Not everyone has the same HRmax. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Best Zwift setups: Indoor cycling setups to give you the competitive edge. If thats not something that needs fixing then why run any races? Hes asking for a fair race. Do you believe weight doping (reverse or otherwise) is a big problem in Zwift racing, and if so, what can be done about it? Level 50. Nailed it. Blaming Zwift for eating disorders is not sensible. 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. Now you'll have to head over to ZwiftPower.com and register there. So its not Zwift putting you at a disadvantage but the situation itself, just as you would be in the real world in that situation. It doesnt appear that people are abiding by the categories. If the categories are split using purely w/kg a lighter rider doesnt have any advantage up the climbs at all. Youre having fun winning (or nearly winning) C races! Garmin sets your zones based on your maximum heart rate, while Zwift defines it as 76 to 90 percent of your Functional Threshold Power (FTP), which is the highest power you can sustain for 20 . The book Fast After 50 is a good read on how masters athletes can train more effectively. I dont think any of my shorter (under 5ft10) running or cycling friends weights more than that. For example the threshold for cat B is FTP over 200 watts and over 3.2 w/kg. A strict w/kg classification isnt perfect. 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. Sandbagging is pointless if winning means youre going to move up (unless you want to take 3 months off after your win. There was a problem. In some cases this even happens unfairly. 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. It this fair? I did on one and second on the other. How doRead more . A good portion of that weight difference is in the Hub's 10.3 . That's it! So what! Zwift should offer a Validated Racer package for a slight premium over normal membership. If you're putting out enough power, then you can make your way up the ranks and keep on racing. I guess I could play the same game and pretend to be 65kgs (350/65 = an impressive 5.38w/kg), This is where Zwifts scaling of CdA on height and weight gets out of whack with reality. 2022 Primr RWB League - Cycling Ireland eRacing Winter League. In theory (at least) weight dopers could game the results based categories as well. In spectacular and shocking fashion. You can record your weight n height n have it verified by experts etc up to five minutes before an event. The race I did had all categories racing together with a mass start, so the categories felt arbitrary as my place was not within my chosen category but across the whole field anyway. 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). Now head back to ZwiftPower, click 'Connect' at the top of the page, then enter your Zwift ID in the box when prompted. Some races (many, in fact) on Zwift work exactly like that. Whatever your answer, some people will never like it, but there has to be a clear, credible answer for the majority to support. My IRL time and my Zwift time are almost the same. 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 :) 240W 50kg riders (4.8W/kg) beat 380W 95kg riders in B category Tempus Fugit time trials. I have climbed well and I have suffered on climbs but also sprinted well. I was going flat out the whole race, and by no means cruising along watching my watts. Terms of Use/DMCA Copyright Policy Please refresh the page and try again. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices. Can someone answer why we need the different categories? I am in the 5 percentile of height and weight at 52 and 130lb with my lowest weight of 118 lbs in my racing career. Exactly, although As arent that regulated, unless you hit the premier class, which is a very small section of A riders. Racing the As resp. 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. Cheapest Zwift setup: Everything to help you onto Zwift for the first time Youd think theyd be the same but when Zwift and Strava dont even agree on stats for the same ride, Ill take any other comparisons with a big pinch of salt. Light guys have the advantage on the hills, in the sprints, and because they have a higher w/kg, the flats too even if my absolute watts are significantly higher. I completely agree with the last paragraph here. First, you need to sign up for an account. Im in the same boat. Head to http://my.zwift.com/ and hover your mouse cursor over the 'Download' button under one of your activities. Zwift Insider makes a small commission on purchases made from these links, so please shop through them to support our efforts. It lets Zwift racers and race organisers track results and check out all the details of the races they've participated in, as well as monitoring and analysing their data. I am 65 kg with FTP of 270 W, which equlas 4,15 w/kg. . Using your Mac or PC, you can do it online on the Zwift website. would that be cheating then ? I don't think you can do it from the game itself. That a cat rider may win a d race but on zwiftpower they will be DQd for not riding an A race. Among the communicated changes were plans to hide the visibility of height and weight from ZwiftPower in an effort to encourage individual health and wellness. I understand if someone has a banner day or just bumped up out of upper C to lower B. Have you considered drinking during a race? Now head back to ZwiftPower, click 'Connect' at the top of the page, then enter your Zwift ID in the box when prompted. Id be super interested in the timing you set your weight. Bath In fact, you can change a workout on Zwift about as fast as you can U-turn a bicycle on a real hill. The default position is midway between "Off" and "Max," or 50 percent of the grade resistance you'd find while riding the same grade of hill in the real world. Im not heavy (68kg), have a typical climber/TT phenotype (no short sprint but good FTP). 