This may be a really stupid question but how does climbing work? I did a ride last night just about five miles to check things out. It occurred to me that while the course was flat I have no idea how climbing would work. I have a smart trainer but it’s manual resistance. Will I have to adjust my gearing and resistance on the honor system according to climbs in game? Or is there some other method of doing the climbs?
You don’t have to do anything. If I remember correctly you have a Tacx Satori that broadcast watts, but it does not adjust resistance. You will still slow down going up hills and if you want you can shift and/or manually change resistance, but that is not required. If you want to go faster on flats or during elevation changes you just have to increase your watts/watts per kilogram.
Zwift speed is determined by watts, your weight entered, in game bike, in game drafting and virtual elevation changes.