Hi there. I’ve just been bumped up to A cat, even though I’m struggling to get results in B. I do podium once in a while, but only when the field isn’t too strong, and only when the finish isn’t suited for sprinters. I’m not too bothered about the prospects of finishing last indefinitely (or maybe I’ll just quit when I get tired of it), but it did make me wonder about the categorisation mechanics and the incentive structure it brings.
My 20 min power sometimes borders on A cat, but as I understand it, I’ve mainly been bumped because my short-term power isn’t good enough relative to my longer efforts. I.e. my power graph is too flat. I confirmed this effect earlier this season, when I was bumped up to A, and then allowed back in B after I did a short race to improve my 1-minute and 5-minute power numbers.
Having to improve your power numbers to rank down seems a bit weird, so I’m wondering why Zwift favours sprinters in this way?
In theory, you could dump Mark Cavendish in C cat, tell him to draft his way through the races, and then put down the hammer for the final couple hundred meters. He would win every event, but still be allowed to continue in C cat. Whereas I, being nowhere near the top bracket B riders on either climbing or sprinting routes, now have to race against the best riders in the game, even though I have ever only won a handful of races (and race quality was not high in any of those).
Any input as to how this could be changed?
Edit: And yes, I am very much enjoying the fact that the Chasing Tour uses the ZR.app categorizations so I can remain within my own bracket for those. But I would like to do other races as well.
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ABCD and 20-minute w/kg is dead. Long live platinum, gold, silver, bronze.
DRS has been brilliant.
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Yup. Would be happy to see a universal implementation of that system
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Yep zwiftracing.app has developed to a level that I would say it’s almost impossible for Zwift to implement a better system on their own, due to Tim’s flexibility to make continuous improvements (like the zrCS adjustment). They’d be better off making an offer and fully integrating it in to the Zwift ecosystem than taking a shot in the relative dark at what they thing would work.
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LOL i love it not hard to go from GOLD to silver by just have little bit of fun with that Guy ranking.
it still no Good. zwift racing ranking app in Pre beta at this point and time.
There are already other options out there for Race Organizers to use…we have zMAP at our races and the Limits are changed monthly.
You can check what would be your PEN…Friday and Sunday Race haveNew Limits.
Deliberate tanking of your rank is A: a bit pointless (it will adjust quickly when you do try) and B: about to become a lot harder to do, as anti-tanking mechanisms are put in place.
hold on, have you not look at that guys site for my name , i think tomorrow race/ride non top 10 , just for some fun.
“(it will adjust quickly when you do try)” well it little late on that part. For now it late.
I don’t understand what you are saying.
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Not trying to tank. Just wondering why a strong sprinter winning every race is allowed in B rank, while a mediocre endurance rider is promoted.
Furthermore, if improving my numbers is tanking, that is a pretty good indication that the system is not working
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That wasn’t in response to you, it was in response to the comment about zwiftracing.app
I agree with your point.
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@gloscherrybomb i will show you problem, clear as day to what the problem is.
it not up to me to solve the problem i am only showing you the Problem. who run that site.
zwiftracing .app /riders/62302 have been hit lots and lots PR in the last 30 days.
What do you think the issue is? Where do you think you should be?
top of gold 1, how much i have shave off of points, maybe to low end gold 2, you can see there lot big gap/drop going to the down side. i was having some fun with the rank’s seening how much i can move it around.
I am now ranked better than you. Come fight me in the next KISS 100.
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yeah, it’s not ideal. test your 3 and 12 min max. 12 minutes is a weird length for a blowout effort so if you’re anything like me your zwift pr will rarely represent what you’re actually capable of
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Sure, but on Zwift you are a C, and on ZR.app your constant ‘exploitation’ of the Zwift system has seen you go up to the equivalent of B… so I would say that’s working pretty well. You may find in ZR.app organised races you are not having it your own way any more (hard to imagine after 8 years or so of gaming Zwift)
Similar thing has happened to me but the opposite way round.
I’ve been racing in B and recently broken though a plateau. I’m approaching Gold 2 on ZRacing and have improved my VO2 Max. This week I set 15/30/60 second PBs. But because of this , Zwift has dropped me to Cat C as of this morning. Effectively meaning I could sandbag at Z2/Z3 in Zwift CE races and podium the majority of sprints.