I have recently not been able to stay with Pace riders. If I go C Cadence at 2.5W/ avgI actually have to go at 4.5/AVG to simple hang in there. This didnt used to be the case. Ideas anyone please?
Maybe you are on a TT or mountain/gravel bike?
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I’m not seeing that and I ride w/the pace bots most days. Today, I was Coco on Tempus Fugit and the avg was less than 2.5w/kg. Saturday was 2hrs w/Brevet on Out and Back w/avg 2.9w/kg.
As @Jurgen_Grusdat asked, are you on a non-road bike? TT bikes get no draft. MTB and gravel bikes have higher rolling resistance. So in both cases, you’d be working harder to keep up. Although, 4.5w/kg hard w/Coco seems a stretch 
This definitely isn’t expected behaviour. Coco would never treat any of her friends like that.
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In the screenshots of your recent activities it looks like you are riding a TT bike. So, no draft when you are doing a group/pacepartner ride.
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Yep, you were correct, changed frame and will try again.
I can’t catch up to D. Diesel who’s at 1.5w/kg when pushing out 2-3w/kg the draft effect is too high to ever close the gap. I am doubly handicapped because Wattbikes are gear based and cannot be set to a power mode in Zwift therefore on gradients I am having to shuffle gears like a madman to try and maintain a sensible cadence and power.
You shouldn’t need to do 2-3w/kg unless you have fallen off the back (in which case you will, as you would with any group ride in Zwift).
I use a Wattbike too - I tend to spin up to what I think the required wattage is whilst the screen is loading and that generally works okay.
I think he means he is using a wattbike pro. So having to shuffle the resistance lever as things change with both profile and now power.
They are effectively a power meter on a dumb trainer.
Wattbike Atom. V1 Early 2020. I mean gears because downhill I have to go up the gears to maintain the power level. Uphill I have to use a lower gear to not go a lot faster.
My issue isn’t at the start. I was with the group for 10mins, all ok, then I flicked the app over to the companion trying to test my companion app issue. I kept peddling but when I flicked back to the Zwift app I’d dropped off the back of the pack by about 200-400m. I spent 4km chasing at far above 1.5w/kg to catch up but the speed of the peloton was clearly too high. I get that the benefits of the peloton is faster overall speed but it would be nice to stand a chance of catching up. Otherwise you have to quit and restart.
In that case ignore what I said… you’re on the same device as me 
Reducing your trainer difficulty (in game) will help with that. You won’t have to make as many gear changes.
Also, the pacer routes for next week are all really flat so gradient changes shouldn’t be an issue.
OK I’ll try the trainer difficulty. But, I still want to ride the same, and make my way up the ranks without cheating.
Huh? Changing the trainer difficulty for a pace partner ride is not cheating, you still need to put out the same power to stay with them it just removes the variability of the terrain.
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Are you using the same device for both the game and the companion app? I didn’t think that was possible.
No idea - I was trying to workout wtf was going on with whatever was to hand.
Pacing should be about that, with the peloton draft bonus the pack goes far faster than any solo rider at the same w/kg. This means it’s hard/impossible to catch up without enormous effort on the part of the detached rider.
I’d like to suggest that Pace Partner riding doesn’t benefit from drafting, to A) encourage riders to actually work out at the given rate and B) allow chasers to catch up.
This sounds harsh, it isn’t meant to. But don’t get dropped.
Focus on staying in the middle of the group. If you drop off the group you will have to push really hard to get back on. The same applies to every blob in Zwift that uses the draft. This isn’t the Pace Partners fault.
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So it isn’t a w/kg training system it is a peloton trainer. If you’re not in the group you’re stuffed. I got done by the system going round Japan too…trying to get the right speed on Wattbike without an average power mode meant I got dropped when on a downhill and never ever recovered despite doubling the ‘requested’ power. I know I’m not quick but the pack speed boost is too high and very punishing.
This is my last ride with the C Pace Partner. Her average is 2.5, mine was around 2.38. If you’re in the middle of the pack you should be able to hang in there at around 2.4.
Completely understand comments regarding the downhill pace - I think we have this too high and I’ve adapted this for the next round of routes.
