Not all Ds are created equal.
My FTP was 1.0 when I started Zwift. There aren’t many rides suitable for that sort of pace.
Also, that tone is a bit off imho.
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Why not? As long as this is verified in some way there really should not be any issues. I know that I have ‘gained or lost’ that much weight in a short period of time, depending on what time of day I am doing a ride and what activities have/have not preceded a ride (first thing in the morning, fasted for 12+ hours vs. just after lunch or dinner), or what I have eaten (I tend to retain more weight after consuming carb-laden meals vs when sticking to a ketogenic diet).
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It will maybe be hard to track real weight if it can be changed all the time (outside a race)?
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It seems to me that it would be much better to have some sort of bias/handicapping in-game control that can optionally be used only by riders in certain Group Rides (organiser-selectable if it can be used), and which absolutely cannot be used in Races.
Then there would be no need to try and use weight as a substitute handicapping device.
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The same as bias in workouts.
This ^^ absolutely this! Using weight to bias is ludicrous.
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Or rubberbanding?
It would probably need a wider range than bias in workouts.
And workout bias controls resistance, I think? It might need to directly control speed in this case, e.g. riders who can’t keep up on the flats? But it could still be just resistance if it’s only gradients that are the problem.
… is in theory possible for group rides, but @James_Zwift has told us before that it isn’t used because it doesn’t work very well. I’m not sure if it would be too popular either, because rubberbanding does totally change the dynamic.
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I’ve noticed that most or all of the egregiously wrong Strava segments rides seem to be from rubberbanded meet-ups…. I’ve only tried it once and was not a fan.
A handicap system would be much better than requiring people to change their weight to allow them to join group rides - so hopefully that’s something in discussion. The thing about normalizing changing weights for group rides is people who were told by group leaders to do that so they can hang on will be a bit more likely to feel it’s ok to do that for a race to “hang on”: it’s a bit of a slippery slope. Also, naturally folks who aren’t huge into racing will just forget to change it back if they happen to join a race, where that rider’s weight can make a big difference to everyone’s enjoyment of the race, so that becomes an issue if there is a goal to make racing fair.
Also, with the new categorization enforcement system which takes into account all rides, if someone changes their weight for a group ride and goes as hard as they can, and sets new W/kg records as a result - would they get bumped up a racing category, or no? If so, then yeah, people probably should be aware of implications of modifying height and weight in a group ride.
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Weight doping isn’t that big of a deal IMHO. When I’m racing in a C category race, I want my avatar racing other C cat avatars. How they get there isn’t as much of an issue as having participants cheating by riding down cat or cruising. Or changing their weight during a race so they are climbing faster than they should be able to.
We just want everybody blowing chunks as hard as we are when we’re racing. Having riders with their HR at 135 when we’re at 178 is just wrong. Like I said in the the closed cheater thread, when this isn’t the case, racing on Zwift has no meaning and isn’t fun.
Please remember to be respectful of other Zwifters and their rights to Zwift as they choose.
It’s worth bearing in mind that group rides are not races. People are entitled to set their weight to something other than reality outside of competitive events, particularly if that enables them to better enjoy those events.
Realistically, it’s little different to someone, say, setting Trainer Difficulty at 50% so they don’t feel like the hills are as steep.
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Honestly, I think this goes too far. Races, yes. Both other events? Nah, people should be able to adjust their settings in those.
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I really don’t understand why any rider would need to change their weight or height in an event if it’s genuinely not correct exit ride and correct with the sxxx storm that has happened over the last week I find it incredible why anyone would be the against the new changes. I also find it bizarre why @James_Zwift you don’t see any issues with riders constantly changing their weight to join group rides. FYI my brother has recently joined Zwift on my recommendation he probably would manage Diesel Dan pace for x amount of time but wants to as am sure others who newly join Zwift get used to the interface and build up fitness on free rides and workouts before joining any group rides. If I suggested to him to change his weight so he could join x group ride there is no way he would agree as this is not correct you are falsifying your profile deliberately. As others have said there are numerous group rides for low D cats, Zwift Riders Scotland 
have a E Cat group ride every Sunday at 09:05 and many new comers join no one is ever left behind. If you still feel low CAT D’s are not catered for then it’s time Pacebot E. Eddie or Elaine makes an appearance at 1.0 w/kg to fill the gap.
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Yes, and then there are flyers in the front… the fence worked ok, but they need a wall, or a grouping feature like we have for meetups. And then there are those in for the chat… they go the right speed and are good company, if all the flyers went the right speed, group rides would be easier and more common
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Simply to make it easier to complete the event.
Particularly for novice riders, or anyone who feels like it’d be nice if getting up the Epic KOM wasn’t so hard. They can just change their weight and make it easier.
I’ve no issue with that outside of a race. I really don’t understand why anyone else does.
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Still don’t agree as Group rides are still classified on Zwift Power again I can only speak for myself and my opinion on how I think genuine riders would act which is if I couldn’t complete the ride due to lack of fitness etc I would exit the ride and save and either choose an easier group ride or concentrate on building up fitness before trying another group ride in a few weeks.
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Changing weight is just a sticking plaster. A sticking plaster that’s been around for too long, for sure. But there are much better ways to implement this, and it’s faintly ludicrous that messing with weight is the solution here (and has been for so long).
Considering that having accurate weight is vital to fair racing, it’s crazy that fiddling with weight is necessary in other non-racing activity in order to produce a fun experience for some people. It normalises weight adjustments in a lot of people’s minds across the board, including in racing.
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Your “sticking plaster” is my leveller and enabler.
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