Might be of interest:
Special rules
Weight Video Required (view guide )
Dual Recording Required
Heart Rate Data Required
Compliant Smart Trainer/Smart Bike Required
1 Like
12$ per race will put off a lot of riders I guess.
It probably will never come from Zwift’s side.
However, I do think AI is capable of identifying those whose numbers don’t add up better than race organizers or other humans. Zwift’s “pro level” flag system is a pure failure. They had to turn it off for elite racing because several riders with real super power got flagged during the event.
1 Like
“You missed your calling as a pro”
They’re like “no, I am a pro. That’s why I’m here”
1 Like
It is not too different to paying to enter your local club racing in real life, except no corners and no crashes.
I don’t give Zwift a pass.
Just because e racing can’t be perfect is no reason to do nothing.
Add in the unintended consequences of several decisions and the unwillingness to undo a bad decision is very frustrating.
IRL racing on the amateur level or community races are just as bad.
The number of people on testosterone replacement, claiming low T as a legitimate “medical condition” is ridiculous.
3 Likes
ZPower should have their own leaderboards, just like the Climb Portal leaderboards are by difficulty percentage. The 100% difficulty leaderboards are only showing riders that rode the Climb Portal at 100% difficulty. The same should be done for ZPower only showing up on a separate ZPower leaderboard.
I don’t race, but I realize that many races are not well attended, and segregating out ZPower riders to their own races would result in even fewer riders, but that is probably one way of helping to cull out the questionable performance of some riders.
2 Likes
Its would be nice if Zwift used the already available data transmitted from most cycle equipment to create a column for what riders are actually using to get the raw Wattage power in their results. Then we could at least make mental allowances as for starters power pedals are at least 15 to 20% higher output compared to my 1% accuracy WattBike Atom X. But lets be honest here, I have a background in electronics and can double the power output from my bike if I wanted to and join you in A Cat racing.
WattBike , are joke Full Stop.
1 Like
Not sure I understand this statement. Are you implying pedal power meters read 15-20% higher than an WattBike in general?
My Favera Assiomo pedals track almost identically with my Kickr v6.
Wattbikes are not entirely without accuracy issues, either.
Making a blanket claim that power pedals are up to 20% less accurate (overestimating power) than a 1% accuracy device is pretty ridiculous.
Favera claim the Assioma deviates less than 1% from the ‘true’ power, and you can’t just claim this in advertising if you’re in fact 20% off.
1 Like
Only if they are mis-calibrated or not installed (e.g. torqued) correctly, either accidentally or deliberately. Or one-sided pedals with L/R imbalance in the user.
If you go off reviews from the usual suspects most PMs are pretty accurate to the stated tolerance. But you do get issues with the odd individual PM. I’m going to dual record soon for my own peace of mind.
One thing its worth bearing in mind in this whole cat A discussionis that indoor cycling opens up to many more people and allows them to ride more, and get fitter.
Irl cycling (esp racing) is not very popular. There will be lots of people who get pretty fit using zwift etc, so the former top amateur racer irl will find themselves surrounded by other moderately talented people who would never have been next to them on the line irl.
The pond is bigger, and theres more food for the fish!
Problem with Wattbikes are they cannot be recalibrated by the end user - It literally has to be picked up & shipped back to Nottingham and the wattbike factory for this to happen. They lose calibration is so easily.
Source - I have one sat in the corner collecting dust. They are built like tanks, but accuracy is nowhere near their list of good points. Theres a reason they are not included in any of the approved trainer lists on Zwift & MyWhoosh for their Elite users.
3 Likes
Carl, if that is what you believe, then I don’t see you as part of the solution.
Dual recording can help guide people to an accurate system but I see people put on accurate pedals and find it difficult to accept their trainers are inaccurate.
1 Like
“Never go to sea with two chronometers, take one or three”
4 Likes
Even with three you can not be sure. If two read the same and one differs thats all you know.
Two read the same, but who tells you that those numbers are correct ?
When even heat and cold play a part in the reading its hard to call something correct or not.
So rather than know what people are using as their power source you would rather stay with the current totally unknown situation that you have a problem with, ok got it. Zwift is never going to create a column anyway they don’t really care it’s just about maximising the number of paying users. People with a little electronics knowledge can game the system regardless but every step taken to reduce significant cheating is a bonus to everyone. A Cat racing is always going to be the worst I mean who cares about the results down in D Cat where I am after all.
I would love to put some decent pedals on my WattBike for a direct comparison but at $2000 its not going to happen. After the issue came up on the WattBike forum I did some thinking, correct me if I’m wrong but pedals will need the user to manually enter the crank length right ? So basically until you also have a set of smart cranks that tell the pedals what’s on the bike you have a massive problem. People can deliberatly set the wrong crank length and there is your massive power gain.
Favero Assioma Duo Shi:
AUD$949, not that expensive. I use those - they read a bit lower than my kickr bike and have some power drop-outs occasionally which slows me down a bit sometimes but that’s fine - better for the power devices to under-estimate, then you are quick when riding a real bike outside.