Very new to Zwift–Just setup my Apollo bike on a Blackburn Trackstand, with a speed sensor on the back hub, and a cadence sensor on my left crank arm. I don’t seem to be translating the same speed in-game to the output I am putting in real life (see below brief stint). I feel like I am working my a** off in real life, and Zwift has me going at 3mph-9mph. I have tried switching gears on my bike for more resistance and the resistance on my trackstand to the most to see if that would affect anything and it doesn’t. I am very new to biking, but I know I should be producing way more input in the software than I am in real life. That 63watts is on max resistance on my bike and trackstand, so I know it should be more. For reference, I run a kilometre in roughly 5.30 minutes, so there’s no way the output I am giving to this bike is accurate, as I know I am working way harder than it is displaying. any suggestions or troubleshooting?
UPDATE: When I am in the menu (where you pair censors, controls, etc.) my speed sensor is displaying speeds up to 25mph in the same situation, with the cadence sensor displaying roughly 65rpm. Why is the game showing just a fraction of that input?
this information is being dispalyed on an FTP test within Zwift, and I think at this exact scenario, there is only 13ft of elevation which doesn’t seem like a lot…
Can you share a screenshot of your pairing screen? Were you able to select the Trakstand when pairing?
(Unrelated problem is that your power won’t be accurate enough using a speed sensor to have any confidence in an FTP test result. For that you would need a power meter or smart trainer, but what you described is worse than I would expect.)
Neil makes a good point. If the resistance is too high, wheel rotates too slowly, speed and estimated power are too low. If resistance is too low, wheel slips, rotates too quickly, speed and estimated power are too high. I also suggest using a tire designed for use on a trainer (Tacx, Continental, Vittoria, and Schwalbe make them) and pump it up to the maximum allowed pressure.
I’m having difficulty finding a medium. I’m all the way up on my right gear (hardest it can be) and working extremely hard and can barely meet standard requirements for 120w at 85rpm. It feels like a max workout but is supposed to be a “break” for this workout on zwift. Wish I could share videos as I’ve taken a couple to show effort level and heart rate while biking. I believe I have my track stand set to threshold and my wheels are schwalbe marathon plus with alexrims at450 - tires pumped up to the specified pressure…
Marathon Plus is not a good choice of tire for use on a trainer. Nice tire for commuting but you should probably try it with a trainer tire. If you like Schwalbe tires, look for the Insider model.
As for above, is there a reason my pairing screen is displaying such a higher metric for speed and rpm vs my actual in race metrics?? I can definently tell I am working way too hard for required input. I can barely achieve a 120w at 80rpm–feels like I am in the tour de france. have tried lowering and raising resistance but only seem to acheive the goal if I am on my highest gear and working my bag off…
Sorry I don’t have an explanation for that difference. You could contact support and ask them if there’s a reason, or maybe someone else will chime in here and offer a reason.
I think threshold on a Trakstand is 375 w at 25 mph, that’s way to high.
Riding the bike during the game keep reducing your resistance until you get 20 mph on the flat at 100 w in a gear of 50/22 and a cadence of 80 rpm and leave it there. That should get you near enough.
Note: with a dumb trainer Zwift has no control of the resistance.
In the screenshot you have provided you are going seriously uphill on the Hilly Route, that will seriously reduce your trainer wheel speed to the in game speed. When testing your system please select Tempus Fugit route, that will give you a closer correlation.
When you are initially pairing which ‘dumb’ trainer are you selecting? Have you tried selecting any other trainers and see what that does to your Zwift speed?
What wheel size are you selecting? Have you tried selecting other wheel sizes and see what effect that has?
What is your body weight and have you entered that correctly in game?
Not really a great setup for Zwift. You need an accurate power sensor connection to Zwift and then it can take that directly with your weight to give an accurate W/kg and generate your speed in Zwift. There are really several levels of trainers starting with just a speed sensor and you work your way up from there to a smart bike or preferably a dedicated indoor bike that interacts with Zwift to also change the resistance. I used what is referred to as a “Dumb Trainer” for a couple of years and then moved up as it brings more elements into the ride. Power pedals may be an upgrade option, although not cheap either.
haven’t had much luck getting much closer. Riding Tempus fugit right now which is a little closer but still off. Curious if it has anything to do with my speed sensor being identified as the track stand and not the actual censor I’m using (BK9S) but the pairing menu shows my dumb trainer (Trackstand ultra)—I switched to not listed to see if it makes a difference but it doesn’t.
My cadence rpm is spot on from pairing to actual menu but the speed is off by a large sum. Running out of options because I don’t have the ability to get new wheels or look at buying a powered source…
I am also finding out I cannot use zPower in the settings. It always reverts back to classic which may be a contributing factor?? I have tried to select it and hit ok, restart my software, etc and it won’t stay on zpower
I’ve gotten closer to matching speed and rpm but am still not entirely satisfied with the experience, which is a shame because it seems like a great hobby. I just did a 40min ride where my apple watch had me at an average hear rate of 160 but in game it said my total calories was 140… From not having my stuff matchup (physical to in game) I have been provided with some options to get closer but no luck:
my zPower setting won’t save - I am on a “dumb trainer” and it says this setting is recommended, but it will never save - every time i go back in to check, it stays at classic
people have recommended changing my wheel size to match my actual bike - i can’t find anywhere to do this.
my weight and height are inputted correctly
I select my “Blackburn Trackstand Dumb Power source and connect my cadence and speed censors.
I would love some advice on how to get this as close to my real life physical experience to match in game. for reference, i have an:
apollo frame
marathon plus wheels (i have been told these aren’t great but have no other alternative right now)
manual blackburn trackstand (have to change resistance before I ride)
zPower just means you are using a speed sensor not a power meter, the “classic” you are referring to is probaly where it want’s you to choose a trainer model?
The trainer you’ve got is perfectly fine to explore the game - but trying to get anything close to realistic power out of it is an exercise in frustration.
Either get a smart trainer or at least use a power meter (especially if you already have one) if you want anything approaching realism in the game.
The speed in-game has almost no relation to your measured wheel speed. Just forget it. The game is estimating power based on the resistance curve of the trainer you enter, then calculating your virtual speed based on that power and the terrain you’re on in-game.
As Ian mentioned a couple of days ago and Craig just mentioned, the speed you see in game will never match your wheel speed in real life because of how the game works.
As they both said, the game takes the wheel speed you are reporting, converts it to an approximate power level and then puts that power number into it’s physics simulator and gets a resulting in game speed. And remember, the simulator is taking wind resistance, grade, rolling resistance from road type, drafting, etc into account that you aren’t seeing in real life. So even on Tempus Fugit (the de-facto flat course for the game) the two speeds will never match all the time.
Think of it like this. Using wheel speed from a dumb trainer setup in Zwift is like running a computer game on a minimum spec computer. Will it run? Yes Will it run well and be fun to play? No
If you want realism with Zwift you need a direct drive / wheel off smart trainer or a dual sided power meter on your bike.