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. So I just bumped myself up to the B group and went faster overall simply because there were faster people to draft off of. We are new to Zwift and My son Whos 12 has used it to race to make up for his list u12 crit season. I know a woman who is 5 feet tall and almost 200lb. Zwift Insider is independent of Zwift corporate (www.zwift.com), although Zwift does provide funding to help defray site costs. Zwift doesnt like this and disqualifies him on Zwift power. I was told that was possible but I couldnt see how. I never reverse weight doped. If I feel happy in my body thats the most important thing for me, and why I rarely weigh myself. People can be far to either direction im 25 and my max that I have hit is 217. The bottom line is that in any competition there will always be someone who wants to cheat to win.Read more . Terms of Use/DMCA Copyright Policy The categories are power to weight divisions. There is enough variation in power profile to make it interesting without weight, what makes racing fun is trying to create tactics that favour yourRead more , Interesting & well reasoned article which answers a lot of things which were puzzling me. yes, but you are missing my point. Well, imagine youre a strong C racer. I know its just virtual but my godi hope they enjoy their lies. 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). You'll receive a four-digit code, which you'll then have to add to your. There is no disqualification for going over your w/kg limit. I think you can force it with the Refresh Profile button in your ZP Profile but again, not sure if that triggers it immediately or overnight. We are both lighter riders and find the w/kg categorisation system frustrating (unfair even) but its what we have at the moment I think most people feel like they have a right to be competitive but this simply is not the case and ifRead more . 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. Most of my ZwiftRead more . How do you actually update your weight on ZP?? As a relatively light 69kg rider, I often feel at a disadvantage in the flatter races, of which there are many more than hilly ones. Leave the setting unchanged and climbs often feel challenging. heavy riders have an advantage on flat courses.. https://zwiftinsider.com/wkg-tests/ plus 60-70kg is perferctly normal body weight for adult cyclists, nothing worth complaining about. Current category system simply allows very fast but heavy riders to race in categories lower than their actual abilities. If someone on zwift holds an avg power at a given heart rate, then goes out on the road and holds that same heart rate but cannot sustain even close to that power, I am sorry, but that isnt physiology; that is hardware. Frustrating to someone who tries so hard to compete in my weight class to get beat by cheaters. Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. As some others already mentioned, the bodyweight tends to oscillate over the week and even the day. As Ive posted elsewhere, I like having weight available at my fingertips so I can use it to plan the TTT rotation (I like going heavy/light/heavy/light to avoid the big guys pulling away on flats/descents or the little guys pulling away on climbs, plus one category of rider tends to get exhausted on any given route if I plan my pull times incorrectly, so its nice not having 2 people in a row suddenly need to skip a pull). All the emphasis on physical metrics makes sense for putting together how speed is calculated but not how one can race. On Zwift, weight dopers seek to gain an advantage by entering a lower-than-life weight into their Zwift profile. Im the opposite. USA Cycling has categories that are based on experience and performance. Secondly, Zwifts statement says they agree there is a need for tools that deliver greater transparency to Zwift racing. Thats good to see, and we completely agree! The categories are the cycling equivalent to weight classes in boxing. I have just accepted that at my height I will always be heavier than the average cyclist. This community-driven site is maintained by Eric Schlange and a team of Zwift enthusiasts. But youre not affecting anyone elses experience. We would like to thank the community for your passion and feedback. High intensity: 30/30 and 40/20sec Rnnestad intervals like 3x (10x40/20sec). Your voice is important to us. But what exactly is ZwiftPower and how does it work? Contribute a post, shop through us, make a donation, advertise on this site. But your point is correct, if someone has a good string of results, upg them regardless of cat limits, and zwift needs to lock them out of cat in-game for it to be effective. Hi, very impressive w/kg at 65. 