triathlon). Id be super interested in the timing you set your weight. Many riders is talking about cheating, when someone enters a lower category but it's not, in my opinion. If thats not something that needs fixing then why run any races? Makes me happy to see that the community is able to speak with one voice if necessary. Note how he wins races while his max HR is around 30 beats below his maximum. How Do I Change My FTP On Zwift? If you're on Zwift and planning to get racing, then signing up to the third-party app ZwiftPower (opens in new tab) is an essential step. The rule set for the categories is so simple yet Id bet >99% dont understand it, to my knowledge cyclingRead more . The bottom line is that in any competition there will always be someone who wants to cheat to win.Read more . If you've already created an accountcheck out the s. I agree with your idea. ZwiftPower - Login Racing the As resp. 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. If its not done during a competitive Zwift event, I dont see it as a problem. Racers who get top 1,2,3 more than a few times get upgraded period. Hopefully when it comes time to hide height and weight from public view on ZwiftPower, Zwift will have some really useful tools in place which help race organizers do their jobs more quickly and effectively, while promoting wellness in the racing community. Head to http://my.zwift.com/ and hover your mouse cursor over the 'Download' button under one of your activities. My IRL time and my Zwift time are almost the same. Have you considered drinking during a race? 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. Zwift Insider is independent of Zwift corporate (www.zwift.com), although Zwift does provide funding to help defray site costs. 11 things you only know if you race on Zwift | Cycling Weekly Heres an idea: Take weigh out of the equation. 2022 SNOW Sprint Series Even at my age I still plan to compete in MTB races when the world gets back to racing. 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 . It does the job as described. The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Updating Your Privacy Settings in Zwift Companion Adjusting Difficulty Before Your Workout. Any thoughts on verifying? Yes, we need to be categorized by our race ranking, not power. There is no cat C rider at 58kg who has a hope in hell of beating me in any race. If I get down to 52 kilos I can climb well but my sprinting is terrible. Yes, smaller riders have less frontal area, but the difference in CdA isnt that much. Heres how it works. And as well as your race results, you can check your distance ridden, total metres climbed, power peaks from one second up to 75 minutes, and more besides. . No race Chester worth their salt pops in and changed weight ahead of a race, what they do is post the wrong weight and leave it there. Good heavens man, the sentence before You do you says If its not done during a competitive Zwift event, I dont see it as a problem. Obviously weight doping in races is cheating and not acceptable. I agree Paul great idea. On a tablet or smartphone, you can download the. Updating Your Public Profile - Zwift Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Dont worry about your weight fluctuating through the week and remember you gain 0.5kg by drinking a half-litre bidon and lose it again through sweat (and by going to the toilet). 5 year age categories and incredibly competitive a in most age groups, Thanks so much for your helpful comment. I was just naturally heavy and it put me at the top of the C class in w/kg. You make a good pointthere isnt a published race ruleset that clearly states that riders are 1) required to use accurate weight and 2) enter the correct race category. I think with a results based system would help as it would the sandbaggers, but it wont eliminate the weight cheats entirely, those that just want to gain a little more w/kg by losing a few virtual pounds. if someone is entering a fake weight on their Zwift profile, the only person they're cheating is themselves, cos they're going to get destroyed out on the roads where it really matters. The race categories end up looking something like this (taken from the current Tour of Watopia race events): ZwiftPower, home of official race results for community races, adds some pure wattage breakpoints to the above list to help lightweight riders stay competitive. In fact, you can change a workout on Zwift about as fast as you can U-turn a bicycle on a real hill. Cyclingnews is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. hanging with the front group is very though for me because i am exactly at the bridge between A and B. 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). 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. My weight is showing orange everytime. I disagree with you on this point. The categorization system is, like you say, fundamentally flawed. Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. As there is no official A+ CAT there is nothing to worry about, but if there were, I would be right between A and A+. My guess is that another reason some do it, is because it gives you points on zwiftpower, becauseRead more . Why not ride to your strengths? Congratulations John on your retirement and Zwift is a great retirement present. If someone dopes so they do 4w/kg then they should be racing with other people who do 4w/kg. A good portion of that weight difference is in the Hub's 10.3 . I would suggest a free (for now) virtual race license that would outline racer behavior with consequences. 2 yr. ago. I dont mind the low HRs but the low power and high w/kg really irk me! I think the Zwift algorithm is quite relevant because it implies a good workout in any race for any kind of rider (and thats what we are looking for). If you need to cheat to get the results you want then why even bother. If I wanted to win I just drop my weight to 65kgs 350w/65kgs is a lot better than 350w/85kgs, of course 350w/65kg is better than 350w/85kg, its a massive increase in w/kg. The algorithms very much help heavier riders in descents, which gets forgotten when all we discuss is climbing. seeing a riders weight in ZP and any changes made to the reported weight may help internet stalkers feel better about their poor race performance but it doesnt actually help identify cheats. Same reason there are categories and age group races outdoors! EZ and self regulating. I climbed the Alpe last night for Stage 3 of the Tour of Watopia, missing my target of going under an hour by just over 12 seconds (Aargh!!). Thats a good thing. Have you ever compared numbers for calories burned, power output and even elevation ridden for a Zwift ride uploaded to Strava? Racing on the Zwift virtual platform has only increased, with the professionals getting in on the act, too, via the Zwift Tour for All, the Virtual Tour of the Gila, and e-races organised by Team Ineos. 