Right, but we’re talking about the premise of Pace Partners and desire to turn off dynamic pacing and revert to a set fixed and unvarying wattage. So in this case, the group wouldn’t increase power when they hit climbs, if the group is staying with the non-dynamic Pace Partner who also isn’t changing his/her power.
This seems a bit like debating flavors of ice cream. There are good use cases for both dynamic and non-dynamic pace partners. I enjoy both but my most common desire for a pace partner is with steady power output, just mindless riding in a group (ie, not doing a workout alone in ERG mode which is boring). I don’t wish to deprive anyone of the pace partner behavior they enjoy most. It’s a testament to the usefulness of this feature that it can be applied in a variety of ways.
This is bang on. The recent developments to PP has been great and James has done v well to keep this improving.
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I enjoy the variety of rides. My one wish is that I would get to choose whether to ride hilly or flat at each power level. I like to progress by sitting in with a faster group, which is near impossible if the faster group is doing a hilly ride.
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I change bikes to gravel, MTB or TT if I need to ride with a PP at a lower pace than what I was aiming for.
Much easier to do now I am on new UI as you can access garage without starting a ride
Sit tight on this one.
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This is also my main concern with the dynamic pace, now there is no way for heavier riders to challenge the faster PP if there is climbs involved. In the pas we had a slight change to hang on on the climb or to catch on the downhill.
On this one, there needs to be a fair spread of PP across the ranges, they are overloaded at the bottom end - If there was additional PP that fill the gaps in the 2.5 through to 4+ range you could then find one to climb with, there is just limited choice now that makes long climbs a challenge.
There does seem some odd pacing at present though, hour with brevet the other day was sub 200w as it was completely flat route - I suppose the want is to have some consistency with the effort regardless of the day I jump on.
So if I choose Brevet it should be around 2.8-3wkg effort (drafting) regardless of route - At the moment, it could be 3.4-3.5 on a long hill, or 2.2wkg on a flat route. Same applies to other PP
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Agree. It was a great week with Bowie on Tempus Fugit.
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I rather liked the variety of it on a hilly ride with Amelia Anquetil today. She did however resort to extreme tactics for a minute on the climb up the Epic KOM 
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I think this was based on analysis of which PP were being ridden with most.
The other slight issue is that if you drop in on a climb, there’s no way to warm up.
As we can’t see where the PP are before joining them you can drop in when it’s already at the higher dynamic pace like some chap who joined halfway up Volcano climb today.
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Rider comments from Dani on Big Foot Hills today. I started Big Foot Hills for a badge hunting steady easy workout, but while warming up, Dani’s crew caught me, so my flat power plan went out the window and I rode with the group for around 35k before a trip to the kitchen and reverting to my plan.
- Someone said they like the new routes and dynamic pacing.
- “I like better than group rides”
- “V few grp rides at this wkg (2.1)”
- Someone said something like if you want to fly, you fly.
The power profile of my ride with Dani was relatively spikey which was not my goal, but I could not resist the pull of the group and the hailstorm of ride-ons.
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I was one chap who joined half way up Volcano climb today 
It was not too bad really. Had a great ride with Dani and the group. She is riding a sweet spot for me. Coco might still be my favorite but cheers to James for adding Dani- if I want to ride more than about 90 minutes or so, Coco and crew puts me about at my limit depending on the ride profile. I really like the new format…a lot.
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This was me. There are v few group rides at 2.0-2.4 wkg. It’s all sub 2 or C cat and higher which is why i like the PP so much. And, it’s a group ride on tap whenever you want as i think you also said above 
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I really need to get out of the saddle for a fair part of any ride, given back issues, and dead flat courses really don’t help with this.
Not talking about / asking for four horsmen or more extreme routes, but even the smaller climbs are really welcome from my side.
Definite plus one for allowing choice of flat and hilly courses at each power level.
PP the other day, on dead flat ride (2.5w/kg), Zwift wouldn’t let me change course (or u-turn etc), so I was stuck on Triple Flat Loop, even after letting the PP drop me.
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Here’s a thought.
Could the pace partners be at a constant output throughout, but individuals enact the dynamic pacing option through a button that actions like a power up? E. G. Makes you artificially heavier on the climbs to make it a bit harder for those who want it, with a dynamic logo against their username?
If Integrated correctly this may allow everyone to tweak their experience while keeping the group together.
It sounds like a considerable amount of work for relatively little gain.
Ultimately, dynamic pacing is here to stay and will remain so once our testing period is over. I absolutely get that a) not everyone likes it and b) you can’t please everyone all the time, but the majority prefer the variability on the hills.
We’ll get some further improvements out for Pace Partners in the Autumn (I’ve mentioned these in the past and will continue to do so) but we’re not looking to remove dynamic pacing.
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Is there a reason both types can’t exist?
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I want Pace Partners to feel like an always available group ride. Group rides have natural fluctuations on gradients and by having both there’s a very valid risk of overcrowding.
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