It’s a digital game. The only person you’re really competing with is yourself. If some riders game the system they gain nothing.
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Oh I know about that, I report those people all the time. I hate it but ultimately there is little you or I can do except for reporting it.
I use Zwift to get better - what other people do is their business. If they set their weight artificially low they are cheating themselves. Sure, they ride ADZ at 5.5w average and did 30 minutes; but deep down they know it is just pretend.
Maybe trainers one day will have digital scales built in and send that data to Zwift or Fulgaz. But it still won’t be accurate, people will find ways around it.
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What you said, 
In my opinion, yes there is extensive cheating on Zwift, maybe they are lying about weight and/or using E-bikes, I race cat 1 criteriums and mountain bike cross country, and world class riders are 5% better than me, but I don’t get dropped on short climbs by 10+ riders, which happens all the time on Zwift where riders are doing 10+ W/kg and this is not even close to realistic.
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200% they do. It makes me laugh tbh. I’ve just been in a d cat race. One guy was pulling 10w/kh at an output of 160w, so his body mass is less than my border collie 
. If people want to do it, they’re just kidding themselves. I’m
Kind of resigned to it now. Lots of people seem to drop out of races after 16 mins or so bcs they’re left way behind very quickly by these jokers.
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And a recent 49min ADZ at ~250w average power (according to the Strava segment) by someone who on Zwift Power normally between 87-90kg.
To do that time with 250w you need to be about 60kg. How does one suddenly drop nearly 30kg? No heart rate either… one of the screenshots shows approx 62kg (by doing maths).
His most recent group ride shows about 89kg (223w at 2.5w/kg)…
And that wasn’t just some random rider, it was a club leader.
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They lost their arms in a freak lawnmower accident? (They had big arms!)
If Zwift can’t fix a bluetooth bug they introduced to Win 11 in patch 1.73 for Sterzo steering, what makes you think they will rectify cheating.
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By someone who doesn’t like Zwift’s lack of a family membership option and shares their account with a lighter, stronger rider?
Don’t think so, not when they were gladly taking the accolades of the effort on Strava.
No idea what the guy was thinking.
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I’d say as long as they are reaping the cardio rewards of riding up ADZ then they aren’t technically cheating themselves but actually getting fitter, irrespective of what weight they decide to ride up it. I’m sure they realise that IRL or by using their actual weight they wouldn’t acheive those same times.
As long as they aren’t weight doping in races then who really cares what they decide to do.
Fast is fun remember. If it’s okay for normal riding then the racing crowd should also have the same fun. So go for it, weight doping in races. Why not? Fast is fun.
It’s pretty insane that we have folks actually advocating FOR weight doping, providing it doesn’t pollute their precious racing. Quite the double standard.
If they are on Strava all other Strava users care - segments times…
TBH I didn’t realise Zwift times counted on Strava.
I haven’t seen anyone on here advocating weight doping, only indicating that they don’t really care what others do on free rides. It’s not my concern if someone decides they want to weigh the same as a pidgeon to fly up the ADZ. My only concern is what time I do it in.
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Aren’t a lot of Strava segments for Zwift a mess from the old small group rubberband bug, allowing them to ride at ~28mph?
Before w/kg based CE came around, it was actually the recommended practice to change your game weight if you wanted to participate in a group ride that was going to be at a pace higher (or even lower) than you wanted.
Now that any activity can be used to determine an enforced cat, this is problematic if you want to race.
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Looking at the deserted A pens I bet a lot of big bois now wish more people weight doped.
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Why Weight Doping is Bad in Zwift?
It’s simple. It fosters Cheating Culture --encourages others to cheat, eroding the spirit of fair play. People who cheat on rides, they cheat all the time -it’s in their nature!
The Tale of the Scorpion and the Frog
A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog is hesitant, fearing that the scorpion might sting him. The scorpion argues that stinging the frog would be foolish, as they would both drown. Convinced, the frog agrees and begins to swim across the river with the scorpion on its back. Midway through the journey, the scorpion stings the frog. As they both start to sink, the frog asks, “Why did you sting me? Now we will both die.” The scorpion simply replies, “I couldn’t help it. It’s in my nature.”
Future Upgrade Idea: By when Wahoo releases the Kickr v15, I hope it will include a built-in scale to measure the rider’s weight and automatically sync it with Zwift. Additionally, with AI-powered imagery analysis, the trainer could verify the rider’s true height in real time, providing even more accurate data for Zwift profiles!
It’s interesting to observe how cheaters become defensive whenever this topic is brought up. LOL
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