Zwift=One big sprint

There is not the 0.1t fatty in a winners’ platform if I talk about the real world.

Sure you will loose in real world against that fatty you say… so I’m sorry.
But maybe there are 190cm tall, full muscle people with 85-88kg that will win in the most of races in the real world against the light 60kg guys… as cycling is more than Alpes and tour of France.

Maybe running in the mountains, trail…etc lighter is always better. Not cycling… Somebody had to tell…

Really “fresh” article! :smiley:

EFFECT OF RIDER WEIGHT ON FLAT ROADS

Flat tests were completed over two laps of the Tempus Fugit route.

TEST RESULTS

  • 82kg @ 300 watts: 52 minutes, 17 seconds (39.7kph)
  • 75kg @ 300 watts: 51 minutes, 26 seconds (40.4kph) – 51 seconds faster

FLAT TEST OBSERVATIONS

While some Zwifters like to say “it’s all about pure watts on flat roads,” it’s not that simple. Weight does affect your speed on the flats in Zwift, since it changes your computed CdA. Or to put it another way: two riders of the same height but different weights will have different CdA values in Zwift, meaning the heavier rider will need to push more watts to keep up with the lighter rider, who is encountering less (virtual) air resistance.

Conclusion: reducing your body weight by 1kg will save you ~9 seconds over an hour-long flat race effort on Zwift.

JUST FOR THE LIGHT GUYS WHO THINK THEY ARE PENALISED AT ZWIFT

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IN FACT, LIGHTER RIDERS ARE HELPED IN DESCENTS, SO IF YOU ARE HEAVY CAN NOT CATCH THE LIGHTER IN THE DESCENT, OR IT’S MORE HARD!!

NOTE HTAT TESTS ARE ONLY 7 KILOGRAMS DIFERENCE, NOT 20KG.
(Zwiftinsider says that is difference between lighter and heavier bike, so you could apply this to bike gear selection)

EFFECT OF RIDER WEIGHT ON CLIMBS

Climbing tests were completed up Alpe du Zwift, an 8.5% average gradient which is 12.2km long.

TEST RESULTS

  • 82kg @ 300 watts: 54 minutes, 49 seconds (13.4kph)
  • 75kg @ 300 watts: 49 minutes, 31 seconds (14.8kph) – 318 seconds faster

CLIMB TEST OBSERVATIONS

Conclusion : reducing your body weight by 1kg will save you ~45 seconds up Alpe du Zwift.

EFFECT OF RIDER WEIGHT ON DESCENTS

Descent tests were completed down Alpe du Zwift, an -8.5% average gradient which is 12.2km long.

TEST RESULTS

  • 75kg @ 300 watts: 10 minutes, 7 seconds (72.5kph)
  • 82kg @ 300 watts : 10 minutes flat (73.3kph) – 7 seconds faster

DESCENT TEST OBSERVATIONS

Conclusion: reducing your body weight by 1kg will cost you 1 second on a 10-minute Alpe du Zwift descent.

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Most of the answer to this lies in your personal style physiology and race craft.

There is a point though that zwift racing is disproportionately based around 45m-60m races on flat / rolling courses. This obviously favours a certain style of rider and we know cycling is multi disciplinary.

This is not really zwift problem they are simply reacting to demand on what users want.

Maybe try some TT races?

The descent of Zwift is a gag.
The state to clear a hairpin while maintaining 90km per an hour is a splendid gag.
The person who challenged a hairpin curve at a speed more than 90km per an hour breaks through a guardrail and flies in the sky.

Generally, it is necessary for a fatty to cut down on speed.

It is a race of the reality world that a racer of various height weight wins.
(but the fatty is excluded)

You are totally right!!!
If heavy riders in Zwift have NOT to brake in hairpins and still the advantage of a heavier rider is so tinny (1kg is only 1 second of advantage) it’s clear that Zwift favor light riders in descent!!!