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. He argues hes not gaining an advantage. I use Zwift to get in shape and prepare for outside riding. If you've already created an accountcheck out the s. 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). This is especially true if you are trying to ride with riders you possibly know locally or otherwise. I hopeRead more . If thats the norm, then I really dont see theRead more . Monthly weigh ins arent perfect but they are better than no weigh ins. Generally weigh myself once a month. I currently weigh 59kgs but my BMI is 25 which technically overweight. Zwift is full of cheaters and thats not going to change now. 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. This afternoon, Zwift posted a follow-up message on the forum. 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. below this level you just have to take people's word for it. 5 year age categories and incredibly competitive a in most age groups, Thanks so much for your helpful comment. If you need to cheat to get the results you want then why even bother. If it still doesn't work email zwiftpower@zwift.com and they should be able to sort. Threshold HR is around 151 bpm. Thank you for signing up to The Pick. But then you could have someone in the same age group who maxes out at 170. 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. https://zwiftpower.com/profile.php?z=697996. Once I hit 185 its either sit up and catch my breath of fall of the bike. But maybe Im just thinking like a lady its hard for me to imagine a lady voluntarily gaining weight, even virtual weight. 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. Zwift power usually looks at numbers vs the category race he entered. IRL cycling pros are not exactly heavy weights and lean-ness is highly encouraged. They do however have a disadvantage on any flat or downhill. Hes not looking for a trophy every race. Chip on the shoulder there or what? I wouldnt personally do it since it throws off training metrics and just isnt true. How many cyclists do you see in real life who are 65kgs, but they are ten a penny on Zwift. Id never do this as my Zwift Power is an accurate log of weight and power but it does make me wonder how much easier itd be to be bigger. Keep writing this sort of thing. In the future, well continue to bring potential product ideas and changes to members of the Zwift Racing Community, with the hope that youll embrace this as a collaborative effort to help shape the experience. It's also possible to filter results and data by categories, such as different age or power ranges. Great article, Eric. And atRead more . I dont think so. You could attend races where all categories go together (same start, all riders visible) for a while if you find that to be more fun In IRL there is a double draft. This raised concerns within the Zwift Racing Community regarding fairness in racing. Stick a few more kgs on to stop you getting upgraded, would that get you a ban? 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? Exactly. There is no progression from lower to higher categories through placement. But youre training and racing and getting stronger, and eventually your FTP improves to 260 watts, which is 3.25 w/kg. It does the job as described. (and dont do organized rides for fairness) so I dont have resistance changes and sometimes zwift reports extraordinary power readings for a ride. 2. there's a million and 1 reasons why it is not a legitimate sport. Hide the weight who cares let them upgrade all the way to As where you have strict reporting requirements. Bump your Zwift weight up to 84kg and even with your new and improved 260-watt FTP youre only at 3.1 w/kg! Just short of my 68th birthday I still dont see any point in cheating. This site contains affiliate links to Amazon, Wahoo, and other brands. All rights reserved. As a lighter racer 136lbs it pisses me off to see cheating. Fluctuations of a few percent would be tolerated and percent change would be displayed on ZP. Share your thoughts below, and you may also wish to share those thoughts on the actual forum post. points based), riders can win by any margin any number of times and remain in their category so long as they do not exceed category limits. Here it is in its entirety: Last week we outlined a number of planned changes to address harassment and further safeguard the health and wellbeing of the Zwift Community. hanging with the front group is very though for me because i am exactly at the bridge between A and B. You will receive a verification email shortly. Either these racers need to calibrate the trainer or they are sandbagging big time. Tour de Zwift events were races? for example,Read more . Are you efficient, or just heavy? Its only a bit of fun at my level (solid B with the odd podium). Weight would be updated as normal throughout the month. They CANNOT win. Ill remain skeptical until I see some actual changes. Hahahahaha. They do? 