I like to see where I am in a group ride such as the Big Spin. It motivates me to know if I’m advancing or retreating within the group, and I like to calculate my percentile. I know group rides are not a race. I’m usually in the 65 to 80 percentile, so I’m certainly not competitive, but it motivates me. Please bring it back.
Can I suggest racing then, if you need a position number to motivate you? You don’t need to be winning to race.
The whole reason for taking the position out is to stop people from racing group rides.
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Is this going to be the standard for group rides from now on? I rode the last 2025 Big Spin this morning and there wasn’t a position status on the leaderboard for the first time. I would be disappointed in position numbers went away because we use them to find our virtual friends in big rides.
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Is racing in a group ride a big offense? If you have two people riding bikes, they will often race, even if it’s not within a race.
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Depends on what the group ride is for.
If it’s organised like a casual no-drop group ride and you have a few people pushing the pace and making it hard for the slower riders then yes, those trying to make it a race are causing a problem.
On the big group rides, Tour of whatever, the issue seems to be those trying to race it getting upset that others aren’t holding themselves to any rules of racing. Late joining, using coffee stops etc.
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Exactly @Tom_Lewis . Most of us do this sometimes or all the time. The ride position is a useful tool for figuring out where people are. Trying to force round pegs into square holes isn’t going to change anything.
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Try racing.
The Big Spin rides are fairly pointless for tracking positions because it changes unpredictably when all the late joiners enter at 59 minutes past the hour.
It’s a good change taking the positions away.
What would be more useful for tracking where friends are is a display showing a list of them and time gaps.
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Fundamentally, I think any E-only level Ride event should have position numbers.
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Then maybe the solution is not to show avatars with a big steaming mug of coffee over their head. Keep it private. Like potty breaks. Maybe change the icon to something toilet related?
Late joins to scoop Big Spin virtual prizes is a bit of a cheap cheat but if it goes some one a thrill, who cares? Neither someone else’s coffee breaks nor late joins really hurts anyone, but to take away a tool that people use IRL for motivation or to find friends in a massive crowd is a bit over kill.
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That can be an easy fix, each user has the control in their Zwift settings to hide coffee-stop icons.
They don’t see coffee-stop icons, while others who want to see them do.
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