Smart Trainer Resistance

The Archives Archived: General Discussion
1

Under Zwift’s description on it’s setup options, the premium setup has the following description.

 

“This setup changes your resistance in real time based on road gradient and is ideal for the rider that wants the most immersive experience.”

 

Road gradient is only one of the factors that changes the resistance. Does Zwift actually detect speed or power and change the resistance to simulate aerodynamic drag i.e. while TTing on flats or when sprinting?

Please share your user experience based on your model of smart trainer.

As a Real Turbo Muin user, I can confirm that currently, when sprinting on watopia or richmond sprint zone there is a cap in resistance i.e. in maximum gear combination 53x11, I can only reach around 750 watts with 130rpm cadence as the resistance did not increase with speed increasing beyong 40-45 km/hr

 

 

2

A quick look at the Elite website doesn’t turn up an exact spec, but 750 watts is probably the brake limitation of the trainer. All Elite’s website says is “more than 550” watts.

For comparison, I have a Tacx Vortex and it’s sustained max brake power is 750 watts with 10 second sprints possible up to 900w. The Kickr is around 2,000 watts max I believe, and I think the only other trainer anywhere near it in terms of max brake power is the new Tacx Neo.