Zwift Chat

[bridgy]

I do wonder that about zwift, is the competition really high because everyone on zwift is generally already riding at a decent level or is there widespread doping to differing degrees.

I am generally pretty competitive on hills on club runs but feel like I'm going backwards on any incline in races.

The thing is, it's impossible to know. So at the end of the day - to a certain extent- you have to just accept that some people you're racing against might be taking the P but you're still getting a really good workout so all is not lost!

(This is not to say obvious cheat loopholes shouldn't be closed)

FWIW I've met, and ridden with quite a few people on this forum over the years and they were all pretty much at the level in real life that you would expect from having ridden/raced with them online. (Subtle advert for the upcoming Tour de Splitters there )

 

[mjd1988]

Just thinking how pointless all those video weigh ins are if people can just change weight during a race!

 

[berty bassett]

As regards to RGT - I don’t know if it is possible to cheat on there as well ?
The way they work out things is different I believe and I don’t think that they take too much note of your height
There is a race bio if you want to do it with pictures of you and set up ( open to cheating imo)
If people want to cheat then they will cheat and not a lot will stop them
There may even be more cheating as there are prizes in some races - at least that gives a reason to cheat
I know they have caught a few , you are allowed to flag riders and the bosses look at their ride , if found suspect then results are changed and they are banned from racing - guess this only works as it’s a smaller platform and they have time to look at results
If people do give RGT a go , give it 3 races before you make your mind up - it is different to Zwift - not better , not worse but different and certainly takes some getting used to
As for cheats , there will always be cheats some you beat and some leave you standing - can’t see what they are achieving myself , no more of a workout certainly , no medals on a shelf 🤷‍♂️ But they will keep on if they can
Full disclosure - my weight in Zwift is either 64 or 65 kg - my actual weight is bouncing around 9st10 to 9st13
This is probably less than 64 but not by much and sort of hoping to get back up but don’t think this alters my results in my favour

 

[bobinski]

Full disclosure - my weight in Zwift is either 64 or 65 kg - my actual weight is bouncing around 9st10 to 9st13
This is probably less than 64 but not by much and sort of hoping to get back up but don’t think this alters my results in my favour

 

[Joffey]

Do you go on WACCOE?

No. (I don't even know what that is! )

 

[Joffey]

We know what Zwift is and have done so for a couple of years. There will be a tiny proportion of cheats and in series where you race week in week out I'd say you can probably spot them. Our own series are as fair as you can get them. I'm not sure anyone on here is so worked up about winning the odd Zwift race that they feel savagely cheated enough for it really to upset them?

I'm not sure feel annoyed about it at all. I certainly won't be jumping ship. Plus I'd miss you lot too much

 

[Peter Salt]

As regards to RGT - I don’t know if it is possible to cheat on there as well ?
The way they work out things is different I believe and I don’t think that they take too much note of your height
There is a race bio if you want to do it with pictures of you and set up ( open to cheating imo)
If people want to cheat then they will cheat and not a lot will stop them
There may even be more cheating as there are prizes in some races - at least that gives a reason to cheat
I know they have caught a few , you are allowed to flag riders and the bosses look at their ride , if found suspect then results are changed and they are banned from racing - guess this only works as it’s a smaller platform and they have time to look at results
If people do give RGT a go , give it 3 races before you make your mind up - it is different to Zwift - not better , not worse but different and certainly takes some getting used to
As for cheats , there will always be cheats some you beat and some leave you standing - can’t see what they are achieving myself , no more of a workout certainly , no medals on a shelf 🤷‍♂️ But they will keep on if they can
Full disclosure - my weight in Zwift is either 64 or 65 kg - my actual weight is bouncing around 9st10 to 9st13
This is probably less than 64 but not by much and sort of hoping to get back up but don’t think this alters my results in my favour

Ladies and gentlemen, we got him! He's only winning after dropping that 1kg

Yeah, I know what you're saying. Agree that there will always be cheaters, heck, cycling has seen a fair few on the professional scene. But what bothers me most in this case is the ease of that cheating and no action from the people in charge. This is an equivalent of a guy showing up for your local crit with a 2-stroke mounted on the frame and the organisers looking away.

 

[<Tommy>]

We know what Zwift is and have done so for a couple of years. There will be a tiny proportion of cheats and in series where you race week in week out I'd say you can probably spot them. Our own series are as fair as you can get them. I'm not sure anyone on here is so worked up about winning the odd Zwift race that they feel savagely cheated enough for it really to upset them?

I'm not sure feel annoyed about it at all. I certainly won't be jumping ship. Plus I'd miss you lot too much

I don’t know Joff

Not that I enjoy throwing grenades but… if I’m being entirely honest, I’m not going to assume people don’t cheat.

That’s not me saying I think people here are cheating. I’m just saying I won’t allow myself to be surprised by it anymore. Obviously I’ve met a lot of the people here in real life. And so it’s easier to vouch for those people generally. But yeah, I’m not going to pretend cheating happens everywhere else on zwift but there’s no chance it happens here.

It actually helps me keep things in moderation and not take too seriously so it doesn’t kill me inside at all.

 

[mjd1988]

We know what Zwift is and have done so for a couple of years. There will be a tiny proportion of cheats and in series where you race week in week out I'd say you can probably spot them. Our own series are as fair as you can get them. I'm not sure anyone on here is so worked up about winning the odd Zwift race that they feel savagely cheated enough for it really to upset them?

