[Closed] Zwift - I don't get it?

Someone must use it ?

i thought it was wahoo kickr/powermeter based if not it defaults your weight to 75kg and uses their algorithm to estimate your speed/power

I've used it a couple of times but only to coast round 1 legged when i was in plaster, theres no training aspect yet so for anything other than recovery rides/scenery i don't get what its for

I tried it with a regular turbo trainer and thought pretty much the same as you, completely pointless. I just spent the whole session blatting/plodding (delete as appropriate) along at the same power output for an hour. My virtual speed increased and decreased accordingly but my actual effort stayed the same for the whole time.

I recently bought a powered trainer and it makes more sense with that as it varies the levels when you hit an virtual incline or when you're drafting although I still much prefer the more structured approach of trainerRoad.

I use it, it's great - I've done centuries on it and everything!

At the minute there's no workout function as it's still in open beta but a ftp based workout thing is coming in time for winter.

So currently it's best to treat it like real riding and chase zwift or strava personal records, koms etc. It's also good for being a bit more competitive - I was trying to do a fairly steady hour the other night and ended up racing an American who was much lighter so faster on the climbs and a Dane who was about my build so we were working together to pull the American back on the flats.

There's a fairly big social aspect to it and the introduction of the Richmond's world champs course will be ace.

Of course you can just run trainerroad alongside it and do your intervals accordingly but have a chat when you're on a recovery interval. I used to do sufferfest and trainerroad a couple of times a week but haven't really used it since getting Zwift in Jan/Feb.

looking at this, never been one for Turbos, I'd rather stick with the weather and suck it up, but a new job means work outs will be indoors, rather than outside.

So which trainer do you use, worth investing in Power meter? etc...

Don't you need a power meter to use this? Otherwise it's just riding whilst watching a VR environment?

My missus recently bought one of these and is running it using Zwift [url= http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Elite-Real-Tour-Ant-Trainer/ELITTRAI686000000000?utm_campaign=Googlebase&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=Googlebase&geoip=UK&gclid=COXZyvjquccCFYYfwwod9ewJxg&gclsrc=aw.ds ]Elite Real Tour[/url]
She loves it and has definitely helped motivate her to do more riding. She reckons it's just like a Nintendo Wii, but you actually have to work hard!

Normally I use Trainerroad. I just didnt get this, how to you control your power output? What are you working towards? I could just see that you could power along at whatever level you wanted? And no indicator to see what heart rate zone etc you are in

When you're in trainerroad, how do you control your power output, what are you working towards, and where do you see your heart-rate zone indicated? 🙂

To be fair I think to get the best out of zwift you need a smart turbo, and a decent computer.
I love it!
Great for unstructured riding, and races. Not so great for structured workouts as the temptation to jump on someone else's wheel is normally too great.
Racing has been especially good fun on it,
For structured workouts I tend to use trainerroad, and have that control the power level of the kickr, but use it in companion with zwift for the display.

Don't you need a power meter to use this?

You don't but it's preferable.
Much like trainer road, it also supports a variety of trainers which the speed/power curve has been recorded, so if you stick a rear wheel speed sensor on your bike, you can get a reasonable estimate of power if the model of trainer is known.

There's a fairly big social aspect to it and the introduction of the Richmond's world champs course will be ace.

I use it on a regular basis when its too wet to go out on my road bike.

You have a couple of options

1. An intelligent trainer, which varies the resistance according to where you are on the lap based on the gradient.
2. A dumb trainer, but with a profiled power curve, virtual power if you like. Its essential to setup the correct trainer to allow it to estimate your power based on that trainers power profile.
3. A dumb trainer with a power meter

With a profiled dumb trainer Zwift will know how much power is required to rotate the flyweel at a given speed, assuming you are using a standard wheel size at a known pressure (100psi).

As you cycle round the course and the gradient increases for any given power your speed will reduce. So where an intelligent trainer increases the resistance on an uphill a profiled trainer will reduce your "in game" speed. With the end result being that both riders progress at the same rate around the course for any given power output.

Sure its not perfect but its close enough for those who cant justify the cost of a power meter.

Zwift takes into account your weight as well to calculate or estimate (based on your trainer type) your watts per kilogram. Using a dumb trainer I get believable if not totally accurate power values.

I have to say Zwift has played a big part in improving my performance in the 6 months I have been using it. My power output has gone up and I am roughly 10% faster out on the road.

Zwift is still in beta, with plenty of features to come including structured training.

For me its a way to get in a 45 min ride on a shitty weather day any time of the year. Trying to stay on someone's wheel pushes you and then seeing your power reading, virtual or real rise over time is a great motivator. As is the social aspect of "going for a ride" with other like minded individuals.

I love it.

Select the wrong trainer in the options or lie about your weight and you can cheat, generating higher power than you actually can, blasting around the course at super human rates. its also pretty easy to spoof ant+ power data as well before the power meter master race whinges about virtual power users cheating.

Like Strava, which it links to, you get out of it as much as you put in. Sure you can cheat, but that's not the point.