More Workforce Reductions at Zwift
#26
I think zwift really has screwed up with not combatting cheaters enough. I doubt that is a significant part of their user base, but it might cause enough of a migration that people notice.
I went through a short phase of watching videos about zwift on youtube, and the number one subject seems to be cheaters.
I went through a short phase of watching videos about zwift on youtube, and the number one subject seems to be cheaters.
#27
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I was mostly thinking about organized e-racing, where there are real prizes and combatting cheaters is important. I think this may have been a factor in the UCI dropping zwift, although I'm sure it was mostly a matter of getting paid more. A lot of cyclists are influenced by racing at the top level, even though the cheating may not affect them directly. I was just watching videos on things I want to know about zwift, and as a result my youtube feed has a significant number of videos about cheaters.
I would be interested to know if anyone here is bothered by cheaters. From what I see on youtube, there are an awful lot of 6w/kg riders on zwift, which is world class. I don't bother to go on group rides on zwift because so many people are putting out high power levels. I guess it's a good simulation of a group ride, where everybody in the D group rides off at 400w. The robo pacers at least keep that from mattering, you aren't going to get dropped from the group when someone rides away. But it also doesn't have a lot of the advantages of a group ride.
I would be interested to know if anyone here is bothered by cheaters. From what I see on youtube, there are an awful lot of 6w/kg riders on zwift, which is world class. I don't bother to go on group rides on zwift because so many people are putting out high power levels. I guess it's a good simulation of a group ride, where everybody in the D group rides off at 400w. The robo pacers at least keep that from mattering, you aren't going to get dropped from the group when someone rides away. But it also doesn't have a lot of the advantages of a group ride.
#28
I was mostly thinking about organized e-racing, where there are real prizes and combatting cheaters is important. I think this may have been a factor in the UCI dropping zwift, although I'm sure it was mostly a matter of getting paid more. A lot of cyclists are influenced by racing at the top level, even though the cheating may not affect them directly. I was just watching videos on things I want to know about zwift, and as a result my youtube feed has a significant number of videos about cheaters.
I would be interested to know if anyone here is bothered by cheaters. From what I see on youtube, there are an awful lot of 6w/kg riders on zwift, which is world class. I don't bother to go on group rides on zwift because so many people are putting out high power levels. I guess it's a good simulation of a group ride, where everybody in the D group rides off at 400w. The robo pacers at least keep that from mattering, you aren't going to get dropped from the group when someone rides away. But it also doesn't have a lot of the advantages of a group ride.
I would be interested to know if anyone here is bothered by cheaters. From what I see on youtube, there are an awful lot of 6w/kg riders on zwift, which is world class. I don't bother to go on group rides on zwift because so many people are putting out high power levels. I guess it's a good simulation of a group ride, where everybody in the D group rides off at 400w. The robo pacers at least keep that from mattering, you aren't going to get dropped from the group when someone rides away. But it also doesn't have a lot of the advantages of a group ride.
I’ve been riding the Tour de Zwift events recently, which naturally split into groups of similar pace.
My general observation over the past few years is that there are less and less really obvious cheaters with unbelievable sustained power. It’s a while since I saw anyone riding at a sustained 8 W/kg.
I don’t care about organised e-racing, but I can imagine it’s very hard to control unless everyone is in the same room on calibrated trainers. UCI switching to MyWhoosh was probably because someone threw some cash at them. Certainly not because it’s better. I tried it myself last weekend.
#29
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I was mostly thinking about organized e-racing, where there are real prizes and combatting cheaters is important. I think this may have been a factor in the UCI dropping zwift, although I'm sure it was mostly a matter of getting paid more. A lot of cyclists are influenced by racing at the top level, even though the cheating may not affect them directly. I was just watching videos on things I want to know about zwift, and as a result my youtube feed has a significant number of videos about cheaters.
I would be interested to know if anyone here is bothered by cheaters. From what I see on youtube, there are an awful lot of 6w/kg riders on zwift, which is world class. I don't bother to go on group rides on zwift because so many people are putting out high power levels. I guess it's a good simulation of a group ride, where everybody in the D group rides off at 400w. The robo pacers at least keep that from mattering, you aren't going to get dropped from the group when someone rides away. But it also doesn't have a lot of the advantages of a group ride.
I would be interested to know if anyone here is bothered by cheaters. From what I see on youtube, there are an awful lot of 6w/kg riders on zwift, which is world class. I don't bother to go on group rides on zwift because so many people are putting out high power levels. I guess it's a good simulation of a group ride, where everybody in the D group rides off at 400w. The robo pacers at least keep that from mattering, you aren't going to get dropped from the group when someone rides away. But it also doesn't have a lot of the advantages of a group ride.
You are pulling riders from around the world, CAT I/II crit riders, tri athletes, track athletes - that is a huge pool of people. I'm sure there are plenty from those groups that can crack high power levels for short races.
#30
Is 6w/kg limited to world class athletes? I would imagine what separates world class athletes from regular athletes is their ability to make 6w/kg at the end of a 150 mile stage or 2 weeks into a grand tour. And bike handling skills, and the fact they were discovered at a young age - right place right time type of thing.
