Zwift employee Poll

General Discussion
1

For real this will probably get less attention from Zwift staff than any other thread BUT you never know.

I’m curious, what do Zwift employees think of the regular users experience being somewhat dependent on ZwiftHacks for event data, ZwiftPower for race ability and marred data, Strava for accurate segment data, and ZwiftInsider for virtual bike data, and limited update data?

So @Vincent_Williams1 , @Josie.L , @Lauren_MZwift , @Kehva_Vaughan , what do you think? Am I crazy for thinking it is all a little to complex? Do you agree that subbing to 5 websites is reasonable for a basic experience in Zwift?

2

I don’t think it is crazy to think we need to use other software. I use Strava when I ride outside. I use the race website to find my race time when I race outside.

I would ask zwift to give Zwifthacks more access to the api and less dependent on ZwiftGPS.

I like it that the community can be creative.

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3

I like that the community can be creative. I don’t like a multi-million dollar company relying on the community to perform functions that company should be providing.

4

Every time this comes up, I ask the same thing:

If Zwift links seemlessly to apps like Strava, why do you want the company to reinvent Strava’s wheel? (or training peaks, or whichever platform you like)

And I’m not trying to be snarky (I don’t work for Zwift OR Strava, I’m just a curious user of both).

I also use Garmin Connect to send my outdoor data to Strava, even though Garmin’s app also stores the same data.

So - as a single repository for my indoor and outdoor rides, Strava works very well. I go one further and use VeloViewer to dive deeper into splits and show courses in 3D, and - well, whatever else I might want to do with it.

Why do I need Zwift to do EVERYTHING? Even if we suppose that it could do them all well if the company wanted to (there’s surely no guarantee that it would, right?) - is it a better use of resources to compete with Strava or to expand the worlds, add new training plans, etc?

I guess I can see the desire for a more fully integrated management of race entries & results, but… idk. From my admittedly limited use of Zwift Power, it seems to work well enough and is free. shrug

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5

My issue isn’t about Strava as that’s a company and paid service in its own right.

Zwift is promoting eRacing and relying on ZwiftPower, a community run website, to fulfil that function properly. That’s poor form in my eye.

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6

That is no different than what IRL races do, a third party do the timing.

We all know that Zwift and ZP work well together.

I see Zwift as the guys that build and maintain the roads we ride on. Then we have event organizers mostly the community and then we have the guys that do the timing ZP.

So the more zwift can focus on making the riding experience better.

and ZwiftHacks is my GPS.

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7

Yes but they pay for the privilege.

We’ve been told that Zwift recently had an input of $120million. Where on earth has that money gone? So far this year we’ve had 7.2km of roads in Bologna and about 12km in Watopia and the Drop Shop. Sure they’ve probably spent some on servers and the like
but even with all the new members it’s not as if the rate of development has increased. I work in an industry where we model buildings and urban environments, I really don’t understand how it takes them so long.

8

Let’s be clear, I’m not asking for an enhanced Zwift experience brought to me by creative people.

I pay for a monthly service, which currently operates at a premium higher than other similar services.

Nothing is free in life, and I like to subscribe to services that I pay for because there is a legal binding to that agreement. I appreciate that sort of online security.

ZwiftHacks.

Why is it better than the Zwift website for event data? , because it offers event data in an easy to navigate format. The Zwift website does not offer an easy to navigate course/ride description. ie. length and elevation data, I can’t even click on the related course to get info on the Zwift website.

It’s all too simple to implement this change not only on the Zwift website, but also in the event criteria if that became a standard in publishing an event which it should be.

ZwiftPower.

I pretty much have to use ZwiftPower if I want to race and see semi-accurate results. Events tell me so. Benefits to ZP over Zwift are that I can see a lot more Ride data than I can through Zwift. Though Segment data isn’t there yet and I need to ride in an event to allow the most data appear in many areas of ZP.

Strava.

No interest. I’ve used Strava before but grew tired of carrying my phone outdoors during every activity and being tracked by GPS.

Zwift Insider.

Unnecessary IMO. I visit ZI so I can see virtual gear data that Zwift refuses to provide with a ridiculous 4 star kit system that makes no sense. ZI also provides more Zwift update data than Zwift but even that is limited info. Zwift should be providing this info, not ZI.

Zwift Forums.

Where you go when all else fails or if you just want to shoot the breeze. Only issue here is that Zwift has for the most part given up having any part of the discussion. Best comment you’ll see in here from Zwift staff is “please submit a support ticket, blah blah.” Not sure I’ve ever seen a game forum supported by a Game that offers less support or discussion from the game staff than this Zwift forum does.

