New club ladder boost power up

Is there any information on this, and is it the same one that is used in the Ride with James’ Friends?

Thanks

Same as the Friday Fun races

Not sure how it goes in Ride With James which is often banded

How does it work though? Does it work best on a hill, flat or downhill? Does it work best when you are trying to bridge, last in a group or start a sprint? How long does it last for, affected by speed, watts?

I just watched a video and like the ghost, I think this PU needs to be restricted to the last 4/500m.

Hope they bin it as quickly as possible. I really dont like all those Mario Kart additions to Zwift.

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Imagine finding them in Zwift TT Club series events. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I just raced with it, not a fan. What this does is make guys who can’t sprint sit in the draft and then hammer a double boost at the end,.. Sure it may try to even the odds for end sprinters, but this Mario Kart gamification NEEDS to be nerfed or not used in club ladder at all. Was it fun sure,.. does it take the fun out of a race,.. indeed.

Have your team captain bring it up with the ladder admins. This isn’t the place to influence those choices.

well it might stop Zwift from bringing in more of these ideas into Zwift, or even better removing some power ups.

If nobody mentions things they dont like how will they know ?

OK sure but it already exists and ladder is not forced to use it. If ladder teams unite in opposition, it probably goes away from ladder events.

how long does it exist anyway ? I cant remember reading anything about a new power up. I just found out its being used in my ladder race tonight and I only know it makes you faster. Its not on Zwift Insider also. Your Guide to PowerUps in Zwift | Zwift Insider

Which will be fun since we as a mostly C cat team will be racing against a team with mostly B’s and A’s. If they all get that power up and we dont we might as well start with a zone 2 ride and give them the win.

It’s existed at least since July 2025

How can that be fair ?

‘Everyone starts with a boost powerup, with “extras available throughout the race,” according to Zwift. Trigger it for a short, sharp speed boost. Sometimes the powerup gives you one boost, while other times it gives you two.’

And if they are using it, why isnt it on the Zwift page with powerups ?

I think it’s not considered a powerup but whatever, it is what it is.

I have heard that in the Friday Fun races, hitting it at the start with a sprint can result in a lot of DNFs behind you. I don’t have personal experience with it since it doesn’t interest me, and if a ladder opponent said hey how about we don’t use that or any powerups, I would say cool what time do we race?

Do you know if there is any info out there how long it lasts, what it actually does ? it really doesnt seem very fair if it is a gamble if you get one or not. I might get a feather while you get two power boosts …

All this 9 year old mario kart stuff is making me like Zwift less and less.

In group rides, front of group get 1x boost at banners; mid group get 2x; rear group gets 3x.

Seems to make a big difference in what speed the ~2 second boost gets you to, depending on speed when activated. Under 20kph when activated and you boost to ~20kph, over 20kph when activated and you get boosted to ~40kph.

On Facebook from James

“It gives you a 10kph speed boost for 2 seconds”

Nice from zwift to put that on Facebook and not anywhere on their own pages but ok.

and it can be used anywhere in the race or is it prohibited like the ghost in the last 500m ?

I used one boost on Macaron up the final cobbled ramp on last week’s Zwift TT Club events. Think that’s ~30secs from banner, so easily within 0.5Km.

It can be used up to .0000000000000000000000001m from the finish banner

It needs to be nerfed like the ghost, or both teams choose not to use it for CL