I would say it’s exactly the opposity, the heavier you are the less bike weight reduction matters. eg a 90 kg rider with a 10 kg bike that gets a 2kg lighter bike will have a 2% total weight reduction but a 40kg rider whose 10kg weight is reduced 2kg will get a 4% total reduction. But I don’t know how bike weight scales if at all in zwift, by rider height, mass, both…
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It’s less of a percentage, but it’s more important. Biggest danger for me in most racey situations is coming unhitched on a climb. If I can stick with the group, I don’t need to worry so much about aero benefits. So yeah, a lighter rider who gets the same weight reduction will get a bigger percentage reduction, but that doesn’t affect how important the reduction I get is to me–unless the entire field I’m trying to stick with is all lighter riders with those bigger percentage benefits. But even then, if I were to go for bigger aero benefits instead, those won’t really help me close the gap to the group solo once I’m dropped.
I think I posted this earlier but to ride a minute faster over an hour (which is the difference the top bikes can get you from just the frame alone over the standard Zwift carbon frame) requires about 4-5% in more power.
It’s very easy to just think a minute over an hour is nothing. After all it’s the difference between riding at say 35km/h and 35.6km/h which is hardly noticeable but aerodynamic drag eats watts for breakfast.
Using an online calculator the watts needed for those speeds are 259 and 272 if you ride on the hoods. 209 and 219 if you ride in the drops. In other words, about 4-5% more power to go 1.7% faster.
You will need that extra power regardless of the race distance.
How much training would you need to do to boost your FTP by 4-5%?
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That depends on your training status, for someone coming of the couch 1-2 months for an elite athlete 12-18 months (unless you do heat training, then you could do that in 2-3 weeks)
Any chance a frame could be reclassified, from road-type to climbing-type, for purposes of the upgrades? I have the old Cannondale EVO, which seems listed as a road-type frame, but it seems at least as climbing-focused in performance as a Trek Emonda, for example. Could the Cannondale EVO possibly be reclassified? (probably too much work, perhaps, and only someone like me would care 
)
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What AI decided to make mountain bike challenges for upgrades be about climbing goals?
Really? 
That’s true, that bike was always a light weight climbing bike in real life and especially the Hi Mod frames that were the favourites of the weight weenie bike crowd.
I almost got one myself years ago.
Problem is people are probably already upgrading it through distance means.
@shooj I Just did a ride of 40km but nothing showing on the progress bar… wasnt fast enough?
Mountain bike… Why not?
What bike did you use?
Make sure that you are using the right kind of bike for the right kind of upgrade progress.
TT bike = riding by time
climbing bike (or mountain bike) = elevation
regular bike = distance based.
Note that mountain bikes needing elevation seems to be a glitch. It is set that way but probably shouldn’t be - unless mountain bike specific courses are coming soon.
I don’t think many people are riding mountain bikes up Alpe du Zwift or Ventop. Maybe you can prove otherwise.
Hi @_wingedPanda welcome to Zwift forums.
Shuji at Zwift HQ here. I checked your server logs, and the ~68 km ride you did today on Volcano Flat was done on game version 1.85.2.
Looks like you logged in again after the ride to look at the Garage, and that’s when you were updated to v 1.86. The bike upgrades need to be done on 1.86+ to count.
For those with a similar report - check your game version (here’s how), You may need to log out of Zwift and log back in again to update game versions.
@H.Kvtj
I checked and same situation for you. Your iPhone was on v 1.85.0 when you did your ride on Tempus Fugit..
Additionally for you - you’re logged in to the Zwift game app on an iPhone and an AppleTV at the same time. Don’t do this, as concurrent logins create all sorts of weird symptoms. If the ATV is your preferred device, we recommend strongly that you uninstall the main app from your iPhone (or vice versa) to eliminate the risk of concurrent logins.
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I already own the Tron bike and I have tens of millions of drops. What is the easiest/cheapest way to fully upgrade it (assuming that I am willing to invest all my drops)? Bullet point list, please.
Ride the Tron a bunch and buy the upgrades as you unlock them
You have to ride and upgrade 3 Zwift Frames completly to level 5 before you can even start to upgrade the Tron.
So that is 3x 800km and than you can start to upgrade the Tron by riding it. Max level of upgrade will take you another 8000km more.
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I believe Peter is correct - you can’t start to upgrade the TRON until you have fully upgraded 3 other Zwift bikes. That could be -
Zwift Carbon
Zwift Aero
Zwift Steel
Zwift Handbike
Zwift BMX
Atomic Cruiser
Zwift Tri
And a few more that I can’t think of.
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By what is said before:
- Upgrade 3 zwift bikes (Zwift own ones, not real world bicycle manufacturer ones)
- They must be fully upgraded
- Then go back to your Tron bike and start working on the upgrades for it
That’s my understanding of it. It will be a long process.
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Appreciate the quick reply and check-up!
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ohh. sorry. my bad. as a dev myself glad it wasn’t a bug 
nice feature though with the bike upgrades. there is always n+1 but I guess many have their favorite
On the bright side the zwift frames are all considered entry level, so they don’t take quite as long to upgrade.
