I used the Tacx training app and elevation profile as well as how far left to the top of the climb is all available. I came to Zwift today and it was all missing. Like riding blind not knowing what is ahead. Very disappointing.
1 Like
As a newcomer I find Zwift awful. Terrible to navigate and terrible at responding to questions. Wont be subscribing at end of month trial
Iâm also new to Zwift and Iâve never gotten how the profile is supposed to work. Something like
âItâs important to know if you are moving left or right on the profile but there is really no way of knowing besides looking at the icon, which is too small to see on anything smaller than a 4K TV. Once youâve determined your direction, you still donât know that much since your route might turn you away from that big mountain-looking ascent-graph ahead of you. Or it will show flat which just means that itâs business as usual on that segment, whether itâs a half an hour of 0%, -12% or +12%â.
Or have I missed something?
4 Likes
Yet one more new user that finds the elevation profile nearly useless. I ride literally 3 feet from a 55" TV with the companion app next to me on a stand and I have no idea where I am from a KOM marker or what to expect on a hilly ride. Sometimes the itty-bitty âYou are hereâ marker moves to an edge and then re-starts at the opposite side.
I agree that having an app 3-way âswitchâ for the bottom tape would be great. (Just like the different Camera views.) View 1-Power. View 2-Elevation profile. View 3-Split screenâŠ1/2 Power 1/2 Elevation.
âJeff
5 Likes
If u have a phone why not download the companion app and put it next to you?? 
n00blet Zwift rider here too, I have my laptop directly in front of me and have a hard time quickly discerning where Iâm at on that profile as well; it needs more clarity. Phone on handlebars with Companion open is an option, but Iâd rather just have it presented more effectively on my main display.
Agree with the comments about the tiny elevation profile.
There is so much screen real estate, would be better with an almost full-width across the bottom of the screen.
2 Likes
The thing that I donât get is that elevation and gradient isnât anywhere in the companion app.
this could solve the problem.
1 Like
Veleton has exactly what we need. They have a very clear course profile from start to finish. Each climb is clearly labeled and assigned a category. You are always moving left to right on that profile and you have a marker for your location on the profileâŠ
When you are climbing you are then given a detailed, color coded, enlarged, profile of that climb. Something like yellow is mild, orange is middle steep, red is steep, black is stupid steep⊠you get the idea.
Something like this is what we need.
2 Likes
So new user here and also feel this is really lacking. after your ride you can see the elevation profile, why not during the ride. Hey Zwift - this seems like something you should consider - maybe you guys can respond why this is so hard to do? I use a laptop and would love to see the elevation profile.
1 Like
New rider and totally agree. Instead of the micro profile of all elevation changes, esp. on the flatter courses, the better tool would be an expanded elevation profile that lets you know whatâs going on with the road and moves with you. Also useful would be the ability to toggle between the local elevation and the full course profile. Iâm looking at a large screen suspended a few feet in front of me and the elevation profile is worthless. Maybe on the mountain stages it makes more sense.
2 Likes
And here we are a year later, Mar 2021
1 Like
This point should not be difficult to solve (or upgrade).
Many other platforms have a better and more clear view of the profile of the route.
Thanks !
2 Likes
Please implement climbing profil similar to Tacx-App. At the lower part of the screen should be one large profil fpor the remaining climbs (which you can be skipped or changed with the current power-/ heart-rate-profile). At the moment it is horrible to get information about the remaining metres of altitude and the distance to the top. Lot of my friends changed to Tacx due to that missing information!
By the way, the current Watt-/Heart-Rate-Graph is also not good/ an axis labeling is missing. So the heart is just a more or less straight line which is useless.
1 Like
If anyone that works at Zwift is reading this, please can you add hill profiles that are clearly visible, and are also indicated as I shop for a ride. They exist, but tiny and without detail in training, but they should be more important. Perhaps youâd consider hiring more user experience designers.
Thank you @Ulli, I might have to switch to the Tacx-App as well!
1 Like
Please would you google âelevation profileâ?
I canât attach a link here.
Harsh.
It doesnât jump off the screen thanks to Zwiftâs choice of âsophisticatedâ dark grey on black, but what Nigel highlighted is the at-a-glance elevation profile that I find useful when shopping for rides in Zwift itself.
Variations are available in Zwifthacks or on Zwift Insider (see below), and you can go into more detail there, but theyâre all based on the same code. The same thing in Zwift Insider:
Combined with the overall information of lead-in distance, overall length, and total elevation, does this not provide enough information, succinctly, to inform a decision on whether itâs a route youâd want to ride or not?
1 Like
Interesting that there is actually a route profile when selecting routes, but honestly I never noticed it before because my 50+ year old eyes could not see the dark gray on the black. A color change or a dedicated profile area would help there a lot. Similarly for a long time I did not notice that in game there is a profile at the bottom of the mini map, but it is way too small to be useful. Large hills appear to be ant hills and the tiny icons are not readable. And I did not even know that it is possible that you are moving backward on the map. Why would they do that?
I have noticed that the companion app has an option to add a power zone graph at the bottom of the screen. I would suggest that a new companion app icon could be added to bring up the ride profile across the entire bottom of the screen with a large vertical bar to show where you are. Maybe we can even have a setting for how much to zoom in on the course. So maybe we are seeing either the entire course profile or the last few miles and next few miles. Shading areas already covered would eliminate the need to use tiny icons.
Before using Zwift I had been using different versions of Tacxâs virtual reality cycling for years and they always had a large in-game elevation profile. There are so many things that I like about Zwift but this is one area that needs to be improved. So Iâm really hoping that Zwift can improve this functionality.
2 Likes
I totally agree. I had never noticed the elevation map at all. Grey over black looked like a background as my eyes focused on the text presented on top. Good to see it now, though it is barely visible. A different thread has been discussing the same contrast visibility issue on the stat chart that tracks KOM/sprint/route personal bestsâdistracting background color choices renders lines of text illegible