New Pace Partner Glitch

Hi Zwifters,

A couple days ago I decided to have a ride with a Pace Partner, but I found it unusually difficult to keep up. My power output ended up averaging about 220 watts on Pace Partner “C”. After about 5 minutes of trying to keep up, I gave up and finished the ride by myself. The reason I find this strange is that a couple weeks before, I had been able to keep with “C” at about 125 watts, max 140 by the uphill waterfall area (The route is Tempus Fugit for Pace Partner “C”). Also I noticed that other people were keeping up with him, and I wasn’t. I cannot remember their w/kg now, sorry about that.

However about two days later I came across Pace Partner “A”, and when I tried sprinting with them, I managed to keep up at about 270 watts. Also I noticed there was not a single rider with “A”, not sure why.

Anyways, could someone please explain this to me? I mean, I was doing about 270 watts with “A” (if I were on flat land, that is) and 220 watts with “C”. Could this be part of the new Zwift update (there was something about Pace Partners in there) or is it just a problem with my settings? Please let me know, and also with a screenshot if possible.

Thanks!

Hi @Roman_Ivanov, welcome to the forums.

Please add a few details to help us understand your issue. What bike are you using in the game (TT bikes don’t get any draft effect, Mountain Bikes are slowest on pavement, gravel bikes are slower than road bikes). What is your weight in kg, this will give some context to your power.

The latest update did change pack dynamics, which many users have commented on being harder to stay with large groups. See this thread: New Pack Dynamics [February 2021] - #139 by rue

Thanks very much. I completely forgot to give any details!
Bike: Zwift TT with Enve SES 3.4
Weight: 40kg, so around 4 w/kg (for pace partner’s 2.5w/kg)
Also many thanks for the link.

Switch bikes, TT bikes don’t get a draft, use a road bike.

You are very light, so it will always be more difficult for you to keep up with heavier riders on flat courses where raw watts rule over w/kg.

:ride_on: