Zwift physics is broken for ultra-light riders. Their wattage, height and weight get translated into unfeasibly fast speeds in Zwift. Height is almost certainly very significant here.
I think this has been mentioned numerous times. The weight plus height combo appears to be some kind of magic bullet for speed on Zwift. If this had very little effect, then why would height and weight doping have been so prevalent in the past?
the original Zwift developers knew the formula had upper and lower limits where it became less accurate that is why we had a minimum weight setting of 55kg (i am 90% sure that was the weight)
But so many users complained and Zwift changed the lower limit and suddenly we saw why there was a lower limit.
My assumption (we know about assumptions) is the base formula was created and verified using pro and Cat 1 -2 racing cyclists that have a lot of data, as you move away from the average weight (i guess 75kg) you have less IRL data and it get harder to fit a formula.
I am one of lifes naturally smaller riders, 165cm tall and around 61/62kg. My experiences of outdoor racing are fairly limited, but I have found that in Zwift races I appear to be far more competitive on the flat than in real life. However I have found that on the hills I lose the edge that I have riding outside.
I’m not sure whether this is down to the drafting effect or Zwift trying to balance things up, so that big and small riders can remain competitive in the various categories. I am pretty certain that I’m a better Zwift racer than my outdoor performances would show, even though my indoor and outdoor watts are just about identical.
I think the suggestion is that the physics model in use is less realistic for edge regions in both mass and height, rather than that there is a separate physics model based on mass.
I am currently 54.9 kg (48 years old, 168cm). I was 50 kg in my 20s. When I was a teenager (15-16 yo) I was something like 45kg…
Looking at his video, i’d say he is more than 34 kg. Weight cheating or just grew fast?
One of my sons went very fast from 40 to 50kg, he was already cycling, so he won everything in B for a few months (before getting more interested in partying, studying, biking irl with friends than zwifting)… he was always a little late on changing his weight (grew very fast and as he was exercising, he took a lot of muscle)
I thought the Zwift physics model worked until 45 kg.
Riders under 45 kg would start to have altered game mechanics.
Kind of like using ZP instead of a power meter.
Ultimately, the game needs to be fixed or place some boundary limits.
These light riders are not cheating.
We actually want to encourage them but let’s not give them participation trophies because of poor game physics.
Is the physics really broken if the kid does 6w/kg at 223w and still only finishes 3rd?
223w isn’t a shabby number (plenty of people in that race who had less). If the physics was broken then they should have smashed the field with that w/kg.
I think the real question here is how is someone who weighs only 37kg and has a BMI that would be classed as severely anorexic capable of producing 223w for an hour? Double arm amputee maybe?