Originally Posted by
pennpaul
I am an absolute Zwift newb using a Zwift compatible dumb trainer. I, too, am a slow climber so the fast cadence I maintain throughout the whole 30min session in a high gear even on the 15% section in Yorkshire is totally counterintuitive to me. That's going to take some getting used to.
For those on smart trainers where the resistance is more like real life on hills, does it feel more natural?
Originally Posted by
pennpaul
In my dumb trainer Zwift setup, the program IIRC told me to set my trainer to level 3 (out of 5). Again, total newb question and sorry to hijack this post, but does this setting need to change depending on the course I'm riding or will it always stay there?
When I say hi cadence, I'm talking 80rpm (not high) but it would be weird/impossible for me to be doing IRL 80rpm on a 15% climb in the big gear. IRL it would almost certainly be small/big and me barely crawling along at 40-50rpm. Zwift had me going at 2mph last night. I'm not even sure I can stay upright on a hill at that speed.
I used for over a year a Zwift supported dumb trainer, mine is a Kinetic Road Machine with InRide3. During that year I did a lot of climbing, a lot.
My understanding is that Zwift came up with a formula that calculates power in watts for this and a few other dumb trainers. The formula mimics power readings in watts and the curve takes into account the predictable resistance increase that a fluid trainer produces when the rider increases either cadence or leg power. With this information, the Zwift program calculates the riders speed. On an incline, the rider must increase speed or power (or both) to keep moving forward. The end result is that a rider will need for example 180 watts to move at a speed of say 6 mph on a 8% gradient. The same rider on a flat (0% gradient) road might go 25 mph at that same 180 watts output.
Some riders, myself included, would rather grind away at a slow cadence on a steep incline. To keep moving forward, I might select a steep gear and low cadence. With the increase in the resistance caused by the fluid in the trainer, the combination of the two (steep gear and increased trainer resistance) I would experience a somewhat realistic hill climbing adventure but in a gear that I would never select out in the real world. For example, every single one of my 40+ rides up the Alpe du Zwift was done using the large chain ring.
The only other option would be to use a low gear and spin like crazy to achieve the necessary watts to keep moving. So I conclude that gear selection is a personal thing and for me a high gear works better than a low gear. Of course watts are watts but spend a few months on a trainer using high gears on a trainer then go outside a pull a hill you will at first by instinct select the wrong gear, too high, for the application.
Some here might disagree with me on some of my details or be able to provide additional insights but I think I have the basic theory correct. But this is my understanding of how Zwift works with a supported dumb trainer.
I have since moved on to a smart trainer. It took a little bit of time to get used to using low gears on the ascents. Now I have to use the small chain ring on my trainer which I had hardly had to do with my dumb trainer. With a smart trainer I feel small hills that I didn't know existed out there in Zwift land when I was using my old set up.
All of this is a point of discussion not a criticism of using a supported dumb trainer. Sometimes when logging into Zwift, during the pairing screen, Zwift would recognize my InRide as a controllable device. It isn't of course. Allow me to say that my dumb trainer and Zwift transformed my outside riding. In summary I would say that a smart trainer offers a more realistic ride but since watts are watts, a dumb trainer will achieve a fitness result if the rider does their part.