Zwift newbie here. I’ve done a few of the beginner sessions and noticed that the resistance is really low, meaning my cadence to hit the watt targets is incredibly high. It also seems that for the cadence, the MPH is low (sometimes 10-12MPH). Just curious if this is a setting issue or if this is programmed as designed. Today, for example, at 110W the cadence was so high, I was having trouble keeping a smooth motion while pedaling. It was an all out sprint for me. Then there was a pop up message stating it should be one pedal rotation per second.
I should add, I have the Zwift Ride.
Any help/guidance you can provide would be appreciated!
Are you using ERG mode? If so you have to wait for the trainer to react to the power targets. If you spin faster trying to increase power before the trainer has reacted to the new power target, resistance will drop when you do that.
Yes, it’s in ERG mode. Ok, thanks. I figured it was user error. How long a delay is it? I usually start spinning faster as soon as the target changes.
I assume the same for when the power target drops? On the cool downs or rest periods, I have to stop spinning completely to get the trainer to catch up. Usually 5 seconds or so.
As an experiment, just pick a comfortable cadence - say 85rpm - and just try really hard to maintain that plus or minus 2rpm regardless of where you are in the workout.
That’ll give you a good sense for how the trainer in ERG mode varies the resistance to hit the power targets.
Once you have that feel, you can experiment at will to dial in your preferred cadence at different power levels. Once you’ve done that, you can start deliberately changing cadence for fun and/or training effect.
Also, when in ERG mode, if you see something on the screen that says more power or less power, just ignore it. Do not react until you feel the resistance change. They shouldn’t even show those messages when in ERG mode since they’re not actionable by the rider.
