I said if its not done during a competitive Zwift event, its not a problem. I would include chasing Strava Zwift KOMs as a competitive event (but I could see how what I said could be interpreted otherwise. What particularly annoys me is being beaten by light but moderately powerful riders doing individual time trials on flat courses. I used to live next to the Alpe and later, next to the Ventoux. What is that!?! Bump your Zwift weight up to 84kg and even with your new and improved 260-watt FTP youre only at 3.1 w/kg! Thats a good thing. And atRead more . My last ride I spotted 35kg lad who last week was 56kg. So I just bumped myself up to the B group and went faster overall simply because there were faster people to draft off of. It certainly didnt feel like I had taken it easy when IRead more . My 3.9w/kg (a new PR!) Kudos to Zwift for listening to their customers and admitting they made a mistake. If youre a 300-pound dude who wants to go a little faster uphill as a virtual 200 pounder, have at it. On the flats and descents she crushes her w/kg field. On Zwift Power categories have both a wattage requirement and a w/kg requirement. Taking weight out of the equation you could just make everyones avatar moving forward by holding down the up arrow on their keyboard. You can record your weight n height n have it verified by experts etc up to five minutes before an event. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips. Last week I did the prl full and Uber pretzel and tried to get #1 by weight on those segments. The only trouble is the downhill doesnt take as long of course, so the light advantage is obviously better. Other planned changes communicated last week, including plans to improve the reporting features in Zwift will be rolled out as planned. Zwift posted a follow-up message on the forum, Zwift x UCI To Host Cycling Events for the Olympic Esports Series 2023, Race London ZRacing March Series Details, Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of March 4-5. Enforce race category entry and youll fix much of the problems with Zwift racing. Think of ZwiftPower, then, as something similar to Strava, only entirely Zwift-focused, and free! Too light and watts go down as does watts per kilo. Ride On. My best race results as a Zwift B are on flatter routes, and I find my watts per kilo are consistently lower than most of the riders around me. Any thoughts on verifying? I do find it amazing, funny and sad that IRL at several Ironman events me, a C rider, beat many A riders in the cycling segment. Connecting to ZwiftPower Before you can start using ZwiftPower, you'll need to create an account. I think that point based system is an improvement, but it doesnt address the weight issue. however 2 riders at the same w/kg, heavier riders have the advantage on flats & descents: https://zwiftinsider.com/wkg-tests/. Current system means that heavy weight top of cat riders climb at the same speed as skinny guys with same wpk but can have 60% more power on the flats. I am a long time racer in NorCal and cheating is cheating. w/kg is partially based on real world physics. It's a bit more complicated than most website sign-ups, but now you'll be all ready to get started. 240W 50kg riders (4.8W/kg) beat 380W 95kg riders in B category Tempus Fugit time trials. He lives in Northern California with his beautiful wife, two kids and dog. 2 Likes _Jynxy_EVO (:)) October 1, 2021, 1:41pm #8 thxs mike, The only place where being heavy helps is on the decent, which are almost all short (except Ventoux and Alpe de Zwift), and as a heavy guy (85kgs) I need to recover on the decent. why because of weight, not power. The license would be needed to participate in ranked races, however if you dont have a license, other races would be available to participate in. Well, its adding weight to gain an advantage. All this makes me laugh. This raised concerns within the Zwift Racing Community regarding fairness in racing. Living at 5,900 ft. adds a performance restriction on me, I get it. Same reason there are categories and age group races outdoors! How does it work? nothing less. Hitting G on your keyboard will do it, or swipe up on iPhone or iPad, etc then tap the graph button. Now in A i get dropped all the time. This community-driven site is maintained by Eric Schlange and a team of Zwift enthusiasts. All rights reserved. Then everyone would know who is legit or at least somewhat legit. Actually no, sorry, I was wrong. It's harder than real racing. Case in point: in the A race I mentioned, only one rider was heavier than my 85kg dad bod. My guess is that another reason some do it, is because it gives you points on zwiftpower, becauseRead more . 