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. Simply put, the system cannot measure weight it can only measure power, so for racing, peoples weight should be disregarded by that I mean, just as everyone in a zwift academy race has the same bike, they should be given the same weight , then it is a race based on FTP banded categories with point based promotion. why because of weight, not power. A thank you to Zwift HQ for listening to the feedback from the racing community and taking action. What particularly annoys me is being beaten by light but moderately powerful riders doing individual time trials on flat courses. Skinny guys get DQd if they match heavies on the flat for power so they can NEVER win, even in the mountains. As long as people are using reasonable weight/height and arent cheating or changing it drastically all the time (my scales autoupdate my weight, so mine changes once a day, but by small increments), Im much more interested in being able to see the weight of my teammates so I can properly plan my TTT lineup than I am the weight of my competitors. But without any hard and fast rules, we cant say anything is illegalat least for certain races. What stone have you been living under? Included with this license agreement can be the approval to show height and weight. As a low to mid-cat rider, ImRead more . So its not that easy for light people to hide in the pack and benefit from the draft in Zwift, which is half the reality (in many ways its easier IRL). They are not, and never were, skill classes of any kind (ie. Context, Tim, context! 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+. I did this because I had a particular effort level planned for my workout that day, and didnt want to exceed it. I dont think it can all be attributed to weight; it appears that some hardware tweaks can scale up the reported power output. I am 42 years-old with a HRmax of ~169 bpm. On a flat ride I would beat every sub 60kg cat B rider too. This can be seen by comparing Zwift physics with real life physics (calculated by websites likeRead more . Choose a Zwift workout, but before you start riding look at the workout breakdown on the left side of the screen. The issues with e-racing remain the same, and largely ignored for years now. But many people (including myself) prefer categorized races because we want to have a chance to actually battle it out for a win. Even at my age I still plan to compete in MTB races when the world gets back to racing. Not knowing what to pick and with minutes until the my first race, I selected the C group and was thus filtered out of the Zwift Power race results when I then posted a 4.00w/kg over the 28 minute race. 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? BA1 1UA. I may try it just to see what difference it makes. That was my first thought when a fellow Zwifter commented on my recent race, Somehow you always get your w/kg down. Note how he wins races while his max HR is around 30 beats below his maximum. That is pretty low compared to most people on zwiftpower. Thanks Conserving energy is a key part of successful bike racing. People still rode at B level pace in a C group. Problem solved! Im using a quarq crank power meter on my rock and roll while I save up for direct drive. We can name and shame these few. Everyone races at the same weight/height. Login Required The Zwift Engineering team is focused on improving security for ZwiftPower users. I have wondered about this subject on a few occasions. Their hr should also correspond, which they often dont. I dont know why this is, but i dont care one bit if people are cheating. As a Triathlete, I have a different perspective when racing and riding on Zwift because the vast majority of Zwifters (according to Zwift and Strava) are only cycling; whereas Im also training by Running and Swimming. SoggyAlbatross2. (Its not the only part, of course! Any thoughts on verifying? This is how racing is supposed to work. 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. Thats not what I recall at all, everything is a race, even if you werent aware . EZ and self regulating. I think he is referring to the 2021 Haute Route GC (or lack thereof), Sorry, thats right, it was the Haute Route 2021 events. You should do much better at your actual weight in that case. I have long ago earned all of the challenges and levels. However, I have a lighter and faster son that smokes me head to head. Riders weight will rise and fall but under normal circumstances within a range. 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 . Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen. If its a big hill, well then w/kg has us equalised. 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. I am a long time racer in NorCal and cheating is cheating. As we said in the first post, Assuming race organizers can access the data via ZwiftPower, and the site includes simple tools for spotting potential weight or height dopers (perhaps flagging those who made dramatic changes recently), then hiding weight and height data from the public should work swimmingly.. Launch Zwift and go to the Menu. Is a very strong rider for his age and trains hard. 