Zwift=One big sprint

Only one is 60kg, not the others.

I said before: at least Remi, Karl, Jeremy and Cedric the first of them are around 68-70kg or more.
And yes, the winner, Adrien Maire was 60,6kg…

I think this has been a great thread. And @Susun_Corda I can add a little extra insight as a 100kg rider… Zwift in its calculation of speed puts way too much emphasis on W/kg on flats. It seems reasonable on hills, but the other day my 19 year old son was riding his bike on one kickr and I was riding mine on a second kickr and we were trying to ride along together on a flat. Normally on real roads we’ll ride along very easily together but in Zwift with my weight at 100kg and his at 65kg I was having to ride at 190Watts and him at 50-60W. when at speed on a flat a person’s weight should make very little difference except that you have slightly more frontal area. It seems unlikely I would need 3X the power to ride at a steady 17-18mph.

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Again: www.zwifter. fr/1.jpg

It’s nice this discussion lives on because it’s important if you think Zwiftracing is important.
I have concluded that the rating when it comes to racing favours peoplel on the heavier side on a stationary bike which don’t rock from side to sid when you sprint. If you are a heavier guy and maybe even have a team then it’s free points all the way down to 100. Just take on one of Zwifts sprintcompetitions (also known as Critraces) and you are the winner.

Not sure I have a solution and if their could be a solution because it’s just what it is. I myself prefer the mountains, atleast til I get a decent sprint. If you have no sprint you are toasted, do not enter any races on the flat and especielly NOT if they are 20 minutes or some other stupid short duration.

/my newly gathered coins.

Thanks for your experience.

I talked about this many times in this forum and people don’t want to admit this evidence.

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Looks very reasonable.
Climbers prefer mountains and heavier sprinters prefer criteriums, as IRL.

BUT, here in Zwift climbers also have opportunities racing ITT and even in criteriums, while IRL is quite unpossible.
Also climbers at the straight line (with no turns) descents can go almost as fast as sprinters as we said before in this topic.

:wink:

Zwift does not use w/kg on the flats, Zwift use a complex equation that takes many factors into account like rolling resistance, cda, incline weight…

People think that because w/kg is displayed it is used but in fact that formula (at least the ones that I found) don’t include any w/kg function.

Zwift uses watts, height, and weight as inputs. Whatever calculation they use, the result unrealistically penalizes heavier/larger riders on the flats. That’s another way of saying “Zwift in its calculation of speed puts way too much emphasis on W/kg on flats.”.

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Interesting that you say that when there is many on FB saying heavy riders had unfair advantage on flats.

I think everyone thinks thier bult is penalized.

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If that is correct, then whatever formula they are using (be it W/kg based or something else) it is definitely a miss for heavy riders on a flat. On the road, I ride with my son side by side and I’m not pushing but on zwift, he’s riding no handed and resting while I’m having to hunker down and push just to keep up. And for reference, I have the higher FTP, have higher averages on the road, don’t have any problem with 135 mile rides so it isn’t simply that I’m older.

Greg

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Are you both using the trainer.

I also suspect that the formula Zwift uses is not applicable to riders under 45kg that is why they had the weight limit for so long.

These formulas has a range where they are applicable. Within the limit of applicability it is very accurate.

We were each riding a kickr with our own laptop.

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Be interesting to see if you still have this difference if you both rode the TT bike as this would take any draft out of the equation. Should we presume you and your son are roughly the same height just different weights. For me when riding with my wife in zwift I have to put out more watts in order to match her speed and for me this feels right as I have a bigger aerodynamic drag to overcome (I am taller and heavier).

Same I said to @Gerrie_Delport_ODZ maaanymany times.

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Hope they ride with heavier riders IRL and then not cry so much… :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

The fact is that heavier riders find in Zwift same handicaps while climbing as IRL, but NOT in descents (in Zwift almost not advantage for heavier) and tall people are treated in Zwift as they were aerodynamically as big trucks, much slower than short guys, which is not like that IRL.

I’m sure more people have replied to this since you posted it, but that was my experience as well. I reached cat A back in May, was super proud, but my FTP was also “barely” 4 W/kg. To stay in the bunch, I had to do Z4-Z5, while the A+ riders do tempo or even Z2, so even if my sprint was decent, I would be toasted at the end of a flat race (and I wouldn’t even be at the front at the end of a hilly race).

To me, the important metric that seems to be ignored is the differential between the top of the category and the bottom: for C riders this is 0.7 W/kg (from 2.5 to 3.2), for B riders this is 0.8 W/kg, but for A riders it’s over 2 W/kg, with many strong riders pushing over 6 W/kg of FTP. If Zwift ever implements proper categories, I hope they take this into account. If not, some other platform will do it and will eventually bring the hardcore racers to their side.

Me too. What confounds me is how nearly half the B riders finish ahead of me, yet I’m required to enter A.

After browsing result and profiles, I’m starting to get the notion that many people are good (content?) at cruising just below the A threshold. I also suspect many of them are heavier (truthfully or not), which keeps their W/Kg down.

I frequently finish last in A. To improve, I’d have to do a lot of targeted training. I get it… and so be it. I just wish the Cat formula would pull more data than just the top 3 in the last 90 days. That really skews things. A better sampling and I’d be in B Cat.

Check out racing on RGT. It’s far less of a threshold effort. B cat riders can compete with A+ Cat riders

RGT is a good idea. I have the app and program installed but haven’t really explored it. Seems like not quite enough users yet, but I’m sure I’ll look more closely at it soon.

you compare omnium (indoor) with outdoor?
even a 5 year old child knows that indoor is no wind while outdoor is … so dont compare indoor with outdoor to compare it with zwift later …