Originally Posted by
PeteHski
The question is whether or not drafting in Zwift actually has any real dynamic effect on your trainer resistance. Do you feel an increase in pedal resistance as you move out of the draft like you would IRL? Or does your on-screen avatar simply slow down, with no change in pedal resistance? I think it’s the latter. But if trainer resistance is changing dynamically then there has to be a control variable sent by Zwift to action it. The only dynamic resistance change I feel on Zwift is whenever the slope changes. I don’t feel any change in resistance when moving in or out of the draft. My avatar simply speeds up or slows down. Of course I can reduce my power output in the draft to maintain position, but that is not the same thing.
If you speed up entering the draft your cadence goes up, resistance stays the same so your power increases. If you reduce power by keeping the the same cadence and lowering torque then you should feel that. Exactly what happens in real life. Whether you perceive the draft effect it is on you, because the effect is there. When Schlange was asked the same question why he did not perceive the draft effect, he had no answer and acknowledged that the power decrease in the draft has to exist.