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. In fact, if in a long ride your weight could change by more than 1kg over the course of that one ride!!! IfRead more . I agree Paul great idea. Mike, Great article as ever Eric. But Its hard to confirm whether or not its transmitting the weight to Zwift. Future state can add a nominal cost to said license to support clean racing via Zwift tech updates. Zwift now allows for hiding Zwift automatically connects If you don't own power meter pedals, Zwift's non-contract pricing for a Zwift cycling membership is $15 . Im 70 inches tall and 156 pounds right now vs 166lb on Jan 1. Which brings me to todays topic: reverse weight doping. Ride On. Keep it on. nothing less. But for most riders watts per kilo rules the day, determining which category you race in Zwift. As a 59/60kg rider who always seems to have a higher w/kg than the people I finish around, Ive been curious about adding 50% to both my weight and http://ftp. The only way for complete cheat free racing is in the zwift Pro race which is all done in a single room with all riders together. Keep hammering the point and finding ways that Zwift can improve controls. On the flats and descents she crushes her w/kg field. Heavy riders not only have a huge advantage on down slopes (the steeper the more advantage); they also have an advantage on the flats; its only when it gets to above 5%+ you can start to break a heavier rider. Even some of the regulated weight rides will give 2kg leeway. Ugh! Everything you need to know about the third-party Zwift results and analysis website. I guess I shouldnt be surprised. look at the article. You do you. plain and simple. Last week we announced Zwifts plans to remove rider height and weight from ZwiftPower, among other changes (read the full post here). Im curious to see this summer if I can do the numbers outdoors as I push out on Zwift but I cant even think of a road to use for 30 mins without stop signs, pot holes, lots of traffic, etc. On Zwift Power categories have both a wattage requirement and a w/kg requirement. . Mate youre a legend. 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. I have to say I weigh myself most mornings in the buff (just my glasses on so I can see the numbers)! Although does WTRL encourage reverse weight doping? 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. Makes me happy to see that the community is able to speak with one voice if necessary. My power to weight is decent at about 4w/kg. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40. Ive seen many A Riders with 300 FTP on Zwift who I beat by a HUGE MARGIN at triathlon events, including the cycling portion. That gives me more hope for the future of the platform than any announcement from Zwift ever could. Then save your ride and log out. Two months ago he had a magic weight loss on zwift. It lets Zwift racers and race organisers track results and check out all the details of the races they've participated in, as well as monitoring and analysing their data. I recently won a C race, but it didnt feel like winning as I knew there were 2 categories faster. If there are problems, Zwift already has a reporting function and everything is recorded police that properly andRead more . My weight is showing orange everytime. I love reading it. If I were to drop say a kg obviously the watts required would not change to keep at the speed of the group andRead more , Youll go faster at a lighter weight on the flats. Shame I cant edit my post for the horrendous spelling and autocorrect gaffes. (a is tough and im struggling at max h/r for most of the race).Ive gone from 87kgs to 80 kgs in this time and feel fitter than ever. This site contains affiliate links to Amazon, Wahoo, and other brands. There are two ways to do this. If youre a 300-pound dude who wants to go a little faster uphill as a virtual 200 pounder, have at it. 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. Find out more about how we test. He had fun laughing at fat dad, but I pipped him at the line! I have a Withings scale and in the Zwift Settings, it shows up as connected. Privacy Policy, How to Race on Zwift (Setup, Strategy, and More). 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!!). As Zwift racer James Eastwood so aptly put it, The community dont want to see peoples weight they want fair racing.. Wow, cheating !! I now know of over 20 category D zwift users that have said theyre not going to bother with the Zwift races anymore. On Zwift I look suspicous. More of an issue than thisRead more . nothing more. You lose 10 liters of sweat during a medium long ride? Nekkid and I only update my weight in zwift if it moves more than a KG. While the benefits of being light fully kick in while climbing a mountain (as it is easier for smaller guys to achieve certain w/kg), the benefits of being a tall and strong guy dont fully apply in the flats. My HR numbers are almost identical to yours. I put my real weight 95% of the time. However, I do understand Kens point. 2.5w/kg (215Watts) is hard for me to hold for extended periods but I keep trying. 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. IMHO, enforcing in-category entry for races will be a quick, easy and effective change. If you set your weight high enough that you fail to do well you will drop in the categories. Whether w/kg is the appropriate way to categorise races is anotherRead more , As a 92kg rider, with a w/kg FTP of 289 (or 3.14 w/kg) I wholeheartedly agree. As soon as there is a single bit of flat cheerio! First, it shows that theyre listening to the community.
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