Hi all. I’ve got some ideas about how to gear zwift a little bit more toward mountain biking. I’d like to see more trails in more maps. I live in Richmond, and there’s definitely trail near the current roads. I’d also like to see different rims for the mountain bikes as well as hardtails. I know that’s a lot to ask, but I’d really appreciate it!
I agree with more MTB trails but I want them to be true simulations of single track and not dusty paths that I pedal as if I’m on the road.
MTB riding involves a lot more out of saddle riding.
Out of saddle going up hills and out of saddle going down hills and over technical areas in the attack or ready position.
I have a non controlled smart trainer.
I can stand up anytime I want to get my legs used to standing.
In game, it’s much more enjoyable taking my visual cues from climbs.
I like to do laps around Watopia Hilly and stand up and charge up the 2 climbs.
I haven’t figured out out to make downhills in the ready position something I want to do in Zwift.
Repack ridge was awkward with the steering aspect. I would tend to remain seated so I could steer.
I would prefer to be able to be out of saddle than to be able to steer.
Of course, to improve MTB IRL, you can do hill repeats on your road bike.
It’s just riding single track is more fun than hill repeats.
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If you get the kickr climb or Elite riser it would give a better feel when going up and down hills. I dont have one but imagine it would give you more of that sensation you are looking for.
I don’t know how Zwift can make mountain biking really pop with the current game mechanics and inputs - wish I did though. I mean, yes, they can add more mountain bike components, and more routes, but going up and down flat dirt routes isn’t really a great simulation of mountain biking in my opinion regardless of what components you’re running.
Things that make mountain biking fun for me:
- Fast and flowy downhill single track with berms
- The need to react to new and interesting terrain on the fly, where both line choice, and reaction time are important
- Technical sections (both up and down), where grade is part of the technicality, but roots/rocks, tight corners, and how dry/packed vs. loose the ground is plays more of a role. Where brake modulation, balance, and weight distribution are key to getting through rather than just power
- Jumps, drops, skinnies, and other technical features on trails
With just a power, HR, and cadence as inputs I don’t see any of those being modelled in a reasonable way.
If they add a random mountain bike trails that are essentially similar to the current tarmac roads just slower to model dirt (similar to the jungle) without any other dynamics changes, then I’m not sure why that would be more fun, or more interesting than the same trail ridden more quickly on a road bike on tarmac on those same trails in the game.
5 Likes
I have the new Garmin TacX Neo, it does simulate the ride feel. I like the idea of single track. Single track has a certain real world feel that is fantastic. I think picking about 20 rides throughout the country that are accessible based on real world maps would be cool.
Even if they just added one feature every six months it would be useful. Mountain biking often involves short pitched climbing with initially high levels of steepness that levels off quickly. Also, in the real world, when we face very steep climbs, we often weave and that would be a cool feature to decrease the average power to model the real world.