Hi everyone, I’ve been racing MTB for 35 years, but only new to Zwift. Is there much MTB racing on Zwift, and also, is there other trails apart from Repack Ridge ?
Thanks in advance & “RIDE ON” !
That is all for Mtb,
I don’t think it’s possible for event organisers to restrict events/races to a particular category of bike (other than TT at least).
As for Repack Ridge, no that’s it. I’d guess the numbers showed it wasn’t popular enough with riders to bother making more roads like it.
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It’s not really mountain biking, but if you seek out races on the gravel routes, you’ll see more people using the virtual MTB/gravel bikes because they are faster on that surface. You can search for them on the ZwiftHacks site. Look for events on routes like Jungle Circuit, Jungle Circuit Reverse, Sea To Tree, Valley To Mountaintop, Handful of Gravel. Example:
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I would argue that it is impossible to MTB race on Zwift, regardless of the virtual course. Zwift is just power, watt bombs, that’s it. No bike handling, picking the correct line, obstacles to maneuver, etc…
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There is still room to design a course the would more mimick the power, climbs and out of saddle segments of a typical cross country MTB ride.
I like the expression “watt bombs”.
That’s really sums it up.
go get any sort of mtb experience you would need the steering but even then its nothing compared to outside
With organisers accessible tools we can’t but i’m pretty sure Zwift events team can restrict an event to a certain type of bike
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The same could be said for crit racing in Zwift. While you can’t mimic the skill aspects of a mtb race you could create courses that better replicate the physical demands of it. But I’m not sure how popular that would be.
Zwift did say corner breaking was in plan for this riding season could make a big difference to crit racing
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Yeah, they definitely can. But they don’t generally, outside of a handful of events. I’ve ridden MTB-only group rides before, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a race series based on a bike category (I don’t pay that much attention though).
pretty rare unless you are doing the jungle only there is nothing else that would justify a mtb/gravel only bike
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IIRC I did one that went up AdZ! 
Edit: or maybe it was just this:
I know BMTR does mtb-specific events a time or few per week. I think there’s a 2-lap jungle circuit race at 5:30 PST on Wednesdays.
Sea To Tree definitely favors the lightest gravel bike you can find
But currently, all the MTB stuff, including the jungle, is basically just riding a slow bike on a virtual road.
I feel steering is a gimmick.
Zwift could encourage cardiovascular fitness that might be more specific to MTB.