You are pulling riders from around the world, CAT I/II crit riders, tri athletes, track athletes - that is a huge pool of people. I'm sure there are plenty from those groups that can crack high power levels for short races.
You are pulling riders from around the world, CAT I/II crit riders, tri athletes, track athletes - that is a huge pool of people. I'm sure there are plenty from those groups that can crack high power levels for short races.
#31
Senior Member
I still have the same weight for myself in Zwift as when I started, but I've gained weight since then. From my standpoint though I want it to be the same so I can compare against myself. When I go outside and ride I definitely feel it up the hills. I don't want that in Zwift.
I'm doing the TdZ, one more makeup ride to go, and I'm in the rear groups anyway. You always find a group at your pace. I try to keep up with the front group but can never hold it anymore although I used to be in the top 25% on rides like that, now I'm in the bottom 25%. Whatever.
I'm doing the TdZ, one more makeup ride to go, and I'm in the rear groups anyway. You always find a group at your pace. I try to keep up with the front group but can never hold it anymore although I used to be in the top 25% on rides like that, now I'm in the bottom 25%. Whatever.
#32
Senior Member
In racing at any level (except As), there are sandbaggers and people who have learned how to game the system to stay in a category while able to put out power above that category's limits. Those people annoy the crap out of me. Was sort of gratifying to see one of them caught out in last night's ZRL race, but I was telling my teammates all along to ignore him because he wasn't on a team we were worried about and he was so likely to catch the DQ that he eventually caught.
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#33
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There aren't that many people that have an ftp much over 5w/kg in the real world. In zwift, there are a dozen in every race. Okay, I have only seen that in youtube videos. My max power on my trainer is about 10w/kg. I can do that for about 20 seconds before it's too hard for me to keep up with my pedal speed.
GPLama has a video about smart trainer calibration for racing
#34
Senior Member
My weight doping wasn't just a little when I started up again a few months ago. I've since dropped 25 pounds and I'm STILL over the weight I have in Zwift. It doesn't matter unless you are going for leaderboards. I'm not, even though I did take two leader jerseys the other day when I was on an empty course doing a structured workout but I was so far ahead of the next person it didn't matter.
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#35
I still have the same weight for myself in Zwift as when I started, but I've gained weight since then. From my standpoint though I want it to be the same so I can compare against myself. When I go outside and ride I definitely feel it up the hills. I don't want that in Zwift.
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#36
In racing at any level (except As), there are sandbaggers and people who have learned how to game the system to stay in a category while able to put out power above that category's limits. Those people annoy the crap out of me. Was sort of gratifying to see one of them caught out in last night's ZRL race, but I was telling my teammates all along to ignore him because he wasn't on a team we were worried about and he was so likely to catch the DQ that he eventually caught.
#37
Senior Member
IF you can have your 1-3 minute power a LOT higher than your 12 minute power (they use a variation of the traditional CP calculation for zFTP) you can end up in your pen with a lot higher 20 minute power and a LOT higher 1 minute power than your opponents. Just never doing long climbs or races that require a huge 12 minute effort will accomplish much the same goal. I guess it's not sandbagging in the traditional sense, but it is manipulating your power so I have seen people with 3.7-3.8 W/kg 20 minute power riding in the Cs because their 1-3 minute power is so high even in Cat enforcement races.
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#38
Senior Member
IF you can have your 1-3 minute power a LOT higher than your 12 minute power (they use a variation of the traditional CP calculation for zFTP) you can end up in your pen with a lot higher 20 minute power and a LOT higher 1 minute power than your opponents. Just never doing long climbs or races that require a huge 12 minute effort will accomplish much the same goal. I guess it's not sandbagging in the traditional sense, but it is manipulating your power so I have seen people with 3.7-3.8 W/kg 20 minute power riding in the Cs because their 1-3 minute power is so high even in Cat enforcement races.
#39
IF you can have your 1-3 minute power a LOT higher than your 12 minute power (they use a variation of the traditional CP calculation for zFTP) you can end up in your pen with a lot higher 20 minute power and a LOT higher 1 minute power than your opponents. Just never doing long climbs or races that require a huge 12 minute effort will accomplish much the same goal. I guess it's not sandbagging in the traditional sense, but it is manipulating your power so I have seen people with 3.7-3.8 W/kg 20 minute power riding in the Cs because their 1-3 minute power is so high even in Cat enforcement races.
I like this quote from Thomas de Gendt: “It’s easier to drop worldclass riders in a TdF stage than to win a Zwift race” 😂
#40
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Does weight matter for sprints on the flat? Zwift's physics is so bad it wouldn't surprise me if it did. The only thing I've ever won on zwift is the green jersey, did it a few times. I didn't manage to take a picture of myself in the green jersey though. When I looked at the segment times on strava, people are hitting 60mph on those very flat segments, which makes me think there is a bit of height doping going on.
My 20 second power is almost respectable, my ftp isn't.
My 20 second power is almost respectable, my ftp isn't.