Hi,
I’m interested to know how accurate my watt output is on Zwift.
With the Elite Volare the difference between resistance 2 and 3 is huge.
How do I know if Zwift is reading it right, should the restance level by selected and left alone for Zwift to work accurately. If so, what is the correct setting.
Cheers JD
On the Zwift Pairing screen it will tell you what resistance level to use and you should NOT change it.
Cheers Paul,
It wasn’t completely transparent, it does say L3, I assumed that means resistance 3 out of the 5 available. It’s incredibly difficult to even do 10 mins at the watts it’s asking me to do on L3.
JD
@John_Day4
With a classic wheel-on trainer, you can experience too much resistance if your tire is cranked too hard against the trainer’s drive roller. It might be a mechanical drag in the axle & bearings of the trainer or of the bike’s axle / bearings.
Be sure to use normal inflation pressures as you’d use outdoors, then tighten the driver roller just enough so the tire doesn’t slip under a hard acceleration.
Over time, you may see a waxy tire residue build on the roller - be sure to clean that off so you don’t have to overtighten the roller.
Lastly - have you checked the rear wheel runs straight between the brake pads, and is not rubbing your brake pads?
Would you let us know if this trainer setup improves your ride?
Shuji, great response, thank you.
I’ll take a look at those points and feedback.
I can definitely see a smooth contact point on the roller vs the rough either side of the tyre contact point.
Bear with, I’ll see if some improvements can be made.
Cheers JD
I just want to say from direct experience that the Zwift power curve match for the Elite Volare is completely wrong - others have commented on this.
I had the Elite Mag Volare and on level 3 Zwift was assessing my FTP as 172. I knew this was too low as a couple of years back had done some more established lab assessments as a sports science uni facility.
On L3 I would find the Volare impossible on Zwift, my w/kg would be so low.
In December I bought a Kickr Core and my FTP was assessed at 278. 278 compared to 172 on the Volare.
That’s such a massive discrepancy. Other threads have commented on it here also.
Posting this as I’m sure this is pretty niche - very few people will be using the Elite Volare! - but if you are, hopefully this will appear in your search results and reassure you that your fitness hasn’t just collapsed; Zwifts recommendation for which turbo to match it to is out of whack.
I’ve the same trainer and new to Zwift too, so looking for a solution that works and makes it simple as a new user it can appear complicated.
Would you suggest dialling down the resistance from L3 to L2 ?
The instructions are very poor and it’s all guess work for complete novices.
I’ve done a FTP test and as there was no guidance I set it up as ‘other’ trainer and no resistance, just the tyre on the roller. I’ve done a ride and set up using the Volare Mag Speed and set it at L3 and it was like pulling a bag of sand around. Obviously impossible to achieve the FTP rates as there was a significant amount of resistance.
I suspect I’ll redo the FTP test at L2 and take it from there…
Not sure there is a sensible solution other than to get a smart turbo.
By all means change the turbo type in the selection screen, but realise then that although you’ll be (hopefully) getting more accurate, it will still be INaccurate and if you intend to enter races, will be looked down on unfavourably (and correctly, I’m afraid), because there’s a risk you’ll be higher than you really are.
I appreciate that smart trainers are quite expensive, but it was the best investment I ever made in my training and would recommend - beg, borrow and steal if you have to!*
Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.
I don’t intend to race, I’m just intend to use Zwift for fitness and after my 2 month trial with Peleton app, I got bored with just doing spinning classes.
I get the whole debate on smart trainers v classic trainers and it’s something I might look at after I get settled into Zwift. It’s probably only going to be 2 or 3 times a week at most exercise so I’ve got to justify the investment.
I might redo the FTP test, as I did it with no resistance then changed the trainer to L3 for my first ride, as I thought it was set up wrongly.
Time to mess around with it and work out how it all works.
Can I ask please how you change the turbo type once you have gone past that screen at the start I am using this type but may have added it the wrong one.
Thanks
Jay
Hi @Jason_Cowlard welcome to Zwift forums!
I could use a little more context - I imagine you’re asking about the pairing screen, and how to switch trainer types from a smart trainer to a classic trainer? Is that right?
This Support Hub article will walk you through it. If you have a classic trainer that broadcasts no power / speed / cadence data, you’ll need to have sensors mounted to your bike that broadcast speed data over Bluetooth, and preferably - also a cadence sensor. See this article for details on that.
Do you have a speed sensor on your rear wheel that broadcasts in Bluetooth LE? If that’s the case, you’d choose Speed Sensor in the top row of the pairing screen, and go from there.
Hi that’s perfect
Kind Regards
EDIT: Admin removed personal info
