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Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
Carl it's within the SIM,. settings/ profile. That's is what I've read on the Zwift forums
In the SIM settings I don't have anything for FTP. However, in the main menu of the SIM, top left there is a pencil with a square that let's you edit weight, height etc. This shows an FTP figure, however this figure comes from what I set manually in the training plan screen (I tested it just). I have the FTP set to 255 currently which is probably about right but wondered if there was an auto created number in Zwift like BKool has, but seems not.

Maybe if I did an FTP test Zwift would give me one?

Not to worry - if the training sessions are too hard at this level I'll tweak down.
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
I may be wrong but Zwift will read your set ftp and if you exceed it will the let you know and give you the option to set the new figure as your ftp. That is what has happened with me. Alternatively do an ftp test ^_^
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
I did a little experiment tonight with the Bkool and reduced the tyre pressure to see if it would reduce the watts - not sure why I didn't think of this before! I've been running my rear tyre at 120psi so reduced it to 90psi and joined tonight's race in CAT B as I'm ususally only just over 4 w/kg in Cat A anyway. And the result....4.1 w/kg average - exactly the same as usual! I'll have to try again with at 80psi!

Zwiftpower result here - https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=29557. Does anyone know the difference between the power figure in the "category" column and the "Avg" column?

Was an enjoyable - and hard - race in Cat B anyway - and ironically my 5th place in Cat B was actually quicker than the winner of Cat A - so maybe I could have won Cat A after all!! Probably not, as it's all about the group dynamics etc but it does show how quick our Cat B group was - no wonder it was tough!
 
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CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
One is a 20 min power figure which is higher and the other full race average. If you look in the live tab results, it has a few more data points.

The fastest in the lower groups can and often place in high position in the higher group on time. It is a case of picking the right course and hope the likes of Cartwright don't join your group :smile:
 
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bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
I did a little experiment tonight with the Bkool and reduced the tyre pressure to see if it would reduce the watts - not sure why I didn't think of this before! I've been running my rear tyre at 120psi so reduced it to 90psi and joined tonight's race in CAT B as I'm ususally only just over 4 w/kg in Cat A anyway. And the result....4.1 w/kg average - exactly the same as usual! I'll have to try again with at 80psi!

Zwiftpower result here - https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=29557. Does anyone know the difference between the power figure in the "category" column and the "Avg" column?

Was an enjoyable - and hard - race in Cat B anyway - and ironically my 5th place in Cat B was actually quicker than the winner of Cat A - so maybe I could have won Cat A after all!! Probably not, as it's all about the group dynamics etc but it does show how quick our Cat B group was - no wonder it was tough![/QUOTE

That runs completely counter to what we have always understood about impact of tyre pressure in bsim!
What Andy said re ZP.
Fwiw I reckon you are clearly strong enough to be a cat A racer.
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Paul, just had a look on Strava and that’s a cracking pace for W8. I will have a look and let you know where you would have placed last Saturday. 2 min faster than me and I don’t think I could go faster:angry: ^_^
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Paul, just had a look on Strava and that’s a cracking pace for W8. I will have a look and let you know where you would have placed last Saturday. 2 min faster than me and I don’t think I could go faster:angry: ^_^
My watts suggest Cat A Bob but as we've discussed I think they're over-stated by the Bkool, but my speed is more Cat B. The pattern for me in Cat A is to get dropped from the front group after about 10-15 minutes (usually on a hill which everyone sprints up), and then finish in the last 5 or so, often with a long ride on my own after getting dropped. In Cat B I can stay with the front group. However, at the moment I'm still exceeding the watts so I may have to accept I'm a tail-end Cat A - or MTFU and not get dropped!

Yeah the tyre pressure thing is puzzling - I thought it would have more of an effect. Maybe it did, but I just dug a bit deeper as I was in a group the whole time so very motivated to keep up - one thing to note is my w/kg is very similar to the others in Cat B who finished around me, which hasn't always been the case in the past. I'll persevere with the lower tyre pressure and see how the next few results look
 
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CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
It's more about having riders close to compete with as opposed to which category you're in. Getting dropped is ok if there riders to jostle with for minor places
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
It's more about having riders close to compete with as opposed to which category you're in. Getting dropped is ok if there riders to jostle with for minor places
Yeah I agree Andy - I don't care about the Cat I ride in at all, it's all about having an enjoyable race. The only thing I don't like about Cat A is I often spend most of the race in no mans land after getting dropped by the front group - occasionally I do join up with a couple of other stragglers which is good, but not always. Probably the same problem for anyone who's borderline between two categories of course
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
My watts suggest Cat A Bob but as we've discussed I think they're over-stated by the Bkool, but my speed is more Cat B. The pattern for me in Cat A is to get dropped from the front group after about 10-15 minutes (usually on a hill which everyone sprints up), and then finish in the last 5 or so, often with a long ride on my own after getting dropped. In Cat B I can stay with the front group. However, at the moment I'm still exceeding the watts so I may have to accept I'm a tail-end Cat A - or MTFU and not get dropped!

I am not sure i agree with you and Andy. If you can put out Cat A watts AND speed then that's where you should be. Gives slower racers like me a chance ^_^

I am not sure where proposed changes to Zwift power would leave you-it may be that if you are constantly edging over 4w you will be disq from B races or rather your time will show in A but with a time penalty-they are getting v v serious.

Paul, you would have been very near top over 1 lap W8 so kudos for a great ride.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
I am not sure i agree with you and Andy. If you can put out Cat A watts AND speed then that's where you should be. Gives slower racers like me a chance ^_^

I am not sure where proposed changes to Zwift power would leave you-it may be that if you are constantly edging over 4w you will be disq from B races or rather your time will show in A but with a time penalty-they are getting v v serious.

Paul, you would have been very near top over 1 lap W8 so kudos for a great ride.
Thanks Bob. Re: Cats - you might be misunderstanding me. I do agree that if you do the watts for a higher cat that's where you should race. When I said I don't care, I mean I don't care about my ego if I ride in cat B instead of A - I will race in whatever cat my watts suggests though!
 
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CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Paul it all depends what it's worth to have regular competitive racing within Zwift. What was your W/Kg on the Neo? Wouldn't that put you upfront in cat B without effectively 'sandbagging' on the Bkool to get a bit of competition?
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Paul it all depends what it's worth to have regular competitive racing within Zwift. What was your W/Kg on the Neo? Wouldn't that put you upfront in cat B without effectively 'sandbagging' on the Bkool to get a bit of competition?
On the Neo it was 3.7 w/kg which put me in 6th in Cat B, (and would have been 10th in Cat A based on the time)
 
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