2.5w/kg (215Watts) is hard for me to hold for extended periods but I keep trying. On the other hand, I am extremely anti-weight doping and agree with the post pointing out there is no incentive or even reason to be heavier. The categories currently used in most Zwift events are based on your FTP watts per kilothat is, your FTP in watts, divided by your weight in kilograms. With Zwift control is difficult (in getting Zwifters to enter their accurate) wait. Fluctuations of a few percent would be tolerated and percent change would be displayed on ZP. Its funny, I was talking to one of my work colleagues who also Zwifts about AdZ and how because Im heavier (125kg / 276lbs) I would never be a sub 60m AdZ rider (I reckon Im looking at sub 2 hours, if lucky), Ive never once considered weight doping, sure I know I could but why would I? My performance IRL then probably looks pale compared to when Im racing in Zwift, I use the same power meter on Zwift as I do outdoors and I only push it outdoors during FTP tests and during closed road events (i.e. Work over time is work over time. As far as my weight goes the only thing I care about is being as accurate as I can to get accurate results. Obviously, these are generally accepted rules in the Zwift Community. either a) ur starting ur sprint way too late or b) ur leading him out. In fact, you can change a workout on Zwift about as fast as you can U-turn a bicycle on a real hill. https://zwiftpower.com/profile.php?z=697996. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40. Login Required The Zwift Engineering team is focused on improving security for ZwiftPower users. Im sure it happens, but I would guess its pretty rare certainly less of a problem than normal weight doping. , Myself being a lighter rider who fluctuates some 2kg during a week I tend to always use my upper weight giving me a lower Wkg. No one is going to lose or gain 5kg overnight or shrink a 1cm. Im a heavy rider at 102kgs and 193cm tall I once reverse doped my weight at the top of the radio tower to try and achieve the 100km/HR badge It had the opposite effect in that I was actually slower than when descending at my actual weight lol I dont race other than against myself so Ive never weight doped as such My observations recently however have created an awareness of how many stick insects ride bikes on zwift . Check out this FAQ for some of our frequently asked questions: Q:&. I love reading it. I completely agree with the last paragraph here. Too heavy watts are up but watts per kilo goes down. However, I definitely recommend entering some races. 1 - Manually Set Your FTP Let's say you already know your FTP, then you can go into Zwift and manually change it to whatever you'd like. yea but realistically is it worth it for them to dedicate the resources to that $$$$$$$, Well, thats good news. This is why for a while I was ranked as a C even though my w/kg was higher than 3.2 since my watts werent over 200. A recent Crit City A Race is a very good example of this: I finished in the front pack, sprinting it out for 9th place. Keep it on. below this level you just have to take people's word for it. In the 2 months Ive been on Zwift Ive become a stronger rider than ever, because Zwift encourages me to push myself harder than I do in real life. Which brings me to todays topic: reverse weight doping. Maybe also add weight change limit 2kg per week? Now you'll have to head over to ZwiftPower.com and register there. But maybe Im just thinking like a lady its hard for me to imagine a lady voluntarily gaining weight, even virtual weight. But I will, and Ill get hammered and hopefully improve. Zwift should offer a Validated Racer package for a slight premium over normal membership. This is done by separating riders based on their FTP (functional threshold power) a wattage test you can take part in on Zwift over a 20-minute, 45-minute or 1-hour period. You must be a much better person than me, because thats something I will Never make peace with. it's a good training tool. On a flat ride I would beat every sub 60kg cat B rider too. I currently use the Garmin Smart Scale so I may invest in the Withings scale. ThatRead more . I suffer from excess sweating and will easily lose 10kg in a race on Four Horseman, for example (although Im certainly not the norm, but to say no one is untrue). Yet the lesson is clear if you want to win, even on flat courses, have or claim a very low weight. Yes, we need to be categorized by our race ranking, not power. