Zwift Chat

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
I would be too embarresed to record that ride.
Have I missed setting a difficulty slider somewhere to 100% or 0?
The slider i really useful as it can allow you to stay in the big ring at the front. It's watts produced that dictates speed (well, that and weight and height) so having the slider at 0% doesn't make it 'easier' as 300 watts is 300 watts whatever the realism setting.

For races I tend to set realism about 25% (maybe even 50% on flat courses). The aim being less gear changes and lost time as I try to move between front big and small rings. The exception to this is the Alpe where I always set to 100% as i prefer to climb in the small ring.

When pootling around I normally have the reality set to 100%

How fast was your time today on stage 6?
 

AAAC 76C

Large Member
Location
LIVING THE DREAM
The slider i really useful as it can allow you to stay in the big ring at the front. It's watts produced that dictates speed (well, that and weight and height) so having the slider at 0% doesn't make it 'easier' as 300 watts is 300 watts whatever the realism setting.

For races I tend to set realism about 25% (maybe even 50% on flat courses). The aim being less gear changes and lost time as I try to move between front big and small rings. The exception to this is the Alpe where I always set to 100% as i prefer to climb in the small ring.

When pootling around I normally have the reality set to 100%

How fast was your time today on stage 6?

Too fast and too easy!
 

AAAC 76C

Large Member
Location
LIVING THE DREAM
AAAC, where are your results? Did you sign upto ZP and Strava?

Given up with Strava.
Trying to complete my registration on Zwift Power. Used the find your Zwift ID feature, put that value in the box and pressed enter and it does not find anything so I am going to watch today's Giro instead.
Need to sort out my trainer as it is just not working properly on Zwift.
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
Given up with Strava.
Trying to complete my registration on Zwift Power. Used the find your Zwift ID feature, put that value in the box and pressed enter and it does not find anything so I am going to watch today's Giro instead.
Need to sort out my trainer as it is just not working properly on Zwift.

Good to know it isn’t just me! Hopefully you work it out ac... what’s the problem with strava? Linking it to Zwift? The Zwift power website isn’t the slickest in the world I don’t think.

@bridgy used the Bkool with Zwift for quite a while I think. Am I right in thinking you turned the Bkool off and on again to get the best results Paul?
 

IrishAl

** Full Time Pro **
Location
N.Ireland
I'm still running the bkool trainer but with Assioma uno power pedals. I found the bkool power reading to be about 15 to 20% above reality and randomly in races it would be 50+% too high which was embarrsing at times when I could easily ride off the front of the A group and my heart rate in z2 :laugh:
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Yeah my Bkool trainer would occasionally be way too easy on Zwift and I found turning it off for 10 seconds at the wall and then on again it would usually start working properly again.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
I'm still running the bkool trainer but with Assioma uno power pedals. I found the bkool power reading to be about 15 to 20% above reality and randomly in races it would be 50+% too high which was embarrsing at times when I could easily ride off the front of the A group and my heart rate in z2 :laugh:
And yes even when working normally it was generous with the power - I dropped from Cat A to Cat B when I changed over to the Neo
 
OP
OP
C

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Given up with Strava.
Trying to complete my registration on Zwift Power. Used the find your Zwift ID feature, put that value in the box and pressed enter and it does not find anything so I am going to watch today's Giro instead.
Need to sort out my trainer as it is just not working properly on Zwift.

It really isn't too complicated, just use the same usernames (if available) for all three accounts. Then link them up. Post screen shots of problems or comment and I/others will point you in the correct direction. Zwift doesnt keep records of races other than immediately after the event. That is where ZP come in and Strava records all rides including non race, just recovery rides(if you do them).

Re the Bkool- You and Paul @bridgy were pretty evenly matched in the 'olde days'. He used his Bkool for a few months within Zwift, decided to get a Neo and his results relegated him from A cat to B- reality power levels

If you want to persist with the Bkool that is fine, but expect often to see results like Skovsgaard's Giro TT ride, where he rode the course faster than nearly every professional actually taking part.

Your cheapest option is to buy some power meter pedals or crank power meter and use the bkool as a resistance unit-Zwift does allow external power meters. You could then easily jump between the two platforms without any setup changes(competitive in both)

Ask away:okay:

Btw exciting Giro yesterday, with some shocks
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
Re the Bkool- You and Paul @bridgy were pretty evenly matched in the 'olde days'. He used his Bkool for a few months within Zwift, decided to get a Neo and his results relegated him from A cat to B- reality power levels

A bit like moving from the kickr to a neo then :cuppa:

Serisouly though... I have come to the conclusion that no two trainers are the same. Still, keeps the debate going I guess!

I’m not saying everyone else has to draw the same conclusion. But hopefully aaac can get up and running and the Bkool performs relatively consistently so he can enjoy the races.
 
OP
OP
C

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
A bit like moving from the kickr to a neo then

Yes, very true. Until very recently, I hadnt realised the temperature power swing on the early version Kickrs. Which would explain why my winter numbers were better than my spring and summer power. With my setup in the conservatory and prone to temperature swing winters being very cold. :okay:

The Neo has ruined my ability to produce 300+W for long periods :laugh:

I reckon all the latest are reasonably close in measurement if they us a PM onboard. Obviuosly there are still ways to manipulate the E training, either weight/height doping or riding methods, sawtoothing being the easiest to boost ave power
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
Not very scientific .... but experienced something quite interesting on the ToW stage 6 TT yesterday. This was after my HID mechanical, as I was working my way back through the field. I was overtaking all riders until I caught up with one guy who was clearly strong and was staying with me (he eventually pulled away and bet me!). On the companion app I clicked on him to see what watts he was pushing as his w/kg on the flats were c.3.8 and I was only pushing c3.1 yet we were travelling at the same speed. I assumed he was lighter than me and pushing the same watts as me (about 235). However, he was actually pushing 270+ most of the time. So, this guy was pushing both more watts than me, and had a higher w/kg than me, yet travelling at the same speed.

The only difference I could see was in height. He was 200cm tall and I am 171cm - quite a big difference (my 5'7" to his 6'6"). We all know that height is an advantage in Zwift, but this suggests it's more of an advantage than I certainly expected.

Now, we were on TT bikes, so the aero position I assume is key in Zwift to speed, but I wonder if other bike types have the same effect.

In short then (excuse the pun), this lanky geezer needed to push out around 10% more watts on the flats to travel the same speed as me due to the height difference.

Like I say, not very scientific but it was quite marked. For anyone interested, it's the guy who is ranked 100 in the stage 6 race I did yesterday (D Dachs - 200cm tall and 75kg heavy).
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
Yes, very true. Until very recently, I hadnt realised the temperature power swing on the early version Kickrs. Which would explain why my winter numbers were better than my spring and summer power. With my setup in the conservatory and prone to temperature swing winters being very cold. :okay:

The Neo has ruined my ability to produce 300+W for long periods :laugh:
Yep, the exact reason I bought the NEO ... the Kickr was too inconsistent, especially on hilly courses.
 
OP
OP
C

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
The only difference I could see was in height. He was 200cm tall and I am 171cm - quite a big difference (my 5'7" to his 6'6"). We all know that height is an advantage in Zwift, but this suggests it's more of an advantage than I certainly expected.

Its been brought up on YouTube that height has significant speed penalty, more so than weight. I think Zwift in this respect is off calculation with its algorithm

If I get chance I'll ride it twice at different heights on same bike, hopefully similar power to see the reported difference
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom