Coffee Breaks could do with an overhaul

They can call it a “Donut Stop”, the longer you stop, the more donuts you eat, the more weight you have to burn off to get back to your listed weight :slight_smile:

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Boy, did you show them! :pinched_fingers: :pinched_fingers:

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I mean they can decide in code to only use the “donut stop” weight as a penalty and use the rider’s normal weight for downhill physics. But of course they can do different things to pay back the donut stop.

Edit: Basically the opposite of the anvil which gives a weight increase for downhills but does not add weight on uphills. The “Donut Stop” power-up gives a weight increase on flat and hills, and does not wear down on downhills, so you need to be on flat or a hill to start burning off your donut time powerup :slight_smile:

How are we going to tie it to donuts though!

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My thoughts are just prevent the coffee stop being used on big hills, that would solve most of the grumbling. They are also not needed in robopacer groups because you can teleport back.

I hadn’t thought of that. Obviously it will make people cranky - but it’s the risk they take if they want to use the coffee break (climb break) feature. :wink:

I have never used the coffee break feature. If I need to stop, I stop. If I’m riding with friends, they will slow down. If I’m in a group ride, then I just have to accept I’m dropped and so be it.

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They already do it with the feather power up, would just be adding weight not reducing it so should be easy enough.

But whatever slows people down a bit should work so they don’t get it for “free” - might make people only use it when they need to

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I was expecting these kind of non-constructive reply’s… reading through the rest of the topic tough you seem to be a bit of an isolated case. Not everyone necessarily agrees with what’s been said but at least there’s some constructive imput/alternative idea’s about what could be changed/optimised instead of the plain “just get over it” and “focus on yourself”.

If people didn’t care about what was happening arround them in Zwift they wouldn’t be paying a monthly fee for Zwift while there are other free alternatives that do most features just as good or better apart from lacking the most important thing of all: the userbase.

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I never used a coffee break, but in a group ride is your “solution” not really social…

Coffee Break is very useful in group rides if you fall behind.
The sweeper can then drag you back if you have a Coffee Break available.
It happens frequently in the grouprides I join.

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I really like this. You get a brief recovery, then you need to push just a bit harder for a short period of time. Analogous to a short stop during a group ride.

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I saw a rider on Stage 3 Makuri 40 today use a coffee stop 12 minutes into the ride, so time spent in the pens must count somehow.

a less convoluted suggestion would be to just “ghost” people on coffee break by making them undraftable and maybe a visual indicator to indicate that they are currently undraftable, much like those segment ghosts. possibly something a bit less flashy so it doesn’t steal too much attention from people who are still riding

though i’m told there are all kinds of weird quirks with how people on coffee break act that aren’t just limited to the OP’s experience, so maybe the mechanics themselves would just benefit from some altering.

i really don’t see the point of the suggestions where people want to punish people for using them in general though. all those suggestions do is hurt weaker riders in the group who genuinely need to use a coffee break to like, go to the bathroom or grab an actual coffee or something. they aren’t gonna inconvenience or dissuade anyone who is riding well within themselves anyway

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A ride is not a race if zwiftpower ranking points aren’t issued out after the ride.

Group rides, where coffee breaks are allowed, are not races… Even if you feel the need to beat other riders to the finish banner. :wink:

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sounds like a personal problem. what other people do in unpaced group rides is really their business, you are there to ride the pace you wanna ride, so do that. if you do want to race yourself, then zhq are hosting actual races on those exact same courses right now. i just did two of them, so i can confidently state that coffee breaks are in fact disabled in those races

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How about we don’t punish other riders just because you want to Race a Group Ride.
I expect you also cry about the Group Ride having a fence too.

Race in Races, clue is in the name.
You are making it sound like you’re not very good when everyone is racing mate.

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Personally I ride tdz rides the same as any other group rides I do, at a pace that I can finish the ride, if something happens that means I get separated from the group, I just carry on by myself to the end of the ride

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If you want to race in group rides, knock yourself out, but you have to accept that the rules of races don’t apply, so you have to play by the rules that do apply.

It’s that simple, right?

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So the OP has a problem with people using a Coffee break as a 3 minute power up and feels they are not using it in it’s intended spirit.
Of course this is happening as he is “racing” a group ride.
Is that keeping with the spirit of a group ride?
Not a race.
Not broken.

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I think the OP’s concern seems to be with people on coffee break up climbs causing problems due to issues with the mechanics, which is probably a fair concern to have. i remember once sitting up to do an interval off the back in a steady ride and accidentally causing like 5 people on coffee break to grind to an immediate halt. which was funny, but unintentional, and probably less funny for those guys

so i can believe the coffee break mechanics could do with a bit of tuning

seems like if the feature is to allow you to stay with a group if you have to stop for any reason why not have it so you activate it before you stop, you then come to a stop on the side of the road as you normally would, when you start pedaling again you teleport to the group you were with.

that way no pack dynamics are affected by someone being dragged along by a stronger rider or whatever and far more importantly* i don’t have to see people gliding along not pedaling (have no idea why but it annoys me - just keep them pedaling while on the coffee stop and i’d be happier!)

'* I am very much not serious about this point! but it does annoy me!

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