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). So I dont expect to be as competitive vs. a pure cyclist. I may try and snag a couple of cat C golds before taking the break, but definitely wont be reverse weight doping to do so the upgrade to B will be a bigger prize than any gold medal. I never thought i should weigh myself with my kit on. this is how it is in real life , big ian stannard putting in hard fast miles on the front for (was) team sky , while all the small guys tuck in the peloton getting drafted along saving energy for later on in the race , because they can`t compete on the flat with the big boys . Hes had to up his weight as he is only 35kg ( upped time 45kg) he but puts out 220watt so his ftp is 5.5-6w/kg in a race. hanging with the front group is very though for me because i am exactly at the bridge between A and B. The rule set for the categories is so simple yet Id bet >99% dont understand it, to my knowledge cyclingRead more . Email zwiftpower@zwift.com if you want to reset everything. Remember - Zwift is a trainingplatform.. and if a rider feels his/hers motivation to ride, is higher when entering 'wrong' it's ok with me..AND obviously with Zwift too. If you set your weight high enough that you fail to do well you will drop in the categories. For example the threshold for cat B is FTP over 200 watts and over 3.2 w/kg. I still have no sprint kick so Im never winning anything anyway. If you gave the power, it will come out. Weight would be updated as normal throughout the month. Terms of Use/DMCA Copyright Policy If you are on the lighter side, try picking some climbing races. Cheapest Zwift setup: Everything to help you onto Zwift for the first time bottom line for me, its a virtual training world, a virtual hammer isnt the same as a real hammer. Perhaps if you post a W/kg in excess ofRead more , So thats why I could easily keep up with a 3-3.4wkg group yesterday whilst keeping my wattage at some 2.5-2.7just my 107kgs.the rest were probably featherweight category :) Hi Using HRM is difficult as well as you max HRM changes with age mine is 159 flat out but I am over 60. I rode outside last night, and Im sure I will again soon. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Tour de Zwift events were races? Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. are clay hart and sally flynn still married; composite chart 12th house; tupperware party points; st francis of assisi school jobs Example: have you ever purposely avoided weighing yourself (especially you who have a Withings scale that automatically updates your Zwift weight) because you know youve put on a few pounds over the weekend? I mean youve both got a point. Included with this license agreement can be the approval to show height and weight. What anyone wants in any game or competition is to feel its fair, and as they look to make changes going forward, I hope people at Zwift always keep asking themselves this question: How can Zwifters see these races are fair?. I think the main problem with women and weight on zwift is regular weightdoping, magnified probably by all the wonderful social stigmas and judgment surrounding womens bodies. light guys categorically do NOT have an advantage on the flats vs heavier guys, assuming both riding at same w/kg, heavy guy WILL be going faster on Zwift. As an ambitioned A Racer with no smart scale, I stick to the higher end of the spectrum when setting my Zwift weight once a week. Skinny guys get DQd if they match heavies on the flat for power so they can NEVER win, even in the mountains. Knowing when to go hard and having the fitness to do so are also vital skills.). Ugh! But I also did it because I knew it was great practice! I have been light and I have been heavy. Its also why the Zwift Transparency Facebook group was created, where racers post videos of themselves weighing in using a particular protocol which makes it difficult to fake your numbers. What I think your articles miss to point out, though, (Im sure you are well aware of the problem), like people have mentioned already, is exactly how many cheaters there are that manage to stay in lineRead more . That's it! The categories currently used in most Zwift events are based on your FTP watts per kilo- that is, your FTP in watts, divided by your weight in kilograms. Otherwise I stand by my comment. It this fair? Category systems are complex beasts, of course, I agree, people can have fun with weight doping and such aslong they dont enter competitive races. IRL if your weight is 85kg, itll take you longer to climb the Ventoux than if your weight is 65. I use Zwift to get in shape and prepare for outside riding. I lost some weight during these few months and gained on FTP Now facing going to C and not getting any good results within the category, Eric, thanks for bringing this to light. But It doesnt mean that that person is going to be the person riding the bike on the trainer during the race does it. He argues hes not gaining an advantage. The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! I completely missed these as I reinvented the wheel, trying to stir up the hornets nest on the Zwift forums the other day. Monthly weigh ins arent perfect but they are better than no weigh ins. Youve got people putting out 5+ watts/kilo atRead more . Exactly, although As arent that regulated, unless you hit the premier class, which is a very small section of A riders. With my question answered as to what I should pick for my next race, Id delete my original post if I could, but I cannot figure out how. