Why are my W/Kg higher than everyone I’m riding with

This holds true on climbs, descents and the flats

If you’re lighter than they are, W/kg will be higher on flat roads, mild climbs, descents, but not steep climbs.

If you’re on a TT bike, W/kg will be higher if other riders benefit from the draft, because you won’t.

If you’re on a MTB or gravel bike, W/kg will be higher on paved roads if you are maintaining the same speed as other riders.

Paul, thx. I understand with the TT bike, MTB, or gravel bike. But I’m on a road bike which supposedly is pretty good for weight and aero. And my weight is 72Kg which doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. Does everyone fudge their weight??

Of course they do, thats my #1 excuse for being slow :laughing:

I’d say you are still on the lighter side of the average Zwifter. What bike are you using in Zwift?

That’s not a crazy light weight. I am around 76kg and never have problems like that, unless I am chasing a giant downhill. Hard to say without seeing the circumstances.

OP will need more details on the situation / scenario. There’s so many possibilities.

If you’re riding, and require more w/kg, that could mean anywhere from:

  • You being the one sitting at the front, pulling; where everyone sits in your draft.
  • You being on a slow bike, or slow wheels, or both (this matters a LOT with upgrades now; just being “on a roadbike” doesn’t cover it anymore… especially when a stock vs fully upgraded bike is in the realm potentially of 0.3w/kg+)
  • You being lighter weight than those around you.
  • You being taller than everyone around you.
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Welp, I’m on the Specialized Venge with the Zipp 202 wheels. When I’m pulling of course the w/kg will be higher but the guy following me will come around still putting out less and then when I get behind him I’m still putting out more.

Then that person will either just be heavier and higher watts, and/or have an upgraded bike.

Worth noting in a pack, if you get jammed up behind someone, avoid constantly trying to get around them, we call that “wasted watts”; which is to block you from getting around them only to immediately fall behind them. (So basically… if you get stuck behind someone and don’t want to push… ease off until you start to fall away to figure out where you need to be power wise)

At the end of the day, it’s not all too important, w/kg is a more primary tell of how fast someone will be in Zwift compared to outdoors in the real world, just to balance things out and allow people of all weights and sizes to more easily ride together.

The terrain details matter a lot in that scenario, but what you describe is how it feels when I’m riding with someone who’s 25kg heavier than me. You could probably get a small improvement by using a better bike and wheels. You appear to be level 49, which means the best frame for all-around use will be the Specialized Tarmac SL8. Reasonable wheel choices would be Enve SES 8.9 on mostly flat routes, Enve SES 7.8 on routes with moderate climbs, Zipp 454 on routes with significant climbs.

Andrew is 100% correct about the possibility of doing too much work while sitting in the draft, and many people do that. In the game physics it’s like there is an invisible force field that gently repels you from the rider you are drafting if you start to get too close. The game tells you to “close the gap” when you are 2m away but you should not do that. 2m back is a great place to be. Using steering to come around a rider also helps reduce the extra power required to overtake.