To me, this kind of game manipulation and cheating (Sticky Watts and/or micro-bursting) spoils the racing experience on Zwift just as much, if not more, than the “poor” pack dynamics that they’re working so hard to improve. There are things that Zwift can do to combat this type of behaviour.
What would be the point of blowing a gasket to force a break when you can be simply reeled-in by this type of nonsense. It’s a joke.
Good thing. Hope it was done automatically because it was automatically detected and not because of the noise we started
I bet the circled biting remark was the final coup de grace :+1
The more this type of behaviour is “called out” on public forums, the more likely it is that action will be taken. After all, ZRL is supposed to be one of the premier series for community racing 
B1 emea in shambles
It’s a mess…really it’s a mess
Sorry I’m probably being dumb but is the posted screenshot just an example of a code 19 DSQ as the rider posting his video in the OP was racing in A Cat - am I missing something obvious?
Not DQd for that ride on ZwiftPower as of now
Different person
Here is a power chart from ZRL Cat C winner from yesterday’s race - last KOM:
I did not understand why his power numbers were jumping up and down when he was passing me but this post made it more clear afterwards 
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On the other hand, I guess you need special kind of legs to jump the power to pedals up and down for so long.
Was his team mate DQ’d as well? Can clearly see around 8-9 minutes the same wkg up and downs on the rider list!
Microbursts is gaming the system, not cheating. After all, they are actually putting in the effort and power. If you want to find fault, aim it at Zwift’s algorithm - don’t blame riders for making the most of the available tools.
The Sticky Watts/ANT+ bug is another matter, as the rider is moving on Zwift without any effort. That is clearly cheating and deliberate use of this bug will see them DQd. It has been happening since Jarvis, with no sign of it ever being addressed.
Yes, but because of the way certain smart trainers react to that power input, you can hold on to some free power with no (or little) rider input before the power starts to decay and you need to “spike” it again. Some trainers are “better” at doing this than others (it’s different from the Sticky Watts situation using power meter cranks or pedals).
In all the plots of power that is posted you only see spikes, I don’t see flat tops from a trainer holding power. There might be some “free” power due to the trainer not instantly going to Zero since it has a slight decline curve.
the problem is that ZHQ seem to think it doesn’t exist, and race organisers (broadly speaking, i don’t personally know every one of them or what they think about it) including WTRL are in consensus that it does exist and do consider it cheating
I posted this in the old thread, but can’t find it anymore. dcrainmaker.com described the effect very well on the Elite Direto:
“But check out as I stop pedaling for 15-20 seconds what happens (below): There’s a very slight delay for the Direto to zero down the power, about 5 seconds longer than the others. This isn’t uncommon for trainers to see this kinda taper. While not ideal, I can’t think of many scenarios it’ll matter in real-life. If I stop pedaling entirely, I’m unlikely to complain about a slight taper of that power to 0w. Though to each their own.”
Note that the power goes up instantly as the rider starts pedaling again. That means free watts with every micro burst.
I can’t really blame people for using this micro burst technique, at least not those who just don’t know that this behaviour is not Zwift-related but only works with their specific trainer.
I understand that some trainers take longer to reach Zero than others. Looking at the video his power drop as quick as his RPM.
I would suspect that there would not be any difference in his speed if he used power pedals that goes to Zero instantly. I am almost inclined to think that the ±2% higher power measurement from pedals (due to mechanical losses) and pedals reacting faster he would have been faster using pedals.
What would be nice to see a test with two identical avatars on TT bikes powered by a rider with a trainer paired to one and the other paired to pedals and compare the distance traveled between the avatar powered by pedals and one by the Trainer.
I have no idea if this is cheating what I do know is it is a strange way of riding. 
Exactly this, “There might be some “free” power due to the trainer not instantly going to Zero since it has a slight decline curve” and some trainers are better (or worse, depending which side of the micro-bursting fence you’re on) at holding onto this power.
Flat-topped power profiles are symptomatic of sticky watts, not micro-bursting.
The bottom line here is that WTRL consider micro-bursting to be cheating (under their rules for ZRL) and they will DQ people for riding like this, as proven in the case documented on this thread.
ZHQ may not believe micro-bursting is real, but WTRL obviously do.
Do they specify how many burst is cheating. If you ramp up once in a race are you cheating. Can you do it for 1 minute or 5 seconds? There need to be clear guidelines.
Again I am not defending or condoning this type of riding, I am on the fence if this is cheating. That is why there need to be a test to quantify this.
In determining whether or not microbursts are occurring, is it sufficient to just see power curve or is cadence also required?
Is the regular jagged power curves associated with power meters acceptable as long as the variance conforms to a certain range for a specific time period?
We need to define illegal microburst from legal power fluctuations.