I'm not sure feel annoyed about it at all. I certainly won't be jumping ship. Plus I'd miss you lot too much

People will always cheat. Thing is people will also accidentally have things set up wrong or use zpower and not even know it so it isn't outside. I don't weigh myself in december. So always a pinch of salt.

I'd like the company to eliminate ridiculous cheating (25cm??!) Though. That just smacks of them not caring.

That said I'll stick with zwift whilst it is the largest company and has the most users and best racing interface - I like RGT a lot and can see it beig a better racing scene than zwift but I don't think it is right now. Happy to do races there if there's a group from here though!

I think they've now destroyed zwiftpower and probably burnt a lot of bridges at zwiftinsider which are part of the reason zwift is good. To be fair first alarm bells in a while, normally you can set your watch to a PR nightmare from zwift

 

[alex_cycles]

Why not just drop to 40kg and fly up the Alpes to get that sub 60 min. achievement? If done outside a race it won't hurt anyone, right? So why not? And I honestly don't know what's stopping me. I don't think I'm any more honest/dishonest then the general population, but achieving something in that way would just make me feel like a complete piece of s.

I wouldn't do it because then my beautifully curated performance data history would then be incorrect. That and it wouldn't be a real achievement (in a virtual world)

 

[<Tommy>]

People will always cheat. Thing is people will also accidentally have things set up wrong or use zpower and not even know it so it isn't outside. I don't weigh myself in december. So always a pinch of salt.

I'd like the company to eliminate ridiculous cheating (25cm??!) Though. That just smacks of them not caring.

That said I'll stick with zwift whilst it is the largest company and has the most users and best racing interface - I like RGT a lot and can see it beig a better racing scene than zwift but I don't think it is right now. Happy to do races there if there's a group from here though!

I think they've now destroyed zwiftpower and probably burnt a lot of bridges at zwiftinsider which are part of the reason zwift is good. To be fair first alarm bells in a while, normally you can set your watch to a PR nightmare from zwift

Zwift insider relies on zwift as its meal ticket so I kind of assume they’ll work it out.

 

[Joffey]

I don’t know Joff

Not that I enjoy throwing grenades but… if I’m being entirely honest, I’m not going to assume people don’t cheat.

That’s not me saying I think people here are cheating. I’m just saying I won’t allow myself to be surprised by it anymore. Obviously I’ve met a lot of the people here in real life. And so it’s easier to vouch for those people generally. But yeah, I’m not going to pretend cheating happens everywhere else on zwift but there’s no chance it happens here.

It actually helps me keep things in moderation and not take too seriously so it doesn’t kill me inside at all.

No grenades there mate, perfectly reasonable attitude in all fairness.

I think try to think the best of everyone so presume there isn't much cheating. If I thought it was endemic in the game and it meant I was finishing last every week because of it I would probably think differently though. My attitude is probably very naive and flawed - maybe I'm a hippie or something man ☮️

I have always judged my progress on Zwift against myself rather than others though. That might be why it doesn't really bother me. The races are a game to me and help me get better (or worse of late!). Everyone is different though and it might really piss people off and that's fair enough.

Off to worry about traffic on the M25 now. I hate that bloody road.

 

[BurningLegs]

We know what Zwift is and have done so for a couple of years. There will be a tiny proportion of cheats and in series where you race week in week out I'd say you can probably spot them. Our own series are as fair as you can get them. I'm not sure anyone on here is so worked up about winning the odd Zwift race that they feel savagely cheated enough for it really to upset them?

I'm not sure feel annoyed about it at all. I certainly won't be jumping ship. Plus I'd miss you lot too much

I've reluctantly come to expect that open races are very poor quality on Zwift. I literally trust nobody in those events, but I'm there for a workout so I tell myself it doesn't matter if someone shoots off up a big climb at 4.8w/kg and a heart rate of 110bpm. I don't feel "savagely cheated" or "upset" by it but it does bother me, and I'm forced to accept it by Zwift.

Credit to WTRL on their races, where I do think they've done a good job of weeding it out. The ZRL series is well run, and they've as good as solved the sandbagging problem in that series I'd say.

I would feel both "savagely cheated" and "upset" if there was cheating in our Splitters races (not a weight being a KG off, or not weighing in for two weeks etc, I'm talking about synical stuff - reducing weight by 10KG or changing height etc) because I basically trust everyone here. I do assume there is no cheating in this group.

I remember one problem with cheating in this group in the past and there was outrage. The person involved doesn't race with us anymore. If a cheat is discovered again then I'd ultimately expect them to stop racing with us. The trust is broken at that point and I'd rather continue to race with a bunch of folks I trust and not have to check weights/heights blah blah. Again - I'm not saying I trust that everyone has their weight accurate to 0.1KG or updated the day of a splitters race, I'm relaxed about that all because of the trust I have in everyone here.

 

[Peter Salt]

I apologise for all the ranting, probably entirely unnecessary. We'll see how this develops. Happy to carry on with ZRL and TdS but other than that I think I'll give Zwift racing a pass. Installed RGV last night and will check it out.

Hey, good wether outside, innit? Possibly picking up a new bike with GF today and maybe we'll ride a bit together

 

[straas]

It would actually be quite funny if everyone doped on one of those "ride with lance" events. 25cm and 50kg