I have been using Zwift since its Beta days - never had a resistance problem.
We have updated the Kickr firmware already in the past week.
When doing the FTP test - everything is going great until the first bit where it asks you to increase the resistance - the pedaling becomes impossibly stiff - can barely move the pedals in the lowest bike gear when standing up!
This is really unusual - anyone have any ideas??
If your RPMs are too low going into a tough interval, ERG mode is going to increase the resistance to hit the wattage target, which can make it feel very stiff, so try to keep your RPMs above 90.
It also sounds like you’re shifting gears, which you’ll want to avoid. Take a look at our guide to using ERG mode, and you should be able to avoid these issues.
Thanks for the response Jason , the Rpms were well over 90. Like I said , I’ve been using zwift for about a year and a half now. . . Never experienced this before . I’ve done many a mile and a few FTP tests . . . Nothing like this. The pedals would literally only move in the lowest gear . . . I had no opinion but to change gears. I know this isn’t normal . . . Just really don’t know what to do to fix this.
Based on that info, it sounds like the problem is more likely with the KICKR. Try going through the troubleshooting steps here - and if those don’t help, you’ll want to contact Wahoo support.
I had the same issue with a brand-new Kickr in ERG mode. The spindown was completed before the test. During the first 5 minutes the resistance felt like it was barely changing even though the wattage went up. I didn’t shift during the test. Later, during the higher power segment just before the longer segment which is just before the actual 20 min. ftp test, the resistance became impossible. I was pushing really hard, standing on the pedals, and I could barely get it to read 50 W. I was clearly pushing more than 50 W. Before that my cadence was about 90. When that segment ended, the resistance came back down. During the FTP test, it was reading around 250. Then it just failed after a few minutes, and for some reason it automatically dropped my ftp from 246 to 151. (I changed it back manually) What should I do? Try the shorter ftp test without ERG?
I did the short test and had the exact same results. It turned me off to the ERG mode.
I had this exact same experience in the short FTP test in ERG mode using a brand new KICKR.
At the final 2 minute high-wattage ‘warm-up’ section it was showing 370w and I could barely turn the pedals, even standing out of the saddle in a ‘climbing’ gear.
The resistance just seemed ridiculously high, and it was impossible to raise my cadence above about 30-40