Hello, I’m new here so bear with me if the answers obvious, I’m a male so I don’t read instructions. I entered my 1st race today, Flat Is Fast, but I noticed in the pens that my usual bike had been changed. I use the Scott Plasma RC Ultimate normally but was stuck on the Zwift Steel bike. I went into the garage to change it but couldn’t, so I came out of the race, changed back to my fast bike & rejoined. Back in the pan & im back on the steel. Is this normal for races, where they put everyone on the same, or a problem?
Most races are set up to not allow TT bikes, the Flat is Fast races are applying this rule.
When you’re on a bike that isn’t allowed to be used for a race you will be automatically swapped to the zwift steel bike - it’s the default bike that everyone has.
Have you got any other bikes to use?
To have the Plasma you must be at least level 19, so you can get the Canyon Aeroad 2024 if you have enough drops. The Felt AR is available from level 23, and is the equal fastest non-tt bike in the game for flat roads.
In addition to Tom’s comments, you should know that TT bikes get no draft, which means they are generally awful in races, especially when there is a big fast-moving pack on flat roads. The reason they prevent you from using TT bikes is because you are likely to be instantly dropped unless you’re strong enough to ride it solo at the same speed as the group, which is unlikely.
Also in some cases the event does actually force everybody on the same (usually sponsor-correct) bike. I think I have seen this more with group rides though.
(Zwift Steel, really? If it is just about taking away the TT bike, I would have thought it would at least default to the Zwift carbon bike, or maybe it’s just selecting the last non-TT bike the user has actually used?)
The Zwift carbon bike is no longer the default bike for new users since last December, so now it goes to the steel bike which is the current default.
I agree it would be better to shift the user to whatever road bike they used last.
Thank you all for the prompt replies, very informative & useful. Time to get into the shop & do some spending.