Do you NEED a power meter for Zwift racing?

Racing
1

Evening all,

I’ve been using Zwift for a number of years but have only recently started looking at trying racing out, so am a complete newb in that regard. As such, I’ve been boning up on the basics from YouTube but have been left confused about the hardware requirements.

I have an Elite Direto smart trainer but don’t have a PM on the trainer bike. A video I’ve just watched says that you can ‘get away’ with just using a trainer but a lot of the races ban zPower (which I assume is a calculated power reading from the trainer), and they insist on a PM to provide accurate readings.

Is this correct?

I don’t even have a PM on my road bike, so there’s even less chance of me spending £400+ on putting one on the trainer bike just to race. I would have thought most casual racers would feel the same, but perhaps I’m getting completely the wrong end of the stick (very likely!)

In any case, any advice you guys might have would be appreciated.

Cheers

Peter

2

Elite Direto has a built in power meter, I have an old v1, are you sure you have named the correct model?

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3

Most people don’t use two sources of power data in races. At elite level or in some A category events it’s expected, but even in the A group there are many who don’t have one or don’t dual record.

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4

Yeh, mine’s also a fairly old Elite Direto and I assumed it would have an PM built in too, but I was just thrown by this video saying ‘you can get away with a smart trainer but you might need a PM too’. Hence my confusion.

5

Ok, that’s reassuring then. Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick but he was on a fairly new Tacx Neo with motion plates and mentioned needing a PM in addition to a smart trainer.

6

“zPower” is usually a speed sensor, but it also includes a few rubbish trainers. Direto is fine.

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7

No. It is bulls.
You don’t need anything like that. Your trainer is more than fine.
You are welcome to race.

What that video might be referring to is a very small number of races in the top category, and IF you podium. If you are that strong you will be told anyway.

I smell a humble brag of: I am so strong that I need a pm to verify. You may get away without one but I cannot meen. 110%

2 Likes
8

Various races and series require dual recording and Various teams will require some verification of power beyond a single source. So it depends how serious you want to be.

It’s quite easy to get a smart trainer to over-read so the consistency between the two is seen as a strong anti cheating measure.

9

Please register with Zwiftpower.com if you want to start racing. Have fun

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10

There are three options.

  1. Dumb trainer (this is what uses ‘Zpower’)
  2. Smart trainer - inbuilt power meter (yours)
  3. Separate power meter

You are not the people he is referring to in the video.
You have accurate power from your trainer.

Sometimes people at the top level combine 2 and 3 for transparency, but only those towards the top of A category.

Enjoy your racing!

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