Can anyone explain how the top of the D category not only stays there in D but also gets all sorts of strange results, including a win at 2.0? Please help. I ask because I get upgraded but lack the fitness to be there.
S
Without seeing actual data it’s hard to answer this, but for races shorter than 20mins you can expect riders to go above the w/kg limit. People can do a lot of things to stay in their cat, they can sandbag, they can manipulate their weight etc. But if they push more power than category enforcement will let them, then they will be upgraded.
OK. So more than likely, there is some sort of manipulation for someone like the guy in first in D to stay in that cat.
Hard to tell without seeing the data, it is possible that someone is sandbagging though, and keeping their power under the cat enforcement limits.
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Go to the leaderboard and look at the 50+ in the D category. It’s wild.
Most likely:
145kg is weight of both on tandem
75kg is weight of one doing their own workout etc
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Sounds like they need another account.
Do people actually use a tandem on Zwift? Would be interesting, but I never thought of it as an actual thing.
Edit: and if you race using a tandem and keep winning in D does category enforcement do the right thing for that case?
It has no concept of two riders on one bike. Just the mass and the power. When the mass is big enough, you probably stay within the limits. Both the tandem and the OP’s example are massive riders in a system that mostly considers W/kg.
I understand how it works, but I guess I’m just thinking out loud, and wondering if the Zwift physics of two 75kg riders on a tandem who are sitting in D due to their combined w/kg at 150kg would have an advantage and I think the answer is … yes.
They are just an example of people sitting in the D category that are posting big numbers. I posted a couple of good numbers and I got upgraded and cannot get back.
S
I understand the desire to “get back”, it’s unfortunate though, because Zwift should find a way to celebrate upgrades, and make it something people “want”. There should not be someone who can sit in “top D”, or “top C” for months on end, but here we are. Hopefully with race ranking they solve some of this.
just like King bath salts, Ruler of the C Cat, i win lot of my road race, at 2.5w/kg.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIbuHKW8HJFcwyeH5Nbgb4rjgeevwhM9 learning how to race playlist by Bath salts.
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Yes. Please talk about your settings that make you beat people at 3.1. Would Love to understand.
The reason I ask is that I jump into the sea races now and push 2.5 to 2.8 and get dropped like I’m standing still.
He’s 93kg, so his absolute watts are pretty high. Sucks wheels skillfully. Good sprint.
And Canadian.
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It also helps to have a lot of power in reserve so you can surge as needed to stay glued to the draft. If you’re at your limit that’s going to be very hard to do. Occasional little surges don’t change average power very much.
I have raced against that tandem. For sure the Zwift algorithm does not calculate correctly for a tandem, the drag will be too low for the combined riders and the bike weight will be much lighter than a tandem bike. They input the height of one rider and presumably the weight of both. I notice that they stick to flat races where this is the most beneficial. Since there are many other cheats in racing I don’t worry about it.