In races yes, in groep ride no

Still one of the biggest complaints about racing is the lack of Cat enforcement. I agree that it would be best to not even allow racers join a Cat that is too low for their ability.

It needs to be results based vs watts. A point system similar to USAC would work very well.

@@chrisp3178 visit zwiftpower

@@noahserrault already on there. Issue is that’s post race and people cheating the system impact the results. Prime example I had last week in a race. We split the group on a rise and broke about 10 off our group of about 25. We got to 18 seconds. All of a sudden some ZP came through them from behind them and towed the group up to us at 5.5-6. Then went through us like butter and strung out group out into broken bits. One rider killed what was a great race in A.

agreed, if you're having to hold back in order to not get a DQ then you're in the wrong category. If you can manage cat A w/kg then you should race in Cat A

Yeah, everyone in that front group are sandbaggers.

@@supnongl this was exactly my thought!

Yeah… this is unbelievable 🤦

So, I'm guessing by this comment that you don't know how the upgrades work. I would have to have done more than 4.3 w/kg. Which, by the way, I was in no risk of doing. I conserve my power and, yes, on the off chance I have a stellar day, I avoid the accidental flag. Since pretty much EVERY one races at the top of their category, one does have to be careful to not exceed it by .01 w/kg (and yes, that's the margin of error). And if you think that winning by .01 w/kg puts you into the A races, then you haven't raced the As. But thanks for playinig.

@@TacomaCyclist except I do and I race A. I am that cusp rider with a 95% at 4.2. The upgrade is at 20’ at 95%. In the off chance = you didn’t try to manage power to not get popped into A. It’s not an accidental flag. It’s you went over. For a 20’ value if you are over, it’s not a data error. That’s 1200 data points. Hey, it’s all good. I mean, I see guys avoid racing near the end of a season or helping a teammate to avoid upgrades IRL too. Alas, it does put you into A races, literally. It’s why the bottom of A is so thin, people sand bagging in B.

@@chrisp3178 for what it's worth, I race a races most of the time. However, it's over 4.2w/kg, not 4.2 on the nose. And exceeding it by. 01 will get you moved up. That being said, I have no issue with someone who is on the cusp staying in the lower category. If they're winning all the time, different story. They do need to eventually move up.

Dude, I'm so with you! Even if you manage to hold with the pack the whole time, you're gutted by the end and have nothing left.

@@TacomaCyclist turn off difficulty you will hang then as you better turn it back up its a tool to be used in this way dont think like a watt nazi they all do the same and just lie lolol use the tools to build your strength its a game of tools to get stronger

@@emperorofthenorthno.19trai30 Yeah, I'm not really going to cheat, or game the system, just because some others do it.

@@TacomaCyclist its a game lol its training you have let the watt nazi thinking interfere with your real life and now you will sit at what ever level you are and in real life too . like we said sand bagging brah

wow they got you brain washed lol the trainer diff is more gears only.... 200 watts will still be needed to climb the same climbs. it allows you more gears to spin only it does not give you watts and how you know you have been lied to and cheated on is when we go up hills only the guys with max diff stand up while climbing all the others have turned down there train diff lololol yes watch and see who has been telling you the truth ukposts.info/have/v-deo/qYamhmuLgmx7z6s.html

No problem!

I use a Wahoo Kickr 2nd Gen. It's pretty good most of the time but occasionally is delayed as well. It seems to have gotten better over time.

Peakabry. That's the same for everyone. When you see others moving up, they have already been pedalling harder for 2-3 seconds. Zwift picks up your power instantly, but your reading on screen will take 3 seconds to update. Why am I saying this? All these things combine to give you the impression that your power in zwift is delayed. It's not. Unlike real-life you can't feel the wheels accelerate. This is one of the things you will notice in the pro races broadcast on UKposts. Those pros that haven't raced much, really struggle with timing their efforts, moving to the front then falling to the back in a constant yoyo.

@@MrBJPitt Thanks for sharing your experience with Zwift. That's interesting and yes there are the "mechanics" of the game that have a "natural" delay but the trainer has an impact too as I suspected, at least a low-end wheel-on trainer like my Vortex. I've now received my 4iiii left crank and Zwift is way more "reactive" to apply or release power (managed to Supertuck for the first time yesterday !)...and I've lost about 6% power on average too :-(

@@Peakabike wheel on trainers are rubbish and OVERstate - you didnt loose power; you are not pretending you're awesome

@@danjo1967 Yeah I'm not bothered either way, I'm not sure why I can't calibrate my Vortex properly since GPLama got accurate data with his compared to a power meter. The only thing I need to investigate is whether I have a Left/Right imbalance that could explain some of the discrepancy.

Based off wattz per kg

Lol

Makes me scared because while I’m not fat I am tall and my muscle/weight ratio ain’t great

I'm only a D racer but on one race the field got destroyed by a 60lb kid doing 93w avg

Where exactly did I say that? I said u can do that for short bursts. I expect most could. My ftp is squarely in the B zone. And yes, I say up because I was watching my son go for the win. Notice I changed camera angles and all? Kind of hard to do that if you're still racing.

From what i've gathered zwift is almost solely W/kg based, even on flats. There is one article done by a rower who tested different body sizes and weights. Heavier guys does have advantange even on climbs if they can produce same w/kg, same as flats. Maybe things have changed (didn't check the date), but i race solely on flats as i'm excessively heavy and i have generally high wattage combined with small size, combination which should be good on flats. If i would be normal weight my FTP would be around 4,5w/kg, now i'm high-tier B. But it doesn't seem to benefit me at all and it all boils down to w/kg.

