Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

I think Zwift Insider said it was Tuesday night.

That probably means US Pacific Coast time so likely after our Tuesday race.

At least I hope so as that would explain my times tonight

Definitely a lot of noise on various Zwift forums around this. Some very unhappy bunnies. I'm just glad it wasn't me imagining things; at one point in the ride I even mentioned the weird points where other riders pushing a lot less than me were flying past me. This is a common 'feature'. Also, the riding through treacle is a common complaint.

At least we know now, so next time we do that course we'll either all have to select the same bike (maybe the basic Zwift setup) or we'll have to do some research on what works best on that course.

Bloody good exercise for the legs though, riding through treacle

 

[Whorty]

If we’re going to vote on it then my vote would go to starting the league again next week. It’s just bad timing is all but not the end of the world... I don’t see another way round it.

Can’t lie. It has been fun teasing lee over on WhatsApp. But I can’t listen to the whippet sulking all month long!

I'm easy either way. I'm OK keeping my sluggish time, but equally happy not using this course and starting fresh next week.

Or, we could take everyone's Thursday time as the correct time for the course - and for those that have only ridden it Tuesday, they will need to re-ride it to set a time.

Like I say .... all good whichever way it falls.

 

[Whorty]

Sorry I got my update days wrong

 

[Whorty]

I’m not very IT savvy but could zwift do the changes via the update but they don’t come into action until a certain time? Ie after tuesdays meet as I had updated before? Agree though if that is possible then should run again even though it was my best race ever

Yes - possible. But couldn't say for sure that they did or whether your Tuesday time was on the new treacle format. Only one way to find out .... you'll have to ride it again

 

[Del C]

Yes - possible. But couldn't say for sure that they did or whether your Tuesday time was on the new treacle format. Only one way to find out .... you'll have to ride it again

Brendan’s time was before the update.

It was our 2 up team time trial effort where we rode as a well oiled machine.

Had we ridden it together yesterday we’d have been a well treacled machine!

Ahahahahaha!

(Stunning wordplay there!)

 

[peterob]

FWIW here is the updated league table with yesterday evening's results included.

It certainly looks like the platform update had a significant impact on the times (there's no way I should be able to go faster than the likes of Lee and Al when I