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, I am 42 years-old with a HRmax of ~169 bpm. Id say physics does! Would love your thoughts, please comment. LOL. Also a really frustrating thing is why doesnt Zwift autoRead more , is he riding in the right category? I have just accepted that at my height I will always be heavier than the average cyclist. If you've already created an accountcheck out the s. Honest mistake on my part and one I wont make again, so fair enough to be filtered outRead more , Related (and apologies if the answer is obvious but Ive only done one Zwift race), really what is the point of the categories? Not true, at least not absolutely. It must be very hard to do with many, many lines of code to implement otherwise it wouldve been done by now, In reality these changes would not (will not) impact cheating. I was just naturally heavy and it put me at the top of the C class in w/kg. All the emphasis on physical metrics makes sense for putting together how speed is calculated but not how one can race. If someone dopes so they do 4w/kg then they should be racing with other people who do 4w/kg. We mentioned categories earlier as one of the ways in which you can search through your results and statistics, but they're also a method by which you get sorted into races. Ive been on a mission to get back to my racing weight in 2020. The six-digit number highlighted in bold will be your Zwift ID. Im about to end up in the same situation (last races at 3.99, 3.98 and 3.99 W/kg) and Im not really worried about being promoted to A. My power is often in the top few. Certainly it impacts the accuracy of race performance and results. I agree Paul great idea. I never reverse weight doped. They CANNOT win. Whilst this might be the case, as Eric implies in flat races light weight riders have to work harder to stay in touch with the heavier riders in the bunch. I use my average weight but I feel; guilty because my weight tends to fluctuate by 0.5K or more during the week depending on how much I eat during the day really interested to learn that there is a scale that auto updates Zwift. I started zwifting about 2 1/2 months ago.I did the ftp test and put in the correct weight.Ive no idea how precise my trainer is tho.what i do know is,Ive managed to go from cat c to a. Since strava is all that matters of course. How do I get started on Zwift? look at the article. Withings scale that automatically updates your Zwift weight, a month ago in the final post of my race category series, https://smartscalesync.com/?utm_source=tr, https://zwiftpower.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=5528, https://zwiftinsider.com/how-does-zwift-calculate-my-speed/, Zwift x UCI To Host Cycling Events for the Olympic Esports Series 2023, Race London ZRacing March Series Details, Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of March 4-5. But since there are no clear rules on it at this time, its a bit of a self-policing thing with a fair amount of grey area. Zwift can wipe your Zwift Power profile and give you a clean slate to start over if you want, but I think you will lose all past data. I agree with what you say Eric but the weight doping does negatively impact the casual rider if they are following other riders in a casual/social ride. Last week we announced Zwifts plans to remove rider height and weight from ZwiftPower, among other changes (read the full post here). You enter a real race,out in the world, you are ready to finish in the top 20 for your best result of your life,then out of the blue a dirt bike rides past you goes tabletop and crossesRead more . Weight doping is a key challenge for cycling esports to overcome, and its one reason why many big races (e.g., those with prize money) require riders to show up and weigh in on-location in a supervised environment. How about simply showing a percentage variance. 1. IRL cycling pros are not exactly heavy weights and lean-ness is highly encouraged. I mean I never lied about my weight, I am a very light rider working and eating hard to get some extra pounds. Updating Your Privacy Settings in Zwift Companion To update your default privacy settings, sign in to the Zwift Companion (ZC) app on your iOS or Andro.