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. Ive seen many A Riders with 300 FTP on Zwift who I beat by a HUGE MARGIN at triathlon events, including the cycling portion. Zwift power usually looks at numbers vs the category race he entered. That a cat rider may win a d race but on zwiftpower they will be DQd for not riding an A race. The other race, events, and activities are needed to display that data. 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. If people want to cheat, they will and can do so in any uncontrolled situation. Ive done multiple races where my main goal was to keep the watts as low as possible while hanging with the front group. (better than any bike upgrade i could afford) Yes its great to win,but as long as you improve yourself who cares what anyone else does.You will always get cheaters,dodgy equipment and so on so just enjoyRead more . This community-driven site is maintained by Eric Schlange and a team of Zwift enthusiasts. Is a very strong rider for his age and trains hard. It's a bit more complicated than most website sign-ups, but now you'll be all ready to get started. You only change it in Zwift and it should get picked up with regular backend processing periodically (maybe overnight). 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. Next up is the most finicky part of the process finding your Zwift ID in order to connect your accounts. I completely missed these as I reinvented the wheel, trying to stir up the hornets nest on the Zwift forums the other day. Im in the same boat. I think he is referring to the 2021 Haute Route GC (or lack thereof), Sorry, thats right, it was the Haute Route 2021 events. I argue that he is intentionally misrepresenting his weight so he can place higher in B instead of getting shelled in A (like I do). if someone is entering a fake weight on their Zwift profile, the only person they're cheating is themselves, cos they're going to get destroyed out on the roads where it really matters. 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. Obviously, these are generally accepted rules in the Zwift Community. Im the opposite. This is real frustrating as hes a top u12 racer and wants to see his efforts recognise. We may call it sandbagging or reversed weight doping but its legal . 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 . The Forerunner 265 series watches have become Garmin's lowest-priced AMOLED display endurance sports-focused watch, coming in at roughly half the price of the Garmin Epix series launched a year ago - but here with full multiband GNSS support on all Forerunner 265 units, while also adding in Training Readiness - a major Garmin endurance sports focused feature. Especially for the C and D groups but even for the Bs albeit to a lesser degree. Some big Zwift races have specific rulesets, etc. . Maybe also add weight change limit 2kg per week? This community-driven site is maintained by Eric Schlange and a team of Zwift enthusiasts. If you were to meet meRead more . I just got upgraded to CAT A according to zwiftpower. But youre training and racing and getting stronger, and eventually your FTP improves to 260 watts, which is 3.25 w/kg. Think of ZwiftPower, then, as something similar to Strava, only entirely Zwift-focused, and free! Ill remain skeptical until I see some actual changes. But maybe Im just thinking like a lady its hard for me to imagine a lady voluntarily gaining weight, even virtual weight. 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. Hi Using HRM is difficult as well as you max HRM changes with age mine is 159 flat out but I am over 60. It's harder than real racing. First up, you'll have to head to Zwift.com and log in, then click on Settings > Profile > Connections and choose 'opt-in' under the ZwiftPower logo. They CANNOT win. Racing the As resp. EZ and self regulating. Terms of Use/DMCA Copyright Policy I think it would be best if there was a separate cat system for flat routes (based on watts) and for hilly routes (based on w/kg), My understanding is that Zwift still applies real world physics to this situation, and maybe the article doesnt allude to it, in that on the flat Zwift wont use w/kg to drive speed but your pure watts. Once you have a number for your FTP in watts, divide it by your weight in kilograms. Hes not looking for a trophy every race. I hope they learn from this and are more careful with things like that in the future. I just we had a better system than category limits, racing license anybody? I know Ive done it! Its ridiculous. Take one of our four FTP tests to determine your FTP. I understand if someone has a banner day or just bumped up out of upper C to lower B. But what exactly is ZwiftPower and how does it work? Zwift Insider is independent of Zwift corporate (www.zwift.com), although Zwift does provide funding to help defray site costs. Or theyll ignore leaders instructions and ride off the front of a group (flyers). However, I do understand Kens point. are clay hart and sally flynn still married; composite chart 12th house; tupperware party points; st francis of assisi school jobs Cyclingnews is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. If there are problems, Zwift already has a reporting function and everything is recorded police that properly andRead more . Example: have you ever purposely avoided weighing yourself (especially you who have a Withings scale that automatically updates your Zwift weight) because you know youve put on a few pounds over the weekend? Totally agree with you. Heres an idea: Take weigh out of the equation. 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. 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. