Still would love to know if there is a set point in their respective w/kg ranges that they will actually ride. e.g. Is Bowie Brevet going to fluctuate on a particular ride between 3.2 and 3.9w/kg? …or will he ride at a steady 3.3w/kg for one session, but then 3.8w/kg on another? …or how does it work? (I also find myself thinking they should all be the same weight, so that the increase in resulting watts would be more linear–i.e. as it is, Bowie could potentially ride at 320w, while Amelia might only be doing 260w). Still, like the general concept a lot.
It will vary from ride to ride, actually. For the early phase of FutureWorks testing - we want to see feedback on what you all like / hate about this feature. For example:
Do more people prefer a dead-steady pace, or will they find that deadly-boring?
Do you prefer to keep the same pace on climbs, ease off, or go harder?
As you do more of the Pace Partner rides, please leave us specific feedback, because that will drive the development of this feature.
I am going to guess that this will be route/terrain dependent, which is kind of how group rides currently work. Pace steady at X w/kg on the flats and then Y w/kg on climbs (and Z w/kg on descent if it’s long enough / to regroup). May also be category dependent (C/D may want steady while A/B want the higher w/kg for climbs?). I am just spitballing; if we can have variety and multiple options it’d be cool instead of just 2 total at a given time.
Yesterday riding in the C one, I was happy with dead steady pace but it was Tempus which is dead flat so it makes sense.
Do you change the time schedule? I always ride at 6am CEST for 1 1/2 hours… but exactly in this time Window no bot ist Online
I love this feature keep going
@Domenik_Rath
We are sticking with the current time schedule for this early phase of the trial, but expanding the schedule might be possible in the future.
@David_Knight2 Can you explain what you mean? It looks to me (based on the OP) that the Partners are only off line for 2hrs every 12hr cycle (trying to avoid using terms like “in the morning” or “in the evening,” since, while it’s morning and evening for me, it won’t be morning and evening for everyone). I.e. they’re active 10 out of every 12 hours, on a regular schedule. I would imagine that the vast majority of people could find a Pace Partner at some point during their day (?).
I think what David means is that some timezones wont work too well with the current fixed schedule where people have limited time. They work well for me as they are but if I lived in Sydney (cant believe I am sticking up for the ausi’s!), none would work as the planned outage is right in the “after work” sweet spot when I do most of my riding so would only be able to use them by exception.
Steering is incompatible with joining the pace bot, or at least problematic if the pace is near threshold.
Zwift throws up the FutureWorks how-to-steer screen. Meanwhile you’re being dropped off the back of the pace bot group.
I would be fine with either no steering welcome screen at all, or at least not having it come up every time.
And yes, if I click on the OK button quickly, I’d get dropped less. And yes, maybe I don’t need to steer in a pace bot group ride. But somebody had to try it.
Lets use Berlin as as my theoretical home. The point is valid that a certain group of keen Zwifters, depending where they are, may miss out if they have little flexibility while the current schedule remains fixed.
EDIT: I’m not really fussed as I am sure as this matures, it will become more available, just keen for everyone to get a chance to have their say.
just rode with CoCo Cadence for my first pace partner, here’s some thoughts:
it was great, this is a very nice alternative to a lone ride or workout. in fact, this is sort of what i always wished group workouts was!
when a rider (including myself) first joins the group, he/she sort of rockets ahead, and then slows down. this has really strange draft effects for the rest of the group. ideally, i think entering riders shouldn’t affect the draft at all.
i wish i could set a timer to countdown to when i joined the pace partner. for example, i’d like to set a 5 or maybe 10 minute warmup before i “autojoin” the pace partner. sort of like the starting pen for a race, but more of a freeride.
i think the robot chatting is the right idea, but it’s a little weird. maybe change the color of the text and/or change the “chime” noise when CoCo chats? that way i know it wasn’t a person doing it. also, hide the chats from everyone else (if they aren’t already) – only people “riding with” the pace partner should be subjected to robot chats!
on tempus fugit, CoCo could call out “sprint coming up, if you sprint, wait for us after” or something like that. could probably call out the best time by name, too. or on the longer timed segment on the return, CoCo could call out whether we were on track to beat previous times.
in the future, it would be great to see the pace partner ride more varying routes. tempus fugit is fun, but it’s also kinda boring – also, it might be cool to have a pace partner that wanders somewhat randomly; not knowing where we’re headed could be fun.
tempus fugit is flat, but i get the sense that the constant pace wouldn’t surge up rises. i think this is a little weird, if the pace is 2.6 w/kg on flats, i think it should surge to 3.1 or so on a rise.
Power output changes with each outing it seems, it will be interesting to see what other Watopia routes come into rotation, if that is what is happening.
