I’m unsure why Zwift cuts the decline gradient percentages in half for the KICKR Climb and KICKR Bike (even when riding on 100% trainer difficulty). Those of us who have purchased a Climb are looking for the most realistic and immersive experience possible. So why make a 6% decline only tilt the KICKR Climb down 3%? Most of the descents in Zwift are less than 4%. By halving the declines, it causes the Climb to hardly move down at all, making it less immersive. It doesn’t seem as though any of the other cycling apps I’ve tried do this - they use the full percentage (up to -10%, which is the max the Climb allows). I’d love the declines to be 100% and would be interested in any rationale for doing it differently. DCRainmaker has also recently mentioned this and he doesn’t understand it either.
Andy - I don’t have this problem on mine. Have you checked out GPLlama’s YouTube on this with the wheel hack? Worked for me.
I only saw your post now.
I think it is scaled because of your trainer difficulty, I assume if you put your trainer difficulty to 100 you will get the full incline.
Actually you do have this issue. Watch the GPLama video you posted from around 1:05-1:25. Zwift halves the descent percentages (this is not true for the inclines). In the video Shane explains that an 8% grade in Zwift only feels like a 4% on the climb. Because this true even in 100% trainer difficulty, the wheel hack doesn’t solve the problem.
I ride with 100% trainer difficulty. You get 100% of the inclines but only 50% of the declines. GPLama references this in the video above. It’s also discussed by DCRainmaker, most recently in his review of the Wahoo Bike, which also does the same thing. It is an actual issue that can’t be solved by the wheel hack.
Here’s a direct quote from Ray:
Also note that even when you set Zwift to 100% trainer difficulty, for some bizarre reason Zwift still halves the downhill gradient for the CLIMB position. So a 10% decline becomes a 5% decline, which means you don’t really feel it. Other apps like FulGaz don’t have this artificial limitation, and hopefully it’s something that Zwift will eventually fix (it was there on the KICKR CLIMB too).
I see what you mean, Andy. For me, I’m not really bothered by the feel of a descent.
But I do agree it is a bit odd and doesn’t really make sense, unless they were concerned about clearance? Or squashing the cat?
Thanks for that Information Andy, I was not 100% certain.
The feel of the descent doesn’t bother me either. I just wish it was more. If you ever do a try out of Fulgaz or Rouvy you’ll definitely feel a difference. You really feel a 3% decline. Since the majority of the declines I regularly encounter in Zwift are 1-3%, I’d like to actually feel those kinds of percentages better.
It does seem like a strange artificial limitation that would be really easy for Zwift to adjust. If you set your wheelbase accurately in the Wahoo app like the instructions tell you too, you won’t hit your pedals against the ground unless you’ve got 250mm crank arms or something.
Maybe they’ll fix it in a firmware update. Although if it’s on the Kickr bike too, it must be a deliberate decision rather than an oversight.
Yep, but beacuse to the concurrence of other software’s feature let’s hope that it will be available soon on game. Still missing for a full experience.
Zwift what is the latest on this ? I only noticed this yesterday using the kickr bike. The decline on zwift was 50% of the value on the kickr bike. Incline is fine & the trainer setting is at 100%. Why is it reduced ?
Unfortunately I don’t think anything will be done about this. I’ve since learned that Zwift halves the decline resistance for all smart trainers so that they keep a bit more resistance and are less likely to spin out on declines. Racing is apparently part of the reason for their doing this. So essentially everyone is getting their declines halved but no one really notices unless they have a Kickr Bike Climb (due to the reduced tilting). Technology does exist to send the trainer resistance and tilt separately to the Kickr (the app FulGaz does it that way to better sync when the Climb tilts) but Zwift doesn’t use it. They just send they info together to the Kickr.
So that’s not the answer either of us wants but it’s where things are at the moment.
Just saw this post. I’m a victim of the 50% decline on my Climb and it bother’s me to no end. I have been in talks with Zwift and they’ve said they’ll inform their development team. It works perfect in FulGaz and so I’m not sure why Zwift can’t or won’t make this happen either. Racing or not, it should work as it’s supposed to.