Come test out Pack Dynamics 4.0 [October 24 2022]

What's New? Zwift Game
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Come and join me on Monday at 1200 UTC as I lead a group ride on the Wandering Flats route in Makuri. This ride will use our experimental improvement to Pack Dynamics. Please provide as much feedback as you can after the event - Hope to see you there!

The Goal:

  • This new version of PD has the goal of creating a more realistic racing experience (compared to IRL racing). The main changes introduced focus on reducing the forward and backwards movement of cyclists in the pack while also reducing the overall speed of larger groups.

  • We encourage racers to try a more ā€œaggressiveā€ approach and try breakaway opportunities to create more dynamic racing scenarios.

What you can expect:

  • Less speed in groups of cyclists where there isnā€™t a concerted effort to ā€œpullā€ the group by taking pulls at the front.
  • Double draft is activated by default therefore riding in a group should feel a bit easier than with the standard draft model.

Feedback:

  • Did you encountered any problems with this new change?
  • How was the racing experience? Did it feel like there were more chances for small breakaways to succeed?
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Super excited to see how this goes, 5am Monday (Iā€™m in PST) is a bit too early for me so I wonā€™t be able to join :slight_smile:

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Interesting! Are you able to share any details on the changes versus the current version - I believe itā€™s 3.0 still?

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This would be 6am MDT? in the USA, correct? I might be able to make that.

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Thatā€™s 8am for me, and I have to get my son off to school at 8:20ā€¦ @James_Zwift will you be doing any other tests?

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I thought I had in the post above? Itā€™s about how your move around in a pack and also what determines the movement speed of the pack and the ability to form a breakaway.

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Yep, this isnā€™t a one off.

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Yup, 6am MDT

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Looks awesome. Best zwift news Iā€™ve seen in ages! Could be a game changer forcing a pack to have to make a choice rather than sit in and know youā€™ll probably catch.

This is really the root cause part which can improve a lot of racing issues further downstream. Canā€™t wait to try it.

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Alright keep yer hair on. :wink:

I just meant on a technical basis versus what we have now, not to worry.

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Hi James, can you please explain how double draft works (in simple terms).

If the group is going to be riding slower due to the new PD, why is DD needed?

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This is the best news. Finally the pack will have to actively work to catch a break rather than just real th in with no significant effort. Sounds very promising. Thank you.

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In simple terms, you get double the draft :wink:

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poorly and i hope to god race organisers leave it turned off

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8 chars :rofl:

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Poorly on the old dynamics :crazy_face:

Normal draft is less significant than IRL. DD is a problem on Zwift currently because it leads to faster pack churn and ridiculous speeds, but if that is resolved, it makes sense to increase draft. Do you sit in and chill or push the pace? Now thereā€™s a choice to make (if it works - and I have high hopes as this likely comes from JM)

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It wasnā€™t JM, but he was consulted.

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Iā€™m in :+1:

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Could someone stream it / record it please? Iā€™m away but keen to see it.

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I am going to try my best to join :crossed_fingers:
[read: time my lunch break correctly and do my best to ā€˜rearrangeā€™ any meetings that drop in the diary at that time].

Sounds interesting. If I do make it, Iā€™ll record and share the link here.

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