I used to live next to the Alpe and later, next to the Ventoux. The key phrase there is have the same W/kg its very easy to boost your W/kg simply tell Zwift you are lighter than you really are. Just short of my 68th birthday I still dont see any point in cheating. What anyone wants in any game or competition is to feel its fair, and as they look to make changes going forward, I hope people at Zwift always keep asking themselves this question: How can Zwifters see these races are fair?. Their hr should also correspond, which they often dont. I have no idea. You only change it in Zwift and it should get picked up with regular backend processing periodically (maybe overnight). I think that point based system is an improvement, but it doesnt address the weight issue. Im 170cm and currently 61kg with an ideal triathlon racing weight of 59kg. Sure, easy! He argues hes not gaining an advantage. We would like to thank the community for your passion and feedback. But maybe Im just thinking like a lady its hard for me to imagine a lady voluntarily gaining weight, even virtual weight. Why try to force IRL parameters that can not be enforced. People can be far to either direction im 25 and my max that I have hit is 217. Light guys have the advantage on the hills, in the sprints, and because they have a higher w/kg, the flats too even if my absolute watts are significantly higher. I have long ago earned all of the challenges and levels. I think a once-weekly weigh-in is acceptable. Even if Id ridden at threshold a little over 4 W/kg, I wouldnt have been able to hang onto the front in a D race, it seems. Its ridiculous. That a cat rider may win a d race but on zwiftpower they will be DQd for not riding an A race. Hopefully when it comes time to hide height and weight from public view on ZwiftPower, Zwift will have some really useful tools in place which help race organizers do their jobs more quickly and effectively, while promoting wellness in the racing community. It will not eliminate this behavior but the races will be much more realistic and enjoyable. Best turbo trainers: Smart trainers to improve your indoor cycling experience I may of course be wrong, and these are all true weights, but Id be very surprised if that were the case, in the races where this matters, riders have to submit a private youtube weigh-in video <2 hrs before the race. Note how he wins races while his max HR is around 30 beats below his maximum. 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. Would achieve the same thing. 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). I agree with your idea. Last week I jumped into my first race and it was at the last minute on a whim because I was getting tired of my training ride. I climbed the Alpe last night for Stage 3 of the Tour of Watopia, missing my target of going under an hour by just over 12 seconds (Aargh!!). The categories are the cycling equivalent to weight classes in boxing. My power to weight ratio would be the same, but Id get the benefits you get from being a heavier rider. We may call it sandbagging or reversed weight doping but its legal . Stick a few more kgs on to stop you getting upgraded, would that get you a ban? I am alleging that weight cheating is endemic in zwift, especially among those who care about winning. Chip on the shoulder there or what? Someone sandbagging will get promoted out of category and will not be allowed to reg for lower categories. It's a real community hub. Thanks Yes, we need to be categorized by our race ranking, not power. I currently use the Garmin Smart Scale so I may invest in the Withings scale. In the many B races i have done it was more fun because i was competitive. But It doesnt mean that that person is going to be the person riding the bike on the trainer during the race does it. It lets Zwift racers and race organisers track results and check out all the details of the races they've participated in, as well as monitoring and analysing their data. Someone with my FTP should be CAT B, regardless of weight. the lighter rider has to ride much harder to stay in the groups with a few big guys cruising along. 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. Nice work! 0.5kg discrepancy either side is actually quite small. Doing this will bring up a box at the bottom of the browser showing a web address something similar to: https://s3-fit-prd-uswest2-zwift.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/000000/a2e1b7f8-27610843. I am about to hit the four year mark on Zwift. You'll receive a four-digit code, which you'll then have to add to your. Mate youre a legend. Fluctuations of a few percent would be tolerated and percent change would be displayed on ZP. How many cyclists do you see in real life who are 65kgs, but they are ten a penny on Zwift. 