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices. I am a long time racer in NorCal and cheating is cheating. I dont mind the low HRs but the low power and high w/kg really irk me! I rode outside last night, and Im sure I will again soon. Zwift doesn't need a fancy code fix, they don't need special anti-cheat software, special post race investigations, and they don't need to change anything other than when the game updates personal attributes. 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. Zwift Insider makes a small commission on purchases made from these links, so please shop through them to support our efforts. But for most riders watts per kilo rules the day, determining which category you race in Zwift. Zwift is great just to ride around and it has lots of good training sessions which you can do. Updating Your Public Profile Zwift takes your physical measurements into account for things like leaderboards, speed, and your avatar's physical appea. .Personally I one of the outliers on height and weight. The bottom line is that in any competition there will always be someone who wants to cheat to win.Read more . The COVID-19 lockdown period, now in its third month around the world, has seen an unprecedented boom in virtual cycling. There's a forum, too, so that users can discuss ongoing race series, find out about upcoming events and have any queries answered and problems solved. Ive lost 2.2kg over a 6 hour ride due to carb loading before, and burning that and hence losing a lot of water weight during the ride. Contribute a post, shop through us, make a donation, advertise on this site. Thats the graph. I dont care anyway. In fact, if in a long ride your weight could change by more than 1kg over the course of that one ride!!! They do however have a disadvantage on any flat or downhill. My last ride I spotted 35kg lad who last week was 56kg. Thats not what I recall at all, everything is a race, even if you werent aware . Click on the Settings button and you'll find the Trainer Difficulty slider. I completely agree with the last paragraph here. 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? SoggyAlbatross2. Skinny guys get DQd if they match heavies on the flat for power so they can NEVER win, even in the mountains. Some Zwifters go so far as to social-stalk other riders, comparing their photos to their Zwift weight and calling them out for weight doping. Additionally, well be moving forward on hiding height and weight from Zwift Companion and Web. It's possible to check just about any kind of Zwift result using ZwiftPower, with the website sortable by leagues, race series and segments. ZwiftPower use 95% of your best 20 minutes during the whole race, so it does not matter if the race is 21 min or 3 hours, you will still be categorized the same way. 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. Most of the time, this will be what you use to figure out your race category. As others have said, your higher weight helps on flat courses. This site contains affiliate links to Amazon, Wahoo, and other brands. , Myself being a lighter rider who fluctuates some 2kg during a week I tend to always use my upper weight giving me a lower Wkg. I dont really race so I am OK and any workouts are harder this way. 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. 1. Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. Taking weight out of the equation you could just make everyones avatar moving forward by holding down the up arrow on their keyboard. You make a good pointthere isnt a published race ruleset that clearly states that riders are 1) required to use accurate weight and 2) enter the correct race category. People with eating disorders, or a proclivity toward extreme dieting. 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. The easiest way to qualify for a higher category is to cut weight. In real life, Id dust that guy. It would be easy to deny it was intentional. The first way is to head into your profile. It points to the need for a results-based categorization system, which I discussed a month ago in the final post of my race category series. I do ZHR Masters on a Tuesday night. My power to weight is decent at about 4w/kg. Sure, easy! below this level you just have to take people's word for it. Gain a few (virtual) pounds. Well Eric, my weight is plummeting, and Ill probably be taking a break from Zwift over the summer, so Im sure the upgrade is coming very soon!!! But it highlights a bigger problem, and that is the fundamental flaw of using watts per kilo for race categorization. Other planned changes communicated last week, including plans to improve the reporting features in Zwift will be rolled out as planned. 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. Or theyll ride races 1-2 categories below their actual W/kg so they can still win and feel like that theyre legends. I am about to hit the four year mark on Zwift. Why no monitoring on this? Race specific phase: 3x10min 50-60rpm intervals with . And one cheater leads to another and its an arms race of gaming the game. Then save your ride and log out. Current category system simply allows very fast but heavy riders to race in categories lower than their actual abilities. This is how racing is supposed to work. Im glad you wrote about this. Tough to recover after attacks in a race when youre always near maxing out. Either these racers need to calibrate the trainer or they are sandbagging big time. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. (Same effect in a sprint, just harder to isolate). You can record your weight n height n have it verified by experts etc up to five minutes before an event. If other people want to obsess about my weight thats up to them but I wont. 