Zwift online cycling

[Penguin_Racecar]

Sweet christ that's bad.
Hopefully MEC will set you up with a replacement right away, or a different higher model for the same price. Is this an issue everyone's having, or is hit or miss?

[Brent.ff]

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Oh man, my lungs were destroyed. I’m not sure if I could hang on for the entire race if I was with the lead group. Some guy was chasing me pushing 10w/kg at the end. I might have beaten him by a nose hair.

Jesus lilmira, how tall are you? Impressive w/kg

[Penguin_Racecar]

He's about 4'7" on his tippy toes. 57kg after a big poop.

[lilmira]

I ride kid's bike

[Penguin_Racecar]

Frame size XXS with 650b wheels.
You tied for highest W/kg for the race, by the way.

[ZeroGravity]

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This sounds totally normal...right?!
https://youtu.be/qEI_tPlxjyw

See if i can get MEC to sort me out a bit.

Doesn’t sound right. I don’t think that clicking / ticking clank is normal. Tension set correctly?

Bad situation with your Tacx unit from Europe. Luckily, my vortex smart from bike24 had no issues for the entire time I had it (~2 years). The only issue (user issue probably or trainer tire issue), was that I get tire slip sometimes despite calibration shows that I’m closer to the “too tight” mark.

Hopefully MEC will be able to sort things out for you.

[Brent.ff]

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Doesn’t sound right. I don’t think that clicking / ticking clank is normal. Tension set correctly?

Bad situation with your Tacx unit from Europe. Luckily, my vortex smart from bike24 had no issues for the entire time I had it (~2 years). The only issue (user issue probably or trainer tire issue), was that I get tire slip sometimes despite calibration shows that I’m closer to the “too tight” mark.

Hopefully MEC will be able to sort things out for you.

Ya bang on for calibration using the App. It seems to come and go, just dont have much hope in a week old trainer lasting a couple of years

[lilmira]

It sucks that I had no one to work with. There were 3 of us and then we picked up another guy. They were all behind me most of the time.
I'll try to stay with the group next time. It's not like I was taking it easy at the start neither, I was pushing 5w/kg for a little bit. I literally just finished dinner, went to washroom for a dumoulin and hopped on the trainer with a minute left. Didn't feel like going that hard right away. It's pretty fun though. You guys should try.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Most races we have quite a few B-riders hanging onto the lead group. Sometimes a few C-riders even, until the first serious climb where everyone hammers up at 6-7w/kg. C-groupers are usually gassed after that and get ejected out the back. On actual flat courses like Watopia flat I've seen C riders race the entire course with A-riders.

[Brent.ff]

Turns out my math sucks, im at like 2.5 - 2.6 w/kg.. should i try D for my first race or get crushed in C?

[Penguin_Racecar]

You should be just fine in C as that's the category you test in. For your first race here are some pointers:
- A/B will hammer off the front at 6w/kg right at the start. If you aim to get into a group I recommend you start laying down some serious power when the countdown clock is at 2-3 seconds before race start. This will ensure you don't get dropped right off the start and should get you into a group. Maybe not necessarily the lead group, but any group is better than riding solo as you'll have massive benefits from drafting.
- Any hill usually gets attacked, especially by people riding in ERG mode where they automatically put more power down trying to keep the same cadence. Watch for people's W/KG next to their name. On steep climbs you'll have to hold the same power/weight ratio to stay with them. On slight inclines the drafting effect means you can hold back a bit and still stay with them.
- Be aware of people that don't have a lightning bolt next to their w/kg. These are people that do not have a power meter or smart trainer and their wattage can be ridiculously inaccurate. They might put out 8w/kg all day without breaking a sweat - don't bother following them. You'll burn yourself out and they will get disqualified from race results anyway. On the note of cheating, sometimes people have an unrealistic weight. This will also get flagged and DQed.
- If you want your results recorded in history, sign up on zwiftpower.com. You'll have to link your strava account and do a bunch of other stuff but it's nice to see where you finished. It also shows your average power, 5 min power, sprint power, etc. There's also a ranking system (I'm 1659th!)
- If you're not in ERG mode when racing, keep an eye on people's power to weight ratio. The guy at the front might be doing 3w/kg. Feel free to sit in behind him and spin at 2.5w/kg

[Brent.ff]

what 'difficulty' should i have the slider at?

[Penguin_Racecar]

I have no idea as I'm on a crank based power meter. lilmira?

[lilmira]

w/kg is what propels you in the virtual world. The slider controls the resistance level on your smart trainer. The higher the setting, the more realistic the resistance varies. At half setting, for arbitrary example, you are going up a 10% slope in virtual world, your trainer has a 5% slope resistance. It is easier to pedal as if you are going up a 5% slope but without ramping up your cadence you will be going up at half speed in virtual world. I think half setting is more preferable as it reduces the fluctuation of the resistance. You wouldn't have to shift as often and focus more on just giving it.

[ZeroGravity]

I had max resistance when I was on the vortex smart. It can only go up to 7%, so anything above or near that, feels the same. Now, I dialed back the setting to the default (~half / 50%). I can't make it up certain places now if I kept it at max.

[Brent.ff]

Guess I need to work on my group riding.. high power but moderate overall success for first one. https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=37972

Edit: just realized I was using a TT bike (first one I unlocked)... sooo no draft for me! That was brilliant


Question, how often are you guys calibrating your trainer. This one seems outa whack every time I get on it.. add it to the problem list

[lilmira]

I do a spindown with the kickr everything time. Haven't noticed anything out of ordinary.

[Penguin_Racecar]

So much for a recovery ride indeed - hit 186bpm yesterday. Plus two additional 180bpm peaks. Rest day today!

edit: Calgary Whisky Festival today

[Brent.ff]

Ordered shoes, pedals and a trainer tire from CRC. 9 days later still hasnt even hit Canada based on Canadapost... crap

[Brent.ff]

Signed up for first month of Zwift.. legs are dead from being on the bike, running and climbing this past week

guess i'll start a regime in earnest tomorrow. Curious what you guys are doing for rest-days if following the plans.

The 12 week FTP booster is 4 days a week, but doesnt really dictate when. I also play soccer tues/thurs nights, as well as typically am doing something aerobic on sat or sundays..hard to fit in 4 days and a rest