Zwift Chat

[mjd1988]

Virtual purchasing help needed!

I've been using Zwift on and off for a while and am currently level 41 on the bike and level 5 on running, I seem to have amassed 5,080,000 drops, at the moment I tend to ride climb portals, I have also enjoyed the occaisional crit race so how would you fellow Zwifters spend my drops?

This is the article for you https://zwiftinsider.com/shopping-guide/

I think you can buy the specialised s works tarmac sl8 which is best frame at level 40. It's a fantastic climber and on the flat

You can also buy the Dt swiss disc wheels

Have you done the alpe much? And got the lightweight meilsteins? If you do they will do you if they don't check these out

https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-climbing-by-level/

Have you got the Tron?

 

[ktmbiker58]

This is the article for you https://zwiftinsider.com/shopping-guide/

I think you can buy the specialised s works tarmac sl8 which is best frame at level 40. It's a fantastic climber and on the flat

You can also buy the Dt swiss disc wheels

Have you done the alpe much? And got the lightweight meilsteins? If you do they will do you if they don't check these out

https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-climbing-by-level/

Have you got the Tron?

Excellent advice - thanks! No I haven't got the Tron yet I am at 48,333m of climbing, I've done the Alpe a few times

 

[ColinJ]

Do you all enjoy the upgrades thing? I can see why you don't want to be at a disadvantage if you race, but it would be simpler to just have everyone riding with the same kit!

The bike on my trainer has always had an iffy bottom bracket issue. I think that there might be a problem with the threads in the frame and/or the facing. If I do it up really tight the cranks don't turn freely. If I slacken the fit the BB can clunk under big efforts. It is annoying! I will have to sort that out before turbo season arrives.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

Do you all enjoy the upgrades thing? I can see why you don't want to be at a disadvantage if you race, but it would be simpler to just have everyone riding with the same kit!

The bike on my trainer has always had an iffy bottom bracket issue. I think that there might be a problem with the threads in the frame and/or the facing. If I do it up really tight the cranks don't turn freely. If I slacken the fit the BB can clunk under big efforts. It is annoying! I will have to sort that out before turbo season arrives.

I think the whole upgrades concept was an awful idea, making the situation where seasoned Zwifters could use better performing frames/wheels for races even worse, because they had unlocked equipment and acquaired drops to buy them. I believe we should all be on neutralised equipment for races, or weaker riders in a pen get to use moderately better performing frames/wheels.

Then there is all the offhand tactics/cheating that has been used to fully upgrades frames by some people, by clubs and groups of people that follow each other. Someone who likes climbing rides to the top of Ven Top or similar and parks up, mates then "join" their parked up avatar to repeatedly descend the mountain (with or without pedalling, need to pedal to get drops in freeride) to either gain distance for many frame upgrades or time simply on a TT frame to get upgrades.

 

[alex_cycles]

Do you all enjoy the upgrades thing? I can see why you don't want to be at a disadvantage if you race, but it would be simpler to just have everyone riding with the same kit!

YES. It's one of the gamifications that makes it fun and gives you targets to keep you going.

In reality the different bikes don't make a big difference (a few seconds over an hour), but you won't win a road race on an MTB unless you are MUCH stronger than your opponents.

Good tactics and drafting makes a much bigger difference, but if you're not racing, the bikes are irrelevant (IMHO).

I often summarise it as "the best bike for a given course is the one YOU THINK is best. Because the psychological effect is larger than the mathematical differences".

 

[alex_cycles]

I think the whole upgrades concept was an awful idea, making the situation where seasoned Zwifters could use better performing frames/wheels for races even worse, because they had unlocked equipment and acquaired drops to buy them. I believe we should all be on neutralised equipment for races, or weaker riders in a pen get to use moderately better performing frames/wheels.

I did my first race on Zwift Carbon. Shortly after that I earned enough to get the Canyon Aeroad.
I served my time. I think NOOBS need to serve theirs too.

There are neutralised races for people who disagree.

But it ain't gonna change. You do know that Specialized is a shareholder of Zwift?

 

[ColinJ]

YES. It's one of the gamifications that makes it fun and gives you targets to keep you going.

Ah, I think that I will probably find my motivation in trying to beat my PBs on mountain time trial courses rather than trying (in vain!!) to beat other riders in races.

I can imagine enjoying trying to get under an hour for AdZ but not enjoying watching 30 other riders pulling away and leaving me for dead on the climb.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

I did my first race on Zwift Carbon. Shortly after that I earned enough to get the Canyon Aeroad.
I served my time. I think NOOBS need to serve theirs too.

