One of the biggest bug bears my TTT has is lack of a draft indicator. In real life you can feel the wind on your face so instictively know when you are in the right location to maximise the draft effect but in Zwift obviously you cant do this so we need something. It says “Close the Gap” but that doesnt tell me if I am actually out of the draft or just slipping back a bit. Also the difference between “Close the gap” and then overshooting the rider in front in miniscule but at least a indicator would help.
Maybe a bar that changes colour or a dial or something that lets us know. Now this is to tell me that i am maximised behind the rider directly in front of me. If he/she drops a wheel I am still maximised on my position but his indicator would tell him he is not. This would be a HUGE benefit to getting teams riding in a line.
Please please!
This would be great indeed. You feel a bit on the bike when you have a better draft, but an indicator could help. IRL you feel the wind, but in Zwift it’s not the case.
Hope this could be sorted indeed!
“Close the gap” does not even show up until there really is nobody near you anywhere in the lane, so the only reliable(ish) draft indicator is the avatar sitting up when in the draft.
Meanwhile, this is what the competition can provide, with current power savings from draft (22 W), distance (3.1 m) to the rider you’re drafting (plus name+flag), and lowest power needed to maintain position (100 W) and overtake (240 W):
Interesting. I wonder how that would work with the pack sizes on Zwift. Seems like the rider(s) you’re drafting would be changing too quickly to absorb any useful information.
The name of the specific rider is not all that interesting in most situations anyway. Sure, it changes a lot even in smaller groups (maybe less so now with steering), but you just tend to not pay attention to it. It’s more for chasing/catching up type situations.
they should allow the draft cone that they showed on the uci worlds as this will show you where the best part of the draft is for a TTT image taken from reddit
If you are on windows/mac/linux, check out Sauce for Zwift. Many great addictions to UI, including draft percentage.
I run Zwift hudless with Sauce overlay.
Yep, ive seen that but you have to subscribe to it and i am already subscribing to zwift and feel this is a great feature that peoplpe could benefit from especially in TTT.
Watching Draft % in different race situations in Sauce for Zwift is interesting indeed.
What would be good enough in most cases would be a simple indicator of draft = no / low / mid / high that Zwift would add directly to the screen. That should cover most cases and give folks without Windows PC the necessary data.
Same thing to show the blobs/groups that Sauce does. That would push the gamification to next level. But hopefully with the new SW code changes advertised in the 1.34 version, we will not have to wait too long .
The variability of drafting necessitates an intuitive display that avoids overwhelming the user. A dynamic bar that constantly resizes could lead to distraction rather than assistance. Instead, consider a static field displaying the power savings number, which could transition smoothly from red to green. This color transition would not indicate the absence or presence of drafting but the efficiency of the draft.
Regardless of speed, the color indicator’s consistency is crucial. A green hue should universally signal optimal drafting, providing a clear visual cue that doesn’t require interpretation based on speed. The actual benefit of drafting, quantified by the power savings number, will naturally vary with speed—a lower number at reduced speeds and higher when velocity increases. This approach ensures that the rider is always informed about the draft’s effectiveness without unnecessary complexity. The simplicity of this system allows for quick comprehension and adaptation, enhancing the riding experience. (Yes, I used ChatGPT for rewriting)
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