So you are using a stationary/spin bike to race AND do not want to use a HRM,… hmmmm.
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You do as you please. I doubt the HRM requirement is going anywhere, even though I don’t personally think it adds a lot of value. I use a cheap arm band HRM so I don’t get thrown out of races and that works fine. I just comply and enjoy the ride. Perhaps Zwift racing is not really your thing? You can still enjoy entering nearly every race without using one, and the big group ride tours like Tour de Zwift which are quite competitive.
My hrm doesn’t connect to zwift. I don’t care about fake racing nor really what my heart is doing, just want to ride with my friends. Does that seem weird? I consider zwift to be about as close to cycling as Nintendo bowling is to bowling. It’s, fun, it’s exercise but let’s not confuse it with the real thing. If you suspect something because my HR data is missing, then ignore me. As an old, slow rider it’s humorous to think anyone would accuse me of connecting my bike to a hemi.
Fair enough and I agree we should all be able to do as we please. I’m merely making a suggestion to improve the experience by handling missing HR data in result categorization rather than banning riders. I ordered a cheap HRM today too, but too late to join my friends (and it’s not about the racing, it just happens to be a race that they picked to do together).
The decision is ultimately up to the race organizer, not Zwift. They want to require the HRM and prevent people from entering without it. The organizer sets the rules and Zwift doesn’t get involved in that decision other than to turn on the feature when requested by a community event organizer. The races organized by Zwift HQ don’t do that. They typically require a power meter but not the HRM.
When you are looking at events in the Companion app, you will see a little heart icon on the right side of the event listing that means the HRM is enforced. For example the first two races in the picture below do not enforce a HRM, the third one does.
Thanks for helping to explain this better. I understand now that it’s the race organizers option to exclude or not. I don’t think that absolves Zwift since they are the creators of the framework and rules. They granted the power to the race organizer and they could grant powers that handle it better. I’ve made the decision to return the product and while not the sole reason, this experience is a contributing factor. I’m glad you are enjoying it and I hope you continue to do so. Ride on!
You don’t need a HRM to ride with friends.
Are you trying to more than just “ride with friends”?
Perhaps “race with strangers”?