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. This raised concerns within the Zwift Racing Community regarding fairness in racing. 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! It's also possible to filter results and data by categories, such as different age or power ranges. There was a problem. Hi, very impressive w/kg at 65. On Zwift, weight dopers seek to gain an advantage by entering a lower-than-life weight into their Zwift profile. See https://zwiftinsider.com/how-does-zwift-calculate-my-speed/, I think if a racer doesnt want to cat up in order to keep winning in their current cat, she or he would likely just go the traditional sandbagging route (as others have suggested here). See how you can support Zwift Insider! Hitting G on your keyboard will do it, or swipe up on iPhone or iPad, etc then tap the graph button. 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. Read on for our guide on how the app works, how to get set up, and how to analyse your racing. I wouldnt personally do it since it throws off training metrics and just isnt true. Hes asking for a fair race. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Noob question though, whats the etiquette around weighing with kit on or off. I got my 100kph badge on the Bologna course. I have just accepted that at my height I will always be heavier than the average cyclist. The categories are the cycling equivalent to weight classes in boxing. One question I have struggled to answer though which maybe is not a consideration is that on the flat watts is what is required and I also have to push high wkg to stay with groups. Bath Ive connected my garmin scale with this app https://smartscalesync.com/?utm_source=tr My power to weight ratio would be the same, but Id get the benefits you get from being a heavier rider. On a tablet or smartphone, you can download the. 5x5min, 4x8min but definitely never longer than 8 minutes. If you gave the power, it will come out. 2.5w/kg (215Watts) is hard for me to hold for extended periods but I keep trying. Youll move a little slower with the added virtual weight, but youll be able to hang with the front of the Cs instead of getting shelled off the back of the Bs. As an ambitioned A Racer with no smart scale, I stick to the higher end of the spectrum when setting my Zwift weight once a week. Share your thoughts below, and you may also wish to share those thoughts on the actual forum post. Im not sure Id say the algorithms help heavier riders in descents. I was going flat out the whole race, and by no means cruising along watching my watts. IRead more , Aaron, do you know what is the wattage requirement for Cat A? Im not heavy (68kg), have a typical climber/TT phenotype (no short sprint but good FTP). Great drafting skills!, Heres the thing: I probably am a fairly efficient racer, when I want to be. Whats the cheaters solution? Would love your thoughts, please comment. 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 . For me its the most fun to see the progress I make on strava, new PR on climbs or on flats (hanging in on the back of a group) If I would lie about my weight I throw off my goals to Improve atleast make them near impossible for the coming time in the End I dont see the funRead more , I reversed dopped by mistake when I first started Zwift putting my height as my weight and weight as my height. Honest and goal driven. What if you are super committed and gain the weight in real life just so you can stay in the category , Excellent posts on perhaps the most serious non-hardware problem in Zwift right now. Zwif: your ultimate guide 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. Once I hit 185 its either sit up and catch my breath of fall of the bike. Well, its adding weight to gain an advantage. But youre not affecting anyone elses experience. It certainly didnt feel like I had taken it easy when IRead more . In order to ride with him I have to drop my weight to allow me to keep up. Nekkid and I only update my weight in zwift if it moves more than a KG. Since strava is all that matters of course. High intensity: 30/30 and 40/20sec Rnnestad intervals like 3x (10x40/20sec). As soon as there is a single bit of flat cheerio! I should mention: many Zwifters have lied about their in-game weight for perfectly acceptable reasons. That's it! Frankly I struggle to believe these are real. Zwift should offer a Validated Racer package for a slight premium over normal membership. 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. (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. Not too many people actually want to see other peoples height or weight except to be able to verify race results are reasonable. light guys categorically do NOT have an advantage on the flats vs heavier guys, assuming both riding at same w/kg, heavy guy WILL be going faster on Zwift. Theres also fitnesssyncer.com that is free up to 4 sync services. Its going to take a certain amount of calories for a certain person to perform a given amount of work in a given time. This is especially true if you are trying to ride with riders you possibly know locally or otherwise. Its a huge problem. ), You say at the end..you do you, it doesnt affect anyone. All rights reserved. Blaming Zwift for allowing cheaters is the system problem that gets more people frustrated, upset, etc. I am not saying that everyone with a low weight on zwift is cheating, but I am suggesting that there are many who are because zwift favours light riders, and people do like to win. 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. