Zwift Chat

[ColinJ]

I'm never at zero watts as I'm pretty much always pedaling:

Ditto.

My smart trainer experience is pretty close to riding fixed because I usually ride at constant power for 60-90 minutes using TPV's 'cruise control' (erg mode with controls to easily nudge the target power up/down).

My legs feel very different after those sessions compared to road rides with the same average power because on the road my effort would vary from 0 to 4 x the average rather than a steady 1 x on the trainer. I like that feeling!

 

[steverob]

Not looking forward to next Tuesday going to be a tough race if you go full in The TT before

If you've got a full team of 8, then you might want to assign 4 riders to concentrate their efforts on the iTT and 4 save themselves for the points race.

 

[Venod]

My smart trainer experience is pretty close to riding fixed because I usually ride at constant power for 60-90 minutes using TPV's 'cruise control' (erg mode with controls to easily nudge the target power up/down)

If I use erg mode during a workout I also get constant power, its during freerides when I use high cadence to produce higher power that things go awry.

 

[bridgy]

Unfortunately that is my riding style, I find I can produce more power by spinning quickly rather than than pushing in a higher gear, in that TT I averaged 113rpm, if Zwift wish to DQ me for my riding style then so be it, I pay my subscription and will use Zwift to enjoy it, a DQ won't change my enjoyment, I am not riding for the glory just to keep fit, I wouldn't be too upset if they banned my from Zwift, there are plenty of alternatives. It's just a pity they can't improve how they handle the power from Event based power meters.

Zwift won't ban you - I just meant certain race series don't allow that riding style. And I just mentioned that to reiterate that it's considered an unnatural riding style which can produce higher than normal power overall

 

[Venod]

I will really have to stop this testing and just ride.
Todays test, Trainer SB20 connected to Zwift and Garmin Edge (Ant+} to determine how each handles the data, I am even more confused now.
2 hours on Zwift, 1st hour group ride with a couple of sprints, second hour slightly higher pace, third pic fit file from Garmin Connect compared to fit file f rom Zwift. First pic data from Garmin Edge on Garmin Connect. Second pic data from Zwift on Garmin Connect.

 

[Legs]

Are you pedalling constantly? Because if you are pedalling constantly, your PM should not be showing your power dropping off to zero. If it does, it would make me question whether it's actually fit for purpose, since it's clearly not telling you the power that you've done.

 

[Venod]

And I just mentioned that to reiterate that it's considered an unnatural riding style which can produce higher than normal power overall

But it isn't unnatural to me, I think the onus is on Zwift to sort their recording techniques out, not expect me to conform to what they consider the correct riding style

 

[Venod]

Are you pedalling constantly? Because if you are pedalling constantly, your PM should not be showing your power dropping off to zero. If it does, it would make me question whether it's actually fit for purpose, since it's clearly not telling you the power that you've done.

I posted up thread a workout I did with constant pedalling and the power was constant, apparently my freeriding style is very different and considered unatural.

 

[bridgy]

But it isn't unnatural to me, I think the onus is on Zwift to sort their recording techniques out, not expect me to conform to what they consider the correct riding style

Well I suppose it's a combination of Zwift software and the hardware being used that causes the problem. But you can ride like that on Zwift in group rides etc. to your heart's content - it's only when you want to race using that riding style that it's going to cause problems.

This has always been an issue in virtual racing and isn't just Zwift - we used to have these exact same issues on Bkool over 10 years ago and no elite competitive race on any software platform would allow it. Because it's known to inflate watts and give an unfair advantage. I know you say it's natural to you but it's considered an "unatural riding style" because no one rides like that in the real world

 

[bridgy]

I will really have to stop this testing and just ride.
Todays test, Trainer SB20 connected to Zwift and Garmin Edge (Ant+} to determine how each handles the data, I am even more confused now.
2 hours on Zwift, 1st hour group ride with a couple of sprints, second hour slightly higher pace, third pic fit file from Garmin Connect compared to fit file f rom Zwift. First pic data from Garmin Edge on Garmin Connect. Second pic data from Zwift on Garmin Connect.

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I don't know enough about any of that to be helpful - it's weird how the average watts show completely different on the bottom image - particularly for the Garmin Connect file. I wonder if that is due to this on/off power messing with the way it calculates average watts?

 

[Venod]

because no one rides like that in the real world

I have to agree, just imagine that chaos on a club ride.

 

[Venod]

I don't know enough about any of t is the same fit file hat to be helpful - it's weird how the average watts show completely different on the bottom image - particularly for the Garmin Connect file. I wonder if that is due to this on/off power messing with the way it calculates average watts?

I also find that strange it is the same fit file in the bottom image with an average pwr of 87.9 watts as the fit file Garmin Connect is getting the data from for image one, with an average pwr of 171 watts, obviously some jiggery pokery going on in the background at Garmin.

 

[ColinJ]

I also find that strange it is the same fit file in the bottom image with an average pwr of 87.9 watts as the fit file Garmin Connect is getting the data from for image one, with an average pwr of 171 watts, obviously some jiggery pokery going on in the background at Garmin.

Doubling up the power from a one-sided power meter system vs not doubling up and just averaging the one side data?

 

[13 rider]

If you've got a full team of 8, then you might want to assign 4 riders to concentrate their efforts on the iTT and 4 save themselves for the points race.

Unfortunately it's an individual TT which dosnt suit us on the lighter side and I'm in contention for GC but agreed team can split the work but the time cut is close so you can't just pootle the TT

 

[mjd1988]

If you've got a full team of 8, then you might want to assign 4 riders to concentrate their efforts on the iTT and 4 save themselves for the points race.

Definitely an advantage to have a deep bench for this one