While climbing, 1kg less save 45 seconds!!!

Light rider can take advantage climbing and heavier can NOT recover much of that in descent…

I wonder if showing racer weight onscreen next to rider name and wkg during an event would help tighten up any false weights (no one reports a false weight, do they? :slight_smile: .

I did two races today. Here are the weights of racers that finished ahead of me (A Cat):

Race 1: Alpe Du Zwift
Place #… Weight in Kg (Pounds)
1… 63 kg (139 lbs)
2… 62 kg (137 lbs)
3… 66 kg (146 lbs)
4… 71 kg (157 lbs)
5… 67 kg (148 lbs)
6… 60 kg (132 lbs)
7… 69 kg (152 lbs)
8… 77 kg (170 lbs)
9… 101 kg (223 lbs)
10… 67 kg (148 lbs)
11… 68kg (150 lbs) (me)

Race #2: ZHQ FutureWorks Circuit Race - Anti-sandbagging
1… 62 kg (137 lbs)
2… 69 kg (152 lbs)
3… 61 kg (134 lbs)
4… 68 kg (150 lbs) (me)

Looks like a few really light people there. Certainly possible, but kinda suspect. Take it for what it’s worth, if anything. Just a wild guess from the numbers I’d say there’s around a 40% chance people are fudging their weight at least a little. Again, it could all be true.

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I dont think there is much discussion about this, plus it also makes sense with real life physics (good job @ Zwift).

The problem and discussion, as far as I am concerned, is with the race categorisation based on wkg. Meaning if both riders would produce the watts to ride the same lap time, the lighter rider may get upgraded to B while the heavier rider is allowed to stay in C. By extension, the heavy rider gets a sort of recovery in the draft, while the lighter rider is required to hover around/above FTP just to hang in the group.

It’s very difficult to pinpoint how big this gap really is compared to race craft etc, and my feeling is that this effect would be much less significant if it weren’t for the next-Cat riders pulling the group. However, my experience is that I may just have gained the absolute power required to hang in the front group in C and I’m next in line to be upgraded. That’s part of the game, however, and I’ll be happy to join the Bs in the near future.

BTW; also refer to this great article: Speed Tests: Steady w/kg Across Various Body Weights | Zwift Insider

The outbound fastest time and weight do not almost matter in the reality world either.
It is advantageous to each at the speed of the straight line or the speed of the curve, and there is a fault.
It is a problem of the technique.
And all the technique equals in Zwift.
And when will it be understood when the race does not compete for the maximum speed?

When I think carefully

Though fat has cancel the penalty of the curve, and outbound time is actually early; of what will be dissatisfied?

He knows it if he sees this thread, but he thinks that speed calculation itself of Zwift is strange.
ttps://forums.zwift.com/t/fix-physics-simulation-on-the-flat/317921/1

Probably he is a Martian.
And a Martian make HP which he referred to.
The air resistance will not be a great problem on thin Mars of the air.
The air resistance faces each other and will not increase even if heavy even if height is high.

Though even the winner of the track race is not selected by max power on the earth.

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If you race IRL, or if you know how is it in Criteriums like that on Zwift, you never will see 62kg or 61kg in the podium as that you posted.
EVERYBODY KNOWS. :wink:

Same in the ITT as we see IRL.

But Zwift is Matrix

Hope you have to race IRL with some big guys, flat criterium races or ITT.
Sure you will adore Zwift

That race only had 5 racers in the A cat and all 5 were under 70kg.

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It is a Japanese article and is bad, but the lightweight small-sized rider reaches 40km per an hour at 210W in the reality world.

As the fat man needs 300W, it is tough.lol

If you want, we can choose others.
There are lots, everyday.
Check Zwiftpower please.

Same thing in the ITT races.
And what about 60kg climbers well placed at IRL ITTs? Nothing to say?

Yes please. :+1:

But that’s not the point of the topic. So start a new topic.