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, I said if its not done during a competitive Zwift event, its not a problem. I would include chasing Strava Zwift KOMs as a competitive event (but I could see how what I said could be interpreted otherwise. Okay, I now see in ZP where it has my minimum racer category (B) in my profile based on my last race, so I can choose B or A going forward. Hahahahaha. Choose a Zwift workout, but before you start riding look at the workout breakdown on the left side of the screen. Remember - Zwift is a trainingplatform.. and if a rider feels his/hers motivation to ride, is higher when entering 'wrong' it's ok with me..AND obviously with Zwift too. 240W 50kg riders (4.8W/kg) beat 380W 95kg riders in B category Tempus Fugit time trials. I averaged between 300 and 310 watts for all segments and my heart sat pretty consistently between 140 and 144.Read more , saying x number of watts per kg at xxx hr is flawed anyways max and resting hr can vary alot. Weight doping is only a serious issue when its done in competition. Hardly true Say you train and commit yourself to being honest to achieve better fitness,and also better results, albeit virtually..then someone finishes better than you solely because of the BS numbers they entered. 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. What I think your articles miss to point out, though, (Im sure you are well aware of the problem), like people have mentioned already, is exactly how many cheaters there are that manage to stay in lineRead more . If I get down to 52 kilos I can climb well but my sprinting is terrible. 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+. Riders weight will rise and fall but under normal circumstances within a range. We remain committed to protecting the health and well being of the broader Zwift Community, and we look forward to enacting additional measures in the future. I dont think so. Knowing when to go hard and having the fitness to do so are also vital skills.). You'll receive a four-digit code, which you'll then have to add to your last name back in your Zwift settings (you can change it back after the process is completed). As soon as I start pedaling Im pretty much into threshold (around 170bpm). Many riders is talking about cheating, when someone enters a lower category but it's not, in my opinion. I am always passed by everyone on the way up but can usually catch up on the way down (190cm/93kg). I mean youve both got a point. I am not in the least bit interested in competition cycling, so no point in doping in either direction as i would only be cheating myself. How come I get beat in sprints when a 60kg guy puts out 700W, when I put out over 1000W at 76kg? Other than that, I rarely look at weight unless some results are very weird. Why you can trust Cyclingnews Generally weigh myself once a month. people need to stop taking Zwift racing so seriously. Seeing someone race cat A/B on Zwift and then be at the back of the age group pack in a local tri/ bike race canRead more , I understand what you are saying, but the average racer who can legitimately churn out x watts/ kilo for minutes on end will be doing more with that than just being a zwift warrior (if they are getting onto the road to really ride and not just commute), and, traffic lights or not, their real-world rides will at least give resemblance to their zwift output, even if only for certain segments at a time. That gives me more hope for the future of the platform than any announcement from Zwift ever could. Maybe they should display and categorise HR as a %age? If I feel happy in my body thats the most important thing for me, and why I rarely weigh myself. You weigh 80kg and have an FTP of 248 watts, which works out to 3.1 w/kg. 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. Why can we just all race together and the fastest person wins? It doesnt appear that people are abiding by the categories. Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. Nailed it. My IRL time and my Zwift time are almost the same. I love reading it. Current system means that heavy weight top of cat riders climb at the same speed as skinny guys with same wpk but can have 60% more power on the flats. It will not eliminate this behavior but the races will be much more realistic and enjoyable. I know its just virtual but my godi hope they enjoy their lies. I tried racing a D race, and finished way off the front behind about 2/3 of riders after Id ridden at 2.9W/kg for the race. Context, Tim, context! A recent Crit City A Race is a very good example of this: I finished in the front pack, sprinting it out for 9th place. Had assumed I just rode inefficiently. He lives in Northern California with his beautiful wife, two kids and dog. Included with this license agreement can be the approval to show height and weight. Too light and watts go down as does watts per kilo. First, you need to sign up for an account. 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. I started started zwift four months ago as a retirement present to myself. But many people (including myself) prefer categorized races because we want to have a chance to actually battle it out for a win. How Do I Change My FTP On Zwift? Zwift doesnt like this and disqualifies him on Zwift power. Contribute a post, shop through us, make a donation, advertise on this site. Goodness. If I am racing I want to be able to look across at the guy/girl next to me (ie on the Companion app) and get an idea if they are going to kill me on the next hill, or not are they a 185cm/90kg guy versus my 172cm/74kg. Adjusting Difficulty Before Your Workout. If youre a 300-pound dude who wants to go a little faster uphill as a virtual 200 pounder, have at it.