg of 1.8 based on my ftp test. If you want to ride sometime I’d be game. I’m in EST time and ride mostly in the evenings.
I plan on doing the ftp lite test tonight on the mountain bike as is. I will retest again next week once I have the road bike setup to see if there is a noticeable difference.
Thanks for the tip on whatsonzwift !
I mostly ride @night as well. I followed you on zwift.
The bike should not make a difference in workouts and the FTP test. You will just use a different gear.
Yes, unfortunately this is to be expected. Imagine riding a road bike with a 30t chainring on a flat road, you are going to spin out very quickly. I wonder whether Zwift could engineer a ‘brake’ mode to add extra resistance to overcome this? I’m not sure if the FE-C protocol allows for such a thing.
One thing you could do is just buy the heaviest bike there is in the drop shop (the Buffalo Bike) and ride that, Zwift will simulate higher resistance for you which might help you with getting on top of the gear. A lot of people do this when riding with friends who aren’t as fast, or if they are ‘in between’ different pace partners. Ultimately though, a better bet is to get a cheap used road bike (you can probably get one from the recycling shop at the your local recycling centre) and just use it as a trainer bike.
I don’t think that is accurate. The virtual bike you choose doesn’t increase or decrease the resistance that your trainer applies, it just slows or speeds up your avatar in game.
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Well yes, but these are two sides of the same coin. If I go on the Buffalo bike and try to hang with B. Brevet you can bet it’s going to be a lot higher resistance (and therefore power) than if I was on the Tron.
No, it won’t be a higher resistance, or more brake applied to the trainer, on a slower bike. You are correct that it would require more power, but that is not the same as resistance. If you are spinning out on the tron bike, switching to a MTB or other slower option will not prevent you from continuing to spin out.
I picked up a giant contend road bike and am content now 
see what i did there.
Thanks for all your replies and input
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I got a road bike and repeated my FTP and it went up significantly. I had also been riding, but I can’t imagine I made that much progress. The hearing makes a big difference