I can see an affiliate grab and a Zero liability approach from a business from a mile away. This will likely be why I cancel.

Adding @Christian_Figueroa to the discussion.

Do I need to be part of a virtual circle jerk of affiliates to enjoy a basic Zwift experience? That is the question.

9

So that $120 was for e-racing (that is how I understood it) so I would assume there has been a lot of development under the hood.

10

In that case I can’t see that they won’t either buy ZwiftPower or develop their own setup. It wouldn’t make be good sense for them to hang a multi-million investment on a community run website, no matter how good it is!

11

To enjoy a basic Zwift experience? All you need is Zwift and the companion app. You can ride all day, do workouts, group rides, races, and training plans, review your activity data, see your upcoming workouts, find/follow zwifters, manage your account, navigate the courses, see upcoming events, etc.

It’s only when our definition of “basic” expands to include 'see my age-group-specific placing in a race I did a week ago" and “filter upcoming events by elevation gain” that we start to run into problems. But, seriously?

Let’s go back a decade and think what a basic trainer session looked like:

Speed, cadence, HR and numbers and maybe power data on a tiny LCD screen on a head unit was the entertainment, social interaction was non-existent, virtual racing was unheard of.

Now here we are, and we’re complaining because Zwift hasn’t become everything to all users (yet)… in < 4 yrs?

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12

My basic experience includes the following.

Allow my to easily see all aspects of a group ride or race I may want to enter.

I’d also like to see segment and ride data beyond viewing a single ride and then trying to find a similar ride in my event history on Zwift or in the companion app.

And, when you update the app I have running on my PC, tell me what you are doing. I pay for the experience and deserve that much.

This is basic for 2019 believe it or not.

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13

Which aspects? If I click on an upcoming race in the companion app (e.g. 3R Classique Flat Race - 4 Laps starting at 5:15 Mon June 3, I can see the total distance and the elevation gain, who’s registered for each category (and the total number of riders in each). What more is there to know beforehand?

I guess I’m not sure what you mean. In real-time as you ride every segment? Or in review after the fact? For me, this is where Strava comes in.

That’s fair enough… seems like an easy enough feature request to submit.

14

Try clicking on a few different events in the companion app or the Zwift website. The elevation or other relevant course/ride/race info is not always available. This is a known feature miss, and why a lot of people use ZwiftHacks or other sources to schedule rides

Yes, in review after the fact without Strava.

15

13 replies and not one from Zwift. What’s up with that?

16

Clearly you are free to choose to use Strava or not, that is entirely up to you, but when Strava exists and can connect so easily with Zwift and give the functionality you describe, I honestly don’t see the point of Zwift duplicating that. Strava allows me to collate all of my indoor and outdoor rides in one place and gives me all the basic experience you say is not available.

Zwift appear to be taking a collaborative approach, in terms of using existing services, or enabling the community to add more services around it, which I’ll be honest, I quite like. And wasting time and effort duplicating things that already exist elsewhere doesn’t seem like a productive use of resources to me.

But, I guess mileage varies.

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17

Indeed it does, again nothing is free and you should be aware of what anyone offers you for free.

It’s not about duplicating the efforts of Strava, it’s about about the obvious cohesive relationship Zwift has with Strava. If you don’t think there is a business agreement in place between Strava and Zwift you are naive on the subject of how Zwift is conducting their business.

Still waiting for Zwift’s response.

18

Just an FYI, the Zwift Staff you tagged could have notifications turned off and have not checked the forums in a while, but ya someone should chime in.

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Lol, for sure that could be true, but why? If you are a Zwift staff member why would you turn forum notifications off if you support Zwift? You Paul, and me, care more for the community to do something like that.

Holy moly, I started this thread as a simple thing, looking for simple answers to simple questions. Too much for Zwift apparently. They are waiting for the forum mob to extinguish this fire and they don’t care if I cancel my sub. Fair enough. Lesson learned.

20

I cannot speak to your questions in my job role but as an employee I will mention this.

You started this thread over the weekend… While we have full-time support over the weekend we tend to try and enjoy our time-off and go outside or be with our families. We have a very active and passionate staff who work hard but also are passionate about many other activities and balance.

This is being reviewed and hopefully you should get a proper reply soon.

Also… We have an opening on our staff for someone who’s responsibility it would be to help us respond quicker and more accurately to the community. If you or anyone is interested and wants to move to Long Beach go here. Zwift | Careers

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