There are neutralised races for people who disagree.

But it ain't gonna change. You do know that Specialized is a shareholder of Zwift?

Just because you, I and lots of others started racing on pathetic setups and finished worse with the same power against those on "superbikes" doesn't make it right.

And these days the performance of brand new base models of the superbikes is even higher than back around '18.

While the level required and drops cost to get half decent frames/wheels has increased... IMO you're more likely to reach level 17 and have ~660k to buy the Scott Addict as a new account holder long before you can afford the level 10 ~1.1M Canyon '24.IIRC we could unlock the DT Swiss 62 wheels around level 6 and have the drops to buy them soon after.

Thankfully, there does seem to be a fair few community race organisers that were neutralising bike performance for races and TTs, so we can ride our Specialized SL8 Pro and not get a massive advantage for simply having played Zwift for a number of years.

 

[KingstonGraham]

Do you all enjoy the upgrades thing? I can see why you don't want to be at a disadvantage if you race, but it would be simpler to just have everyone riding with the same kit!

The bike on my trainer has always had an iffy bottom bracket issue. I think that there might be a problem with the threads in the frame and/or the facing. If I do it up really tight the cranks don't turn freely. If I slacken the fit the BB can clunk under big efforts. It is annoying! I will have to sort that out before turbo season arrives.

No, it's good I don't care about where I place in races etc because it would wind me up to have to worry about all that shoot. I just leave the specialized one on, because you can see when you're drafting (unlike the Tron).

The races where everyone's bike performs the same are great. You get people on BMX bikes keeping up.

 

[alex_cycles]

Just because you, I and lots of others started racing on pathetic setups and finished worse with the same power against those on "superbikes" doesn't make it right.

I think it's fine how it is. But what I think is neither here nor there because it won't change. It's part of what Zwift is.
If there is one thing that Zwift is VERY good at, it's ignoring the whinges of their customers when they go against Zwift's DNA and mission.

And these days the performance of brand new base models of the superbikes is even higher than back around '18.

My first race was in December 2021. I can only control what I do and how I behave, so there isn't a great deal of point in trying to dictate to others.

While the level required and drops cost to get half decent frames/wheels has increased... IMO you're more likely to reach level 17 and have ~660k to buy the Scott Addict as a new account holder long before you can afford the level 10 ~1.1M Canyon '24.IIRC we could unlock the DT Swiss 62 wheels around level 6 and have the drops to buy them soon after.

I found getting the 50km ascent to get a Tron a good challenge which kept me going. It took 7 months of concerted effort.
All of these silly little upgrades motivate people to ride. If you take away the usefulness of the reward it becomes no reward at all.
You are asking for Zwift to shoot themselves in the foot, which they absolutely will not do. They want people using their platform and having fun. Fairness, be damned. You have to also remember that only about 15% of people on Zwift have ever done a race. We are not hugely important to them.

Thankfully, there does seem to be a fair few community race organisers that were neutralising bike performance for races

It's one of the things I dislike about FRR. If I've earned my upgrades I want to be able to use them. I believe it is unfair to me, having worked hard to earn my upgrades. But I see your point of view and am glad for you that you have the option to race the kind of races you prefer.

and TTs, so we can ride our Specialized SL8 Pro and not get a massive advantage for simply having played Zwift for a number of years.

Enjoy them. It's nice that there is a choice huh?

 

[alex_cycles]

Ah, I think that I will probably find my motivation in trying to beat my PBs on mountain time trial courses rather than trying (in vain!!) to beat other riders in races.

I can imagine enjoying trying to get under an hour for AdZ but not enjoying watching 30 other riders pulling away and leaving me for dead on the climb.

I didn't enjoy Zwift when I first tried it. There were two things that transformed it for me...

1) Finding out about Trainer Difficulty. Until I tweaked my TD to about 30%, my Direto was almost unrideable. Every time I got to a gradient it was like hitting a brick wall. Once set up right it was a whole new ball-game.

2) Treating it like a video game - which means embracing levels, power-ups, equipment variations etc.

And those were both before I started racing.

I tried and completed a Training Program (6 week FTP builder) and hated it. But I did use the workouts to grab some decent amount of climbing metres for the Tron bike.

Racing is what has kept me Zwifting since then though. But we're all different.

 

[Peter Salt]

Upgrades, no upgrades... Don't care enough about either to be butthurt.

 

[alex_cycles]

Upgrades, no upgrades... Don't care enough about either to be butthurt.

Exactly. Some feel strongly, others couldn't give a damn. But there's plenty of room for those and all in between to enjoy the platform.