We all know that bike brands bring out new models each year claiming to save 5 watts more than previous bikes.
Zwift then bring these bikes to life here for us.
Thanks for that.
But… Our garages get full.
How about this… Group the bikes in levels.
Have all the bikes perform the same in different categories.
If a rider is between level 0 and 10 they are able to purchase bikes in level 1 cat.
Then 11 to 20, cat 2 bikes.
21 to 30 cat 3 bikes.
All way up to level 91 to 100 where you are able to purchase the best bikes in game.
We all know that the bike only makes a small difference, it’s the rider that makes it happen.
This way we get to see a much better mix of bikes in races as the bikes all perform the same. You can still have mixed cat races with bikes/riders from several cats riding together.
It also gives you greater incentive to go further in the game mode of zwift.
How will Specialized feel about their latest and greatest SL9 performing the same as an ancient old bike that has long since beeen superseded, yet is still in the same category?
Having the bikes play a part also encourages people to participate in the “drops economy”, otherwise they are too much likely to just use the one bike that is near enough to covering the most needs (because it is simpler).
Remember when the roads in Zwift were swarming with Tron bikes. Since bikes performance started playing a bigger part, this is not as much the case as it used to be.
What would help with full garages is having “favourites” bike and wheel combinations you can quickly choose.
When do we get helmets affecting performance? Surely we must be due for that so people can spend drops on the latest mega-aero helmets, especially for TT events. S-Works TT5 for the Darth Vader look, Giro’s Aerohead II also for instance.
I doubt that Specialized will like their new greatest SL9 Tarmac being the same level as something ancient in the game already, only because of “category”.
I don’t have any problems with different bike performances, just that the upgrade times are probably a bit too long.
Simpler solution is to add favourite bike/wheel combinations so you can quickly access them. Like a car might have memory settings for seats, mirrors, steering wheel and other settings. Five or six of them should be enough.
That’s better than going through all the arguments of changing bike performance, which doesn’t resolve “our garages are full”, but will cause a lot of arguments of people not pleased that bike performances have been changed.
My garage is very full with a huge amount of bikes (I own nearly all Canyon bikes, nearly all Specialized, etc), but I don’t have any problems swapping between three or four main bikes I use.
S-Works TT5 for the Darth Vader look, Giro’s Aerohead II also for instance.