Wondering if anyone can help. My FTP usually sits around the 235 mark (+-10) or around 2.5-2.7 watts/kg. Sitting currently in C Cat.
I’ve only recently joined Zwift and I’m a complete amateur on a road bike. I use the Wahoo Kickr v6.
Since joining Zwift I have really struggled on the hill climbs. As example I struggle to even maintain around 190watts (2.1) for 10-20 mins. When I did the Alpe Du Zwift I battled for almost 2 hours at an average 165watts (1.8).
Also, when I climb, I can’t seem to stand to climb at all and the pedals almost “slip” making a clunking noise on each turn. So I am literally confined to the saddle the whole way.
So my question is: am I doing anything wrong, or am I just shite at climbing?!
What is your Trainer Difficulty set to on Zwift, and what sort of gearing does your bike have? You might be facing higher resistance than you’re comfortable with (we’re all different) and could do with lower gearing (lowering the TD might help).
I think what Neil mean’s is your cadence is too high when standing. I have the same bike and 50% TD and only get that over pedal clunk from a higher cadence standing up when trying to match the resistance.
Thanks Jason. It’s really strange as I am getting it in every gear as soon as I stand. I have worked all the way up and down the gears and still does the same. It feels like it won’t hold my weight and I have to sort of hold back my pedalling, even at the highest gear, to try and avoid it - which really takes some energy to maintain.
What do they do if you replicate the same thing outside?
When was the bike last serviced - how long have the pedals been on there, how are the bearings on the pedals?
50% trainer difficulty is a reasonable starting point - but what gearing do you have on your bike, the typical old fashioned 53-39 that a lot of bikes used to come with isn’t very good the HC climbs so you need to make use of the trainer difficulty in Zwift or find more suitable chainrings/cassette combination.
I’m such a noob that I have never biked it outside and also I don’t know about the chain ring numbers you mention except to say that it is a brand new 2024 edition model, so assume it is a more modern setup?
When adjusting the difficulty do you think jt would help by increasing or decreasing % difficulty?
It should be. The numbers refer to the number of teeth on the inner and outer chainrings.
39 was the old standard for small chainrings and 53 was the old standard for the big chainring (the outer one). Nowadays it’s far less common and you also find much bigger cassettes installed as well (good for hills). We also have 12 speed drivetrains now allowing a lot more flexibility while in the old times when I started it was 10, then 11 speed just arrived.
Trainer difficulty at 100% means full accuracy to your real bike gearing. Which can be hard work if the gearing is unsuitable. Reducing it gives you a bit easier time. Bring the difficulty down if you find yourself running out of gears, ie, you shifted to the lowest gear you have and still grinding away at too low a cadence.
Sounds like a virtually new bike so everything mechanical should be tip top condition, but I’ve seen some shoddy work by some bike shops…
2024 Domane AL 2 is 50/34 chainring with 11-32 cassette.
When you are climbing, what is your cadence?
Are you spinning out?
It could be that the KICKR is not set to controllable, and is not providing resistance while on the climb.
Average cadence was about 75. When I dropped the gears and tried to up the cadence it felt like I couldn’t generate much power and the wattage would drop. So when I tried upping the gears it just meant I couldn’t maintain the cadence, so again couldn’t maintain a wattage output that I would normally on flats.
It does seem to be providing the resistance on the hills as it does get harder and easier depending on the % gradient.
More general question from me: is it common that a noob like me can generate a reasonable wattage on flats and just can’t replicate the output on hills? My (simplistic) view would have been that as long as I found the right gear ratio and cadence that I should be able to maintain the same FTP wattage (roughly).
What you want to do is go outside and find some moderate hills and see how you go there on those. You won’t have power information but this will give you a comparison.
Riding hills needs strength in your legs and focuses on the watts/kg.
I couldn’t miss this opportunity to help you a little bit with your climbing issue. I would like to give you some tips after checking all the information that our community has shared:
Take into consideration riding a lighter bike, don’t let your bike and wheels weigh you down! Like in real life, you can move lighter equipment uphill a little faster and easier, you can take a look at our Garage Guide: Choosing the Best Frame and Wheelset for Your Event.
Try to spin on a comfortable cadence, take into consideration that 75rpm is a great cadence to prevent smashing on the pedals as you climb. Mashing puts more stress on the knees and uses more of your fast twitch muscles, which fatigue quickly and use more glycogen than slow twitch muscles.
Regarding the trainer difficulty, as you said, by default it will be 50% in the game, you can increase the % or decrease it, take into consideration that Lowering your Trainer Difficulty decreases resistance changes on hills. You still have to put in the same amount of power to get up (and down) the hill, but you will “feel” the hill less. But 50% is accurate.
Last but not least, It will be great if you perform a spindown calibration of the trainer in the manufactured App.
Don’t give up on climbing! The more you train in a particular position the better you’ll perform there, and position is a master of the domain of the climbings!