You do realize I said I was switching over to watch my kid contest the sprint and that I wasn't even going for the sprint, right? I don't win sprints. I didn't get dropped, I literally sat up.

Hey Nicholas! Those are great numbers, especially for a 12 year old. I would encourage you to try your efforts in the B races. Yes, you'll definitely get dropped in a few races, but you'll likely find that, in a few attempts, you'll be sitting at the front or even winning. The good news is, at your age and weight, you won't be force upgraded to an A nor will you be disqualified. Don't let some of the naysayers here on UKposts convince you otherwise. There are rules on ZwiftPower for upgrades and DQ's and you definitely would fit well in the B's. Keep at it and I hope to see you in some of the same races!

@@TacomaCyclist ok thanks for the idea

That's not how it works. Since he's only 14 and weighs 50kg, he doesn't get dq'ed because he's already at a disadvantage. Super light riders in zwift are basically penalized because of the drafting physics. At that power, he's never pushing the pace or off the front. That's why zwift power doesn't dq riders below a certain weight and age. However, he is racing the As now anyway.

@@TacomaCyclist Tests done on Zwift insider show that the disadvantage compared to real life is with the heavier riders. I would also say that if you are holding back power to get a lower average, you are racing in the wrong CAT.

@@markwinfield1679 You're misunderstanding the tests. Yes, a lighter rider putting out 300 watts will go faster than a heavier rider going 300 watts. That's what the ZI info says. But the thing is, a 100kg rider vs a 60 kg rider - the 100kg rider will have a much easier time putting out 300w. Also, my 4.1 w/kg race effort is really in no danger of getting me dq'ed. If you look at Zwift Power and their regulations, I'm quite well situated as a B racer. I do race A races almost exclusively now, however. That being said, I am almost always DFL.

@@TacomaCyclist If you look at the zwift insider article and look at the differences in times between different weights in the real world and in zwift you can see that heavier riders are at a bigger disadvantage in the game. In terms of being dq'ed, it has nothing to do with whether you can get away with it and more to do with what is right. If you can ride above 4w/kg you should be riding in CAT A, simple.

@@markwinfield1679 Okay you're clearly not reading. YES, a heavier rider will go slower than a lighter rider for the SAME output power. However, for me, a 60kg rider to hold 300 w/kg, I would have to do 5 w/kg whereas a 100kg rider only has to do 3w/kg. It's that simple. Yes, if only a few kg are separatinig you, than it's not a big deal. Also, did you not read that I AM racing A races? I literally just said it. And by the way, that's not how ZwiftPower works. Feel free to read up on that.

Hit the G key - it might solve your issue.

@@TacomaCyclist thank you but I am using Apple TV so it must be different way. Thanks again for your tips on zwift racing. I did my first zwift race two weeks ago and have done three since then. They are very humbling to say the least

@@EagleLogic Once you are riding, swipe up on the remote control which will bring up a menu along the bottom of the screen. There is a “graph” icon/button which when enabled will show the HR/Power graphs.

@@TacomaCyclist thank you!! I just subscribed I look forward to more content!

Yes!!! It's freaking annoying, isn't it? Apparently, the draft is really, really sticky. Especially if you're a smaller rider. If you are behind a bigger rider, you have to go really, really hard to get past the person in front of you.

@@TacomaCyclist This is also where you can get gapped if you aren't watching very carefully at the road ahead. I call it getting caught behind a slowpoke where their w/kg is too low and they are increasing the gap ahead but you being behind have to really crank it hard just to pass that slowpoke rider but by then the gap has increased so much you'll be toasted even if you manage to catch up to the group.

In this video, I was using the Wahoo Tickr HRM. I'm currently exploring the Fourth Frontier chest-worn EKG and will have a video review launching shortly. The unboxing of that is on my channel. Cheers!

Haha. Nah. He's done higher. His ftp is quite a bit higher than that.

@@TacomaCyclist His Heart Rate is way higher then 204 max ?? is he super young or something?

@@mikebrah1 yeah sorry, I thought you meant power. But yes, his max heart rate is in the 230s. Mine is in the upper 210s. Genetics. But we both have insane result heart rates too. Mine is in the mid thirties.

I was going to comment the same about heart rate. I’m impressed by what people’s bodies cam accomplish. Wow!

The bogeyman weighs less than 47kg…

Nope, because he's a junior and at the time, his ftp was lower than 250. That puts him at a competitive disadvantage and Zwift Power's rules don't dq under those circumstances.

4.0 w/kg AND 250W raw power before a forced upgrade to A Category. He didn't go over the 250W. Need to meet both criteria

More training will help but having good strategy and staying off the front and only spending energy when it is critical is also key.

Nope.... cycling is not about training more. I guess you don’t really ever cycled competitive

@@arjanpetersen it was a joke u cold corn dog

@@arjanpetersen I race u17 xc races and train 15 + hours a week. But I will admit that I didn’t race too many road races yet

I can hear it just fine. You do have a volume control on your device you know.. I can hear it when mine is set to 5 out of 100.

No problem at all here. Perhaps change your computer. It is crap.

Why exactly? My ftp is below the threshold for moving up to the A's and I my average power doesn't go anywhere near the threshold.