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 such, we have agreed to pause this change while we develop tools that deliver greater transparency to Zwift racing while promoting wellness. But youre training and racing and getting stronger, and eventually your FTP improves to 260 watts, which is 3.25 w/kg. She can crank but her w/kg is low. I think with a results based system would help as it would the sandbaggers, but it wont eliminate the weight cheats entirely, those that just want to gain a little more w/kg by losing a few virtual pounds. Some weight dopers are obvious and blatant other times its much less egregious. I hope they learn from this and are more careful with things like that in the future. Some people are clearly living in a fantasy on zwift. There is no cat C rider at 58kg who has a hope in hell of beating me in any race. 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? I hopeRead more . if youre on zwift and intentionally cheating to get whichever fake virtual badge or win whichever fake virtual place in a race, then youre real-life literal loser. If you're putting out enough power, then you can make your way up the ranks and keep on racing. Just like the CEO promised us rowing years ago, right? Using your Mac or PC, you can do it online on the Zwift website. Whilst this might be the case, as Eric implies in flat races light weight riders have to work harder to stay in touch with the heavier riders in the bunch. I have to say I weigh myself most mornings in the buff (just my glasses on so I can see the numbers)! Todd_S (Todd S) March 12, 2015, 3:09am #4 I'm new to the app. The Tour de Zwift events this year were much moreRead more , Wait. Blaming Zwift for eating disorders is not sensible. Some people, I think, just have a lower HR. Manually change your weight in Zwift by adding 10 pounds. However, I was able to navigate to the settings page by doing the following. Not sure why its hard for you to believe that there are a lot of riders under 70kgs. (Example: if your FTP is 300 watts and you weigh 75kg, your FTP w/kg would be 300/75, or 4 w/kg.). I understand if someone has a banner day or just bumped up out of upper C to lower B. This covers name changes as well as weight/height changes during an event. IRL if your weight is 85kg, itll take you longer to climb the Ventoux than if your weight is 65. Noob question though, whats the etiquette around weighing with kit on or off. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices. The key phrase is assuming both riding at the same W/kg, so for the same watts, if I claim to be 10kgs lighter than I really am my W/kg will increase considerably. I agree WTRL ZRL races dont feel like they have cheaters. I have been light and I have been heavy. There could be Zwift level weight bonuses instead of another pair of socks. Why not only require weight and height for entry to A and B races? If thats not something that needs fixing then why run any races? Hahahahaha. Have you ever compared numbers for calories burned, power output and even elevation ridden for a Zwift ride uploaded to Strava? 5x5min, 4x8min but definitely never longer than 8 minutes. Next up is the most finicky part of the process finding your Zwift ID in order to connect your accounts. But without any hard and fast rules, we cant say anything is illegalat least for certain races. Keep answering that question and youll keep most people on side. Hes asking for a fair race. 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. either a) ur starting ur sprint way too late or b) ur leading him out. ur allowed +/- 5% weight for pro zwift races so +/- 0.5 kg is not going to make a difference :p. add weight if u want to stay in D. lower weight if u wanna move to C. up 2 u. angels stadium covid rules. As a 96kg, 51 year old with an FTP of 317 and a resting HR of about 48 (and a theoretical maximum HR of 174) Im not sure why my lower HR during an event should seen as suspicious. Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. 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. I started started zwift four months ago as a retirement present to myself. Heavy riders not only have a huge advantage on down slopes (the steeper the more advantage); they also have an advantage on the flats; its only when it gets to above 5%+ you can start to break a heavier rider. ThatRead more . But then you could have someone in the same age group who maxes out at 170. Im a heavy rider at 102kgs and 193cm tall I once reverse doped my weight at the top of the radio tower to try and achieve the 100km/HR badge It had the opposite effect in that I was actually slower than when descending at my actual weight lol I dont race other than against myself so Ive never weight doped as such My observations recently however have created an awareness of how many stick insects ride bikes on zwift . Would love your thoughts, please comment. We like this move from Zwift. Im quite heavy, at about 85kgs, but also 183cms tall (and 52 years old). 2 Likes _Jynxy_EVO (:)) October 1, 2021, 1:41pm #8 thxs mike, 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.