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 . 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. 0.5kg discrepancy either side is actually quite small. Zwift should offer a Validated Racer package for a slight premium over normal membership. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. I have just accepted that at my height I will always be heavier than the average cyclist. I rode outside last night, and Im sure I will again soon. Frustrating to someone who tries so hard to compete in my weight class to get beat by cheaters. I would say 1kg or more is more normal. But youre training and racing and getting stronger, and eventually your FTP improves to 260 watts, which is 3.25 w/kg. You have lowered your weight and skewed your power graph so it is inaccurate. 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. Last week I did the prl full and Uber pretzel and tried to get #1 by weight on those segments. However, I definitely recommend entering some races. 2.5w/kg (215Watts) is hard for me to hold for extended periods but I keep trying. Now you'll have to head over to ZwiftPower.com and register there. Login Required The Zwift Engineering team is focused on improving security for ZwiftPower users. Weight doping is only a serious issue when its done in competition. However, insecure Freds jumpingRead more , I am new to Zwift, but I do wonder how it is youll see a bunch of people finish at the front of a D race at 4-5 W/kg. Plus imagine how bigRead more . Living at 5,900 ft. adds a performance restriction on me, I get it. It all has to do with the way Zwift's racing categories work. Some weight dopers are obvious and blatant other times its much less egregious. If there are problems, Zwift already has a reporting function and everything is recorded police that properly andRead more . I have a Withings scale and in the Zwift Settings, it shows up as connected. Would depend entirely upon the bike geometry, how much weight is over the front wheel and how much over the back. 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. IRL I am 85kgs and cant pretend to be 65kgs. Im new to Zwift and its racing and what I like notice is how well I do compared to theRead more , This is not just about cheating. Im the opposite. As a 96kg, 51 year old with an FTP of 317 and a resting HR of about 48 (and a theoretical maximum HR of 174) Im not sure why my lower HR during an event should seen as suspicious. How does it work? Obviously, these are generally accepted rules in the Zwift Community. I am currently 145kg and have not experienced any bullying so far. otherwise no way in hell hes beating you. But then you could have someone in the same age group who maxes out at 170. I hopeRead more . Doing this will bring up a box at the bottom of the browser showing a web address something similar to: https://s3-fit-prd-uswest2-zwift.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/000000/a2e1b7f8-27610843. I completely missed these as I reinvented the wheel, trying to stir up the hornets nest on the Zwift forums the other day. Im quite heavy, at about 85kgs, but also 183cms tall (and 52 years old). I would thought with how sensitive the sensors are they could place another one somewhere on the unit that simply does the job and takes away all the manual input. Maybe they should display and categorise HR as a %age? Privacy Policy, How to Race on Zwift (Setup, Strategy, and More). its only cheating myself, instead I would prefer to spend that 2 painful hours doing something honestly and feel proud of it than zooming through it in sub 60m and not reap the same benefits (or in my case, pain). Someone with my FTP should be CAT B, regardless of weight. Im 70 inches tall and 156 pounds right now vs 166lb on Jan 1. 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? This afternoon, Zwift posted a follow-up message on the forum. I did this because I had a particular effort level planned for my workout that day, and didnt want to exceed it. ZwiftPower Height & Weight Changes Postponed | Zwift Insider 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. No one is going to lose or gain 5kg overnight or shrink a 1cm. Although does WTRL encourage reverse weight doping? Zwift How-to: Choose Your Cycling Race Category I think he is referring to the 2021 Haute Route GC (or lack thereof), Sorry, thats right, it was the Haute Route 2021 events. i was just having a similar discussion with my old lady about watts and weights, etc. Zwift should take accountability for what matters most to start with and thats the cheaters. Other than that, I rarely look at weight unless some results are very weird. My power to weight ratio would be the same, but Id get the benefits you get from being a heavier rider. I know Ive done it! Why try to force IRL parameters that can not be enforced. All the emphasis on physical metrics makes sense for putting together how speed is calculated but not how one can race. If you're putting out enough power, then you can make your way up the ranks and keep on racing. Yes, there are plenty of variabies, but power is power. Just the fact that you need a third party (ZP) to validate race results really says it all. Tough to recover after attacks in a race when youre always near maxing out. Updating Your Public Profile Zwift takes your physical measurements into account for things like leaderboards, speed, and your avatar's physical appea. What stone have you been living under? Or theyll ride races 1-2 categories below their actual W/kg so they can still win and feel like that theyre legends. This raised concerns within the Zwift Racing Community regarding fairness in racing. LOL. yea but realistically is it worth it for them to dedicate the resources to that $$$$$$$, Well, thats good news.