ingo

I have the 7-Eleven Eddy Merckx frame in game. It's a special paint job on the steel Classic frame. Zwift gave it out for finishing a single event group ride in 2016. Probably one of the rarest in game bikes to have.

Watch for these special event rides and they might do it again. Alex Steida (who lives near me) was on the ride as well as several other former 7-11 team riders.

himespau 

That is awesome. Great bike.

I'm currently trying to get the helmet that goes with those shoes as it'd be a pretty good match for my team kit. Trying to get my whole team to do it so we can have team helmets.

WhyFi

That's no different than in real life and that doesn't stop people from upgrading. Then, as with Strava over real roads, there's racing yourself, and those that you follow, on segments. I like getting PRs and beating the PRs of friends and acquaintances. If a new virtual wheelset makes you 9 seconds faster, why not? I mean, what the hell else are you going to do with a fake currency that isn't good anywhere else?

WhyFi

That said, I'm currently working on unlocking the Tron, so I probably won't buy another road frame for a good, long while. Upgraded the TT bike yesterday and that should be good for a while, too. Getting mired on some gravel paths on a TT bike made me want to get a gravel bike, too, but I think that there are (literally) only a few courses where they're the fastest choice.

genejockey 

Right, but IRL you can often FEEL the difference between bikes. AFAIK, Zwift hasn't got that algorithm figured out yet!

spelger

I don't think that is a zwift problem, just a trainer problem. No trainer setup will ever be able to replicate the feeling of real life. The wind, heat of the sun, pushing to the top of a climb, dodging glass in the road, almost getting hit by a car...I could go on and on. Maybe not today anyway.

WhyFi

Doubtful that many could blindly and reliably feel a difference between bikes among the class that we're talking about. And whatever they are feeling is *definitely* not a difference in drag, which is the topic at hand.

And again, the "unless you're racing," caveat is just as silly virtually as it is IRL. I've busted my butt to set PRs on virtual segments; in competing with my own previous performances, I'm certainly racing against a higher class of opponent than many that enter Zwift races.

genejockey 

Next you'll be telling me that the difference between a $2000 stereo set and a $20,000 one is an illusion.

WhyFi

That's a completely different subject from that of you being wrong.

Marginal gains are no more important for Zwift "racers" as they are for non-racers.

genejockey 

Having won and lost Zwift races by 0.1 second, I beg to differ.

WhyFi

And I'm not going to deny the importance of that to you, but you seem to relish building yourself up and denying others the opportunity to place importance upon their own goals, whether it's PRing a climb up the Alpe or a TT of Tempus Fugit or whatever. Some people, myself included, have absolutely no interest in beating some rando to the line in a Class D Zwift race, but I'm not going to scoff at people who do. It's silly and judgmental to say that, because one's goals don't align with your own, their goals aren't important and that the same activity that's sensible for you is mere puffery on their part.

genejockey 

You don't understand. I'm teaching valuable life lessons.

Randos who always win Cat D Zwift races are denied the character-building experience of seeing an old fat guy pip them at the line because he got the 2021 Canyon Aeroad with the Zipp 808 wheels. They come to expect everything in their lives to be that easy, and then when they first encounter defeat they fold like a cheap suit, cancel their Zwift accounts, and let their bike trainers become a clothes rack, which in the depths of their despondency gets covered with Cheeto-stained sweatpants and t-shirts with stains from Mountain Dew dribbled over their unshaven chins. I'm saving them from that.

Or perhaps triggering that. One or the other.

gthomson

I so want this bike. How many Zwift drops would you sell it for?

WhyFi

Well, maybe you should try to teach me a valuable lesson?

genejockey 

Only if I can reset my weight down to equal yours.....

ingo

The only way for me to "sell" you this bike is to have you take over my Zwift account. I already have more drops than can be used.

WhyFi

Lol. "I just might teach you a lesson that you will not soon forget! Now, if you would be so kind as to tie one hand behind your back, sir!"

msu2001la

I know a bunch of people who love TrainerRoad that totally agree with you. I'm surprised you've stuck with Zwift.

PeteHski

Maybe you are taking yourself a bit too seriously here? I mean using Camera 3 just to hide your own avatar, wtf?!

PeteHski

As much as I like the TrainerRoad podcast, their app really is not something I could endure without being paid to ride!

PeteHski

Yeah, that's my default setup. I also have the Canyon Ultimate CFR and Enve 3.4 wheels for climbing and Cervelo S5 and Zipp 808s for flat races.
I have the Tron bike too, but never used it. I just prefer the more realistic looking bikes, but now I've thought about it I might just give the Tron a ride out today and see how fast it goes!

AdkMtnMonster

Just being a goofball. I do like that camera view, though. Seems like the best point of view, like being on the bike instead of watching my avatar from directly behind itself. I’ll try to do better regarding humor or subtle sarcasm. The more I read BF the more I realize just how serious, hard core, focused, dedicated and devoted every single poster is to the pursuit of cycling. I think I’ll impose upon myself a severe penalty and self ban. I’ll let you know when I allow me back.

gthomson

Just reading these posts referring to camera view reminds me that this is a good topic of discussion. Maybe it's own post? Personally, I enjoy the camera angles and will switch them around depending on the type of ride I'm on. In a group ride or race, I like to use the POV camera, looking right at the butts in front of me ha ha. I can gage how close I am for drafting. When I don't really care too much about the ride and just on for a spin then I use the default view because I'm probably watching a GCN video while riding and then when I feel like being a narcissist, I choose camera 3 as mentioned above and look at my nice gear I'm too cheap to buy IRL ha ha

On long rides, I go the TV camera views just to make things interesting to take the focus away from the pain of riding so long!

himespau 

If I'm just riding along, I tend to go with view 3 (especially if it's a new route). In a race or route recon, I go with view 1. In a team time trial, I alternate between 1 and 6, 7, 8, 9 to look back to see if we're all together and if there are any gaps. Well, I used to. I recently had to move my keyboard so it's harder to reach and now I rely on others to call out gaps in TTT races.

PeteHski

I treat Zwift as a bit of "fun" to make static training a little less tedious. I quite like some of the group rides and the occasional race. I usually do the big annual events like virtual Letape and Haute Route. I aim to finish in the top third overall with accurate power, which is quite a tough challenge. I find it mirrors my relative performance in the real world quite well. I don't use Zwift for structured training other than sometimes mapping my intervals over from SYSTM if there is no accompanying video. I also use Rouvy for simulating real world alpine climbs and sportive events. To be honest I don't see any point in using Zwift unless you take advantage of the social interaction or gaming in some way. There are much better options for dry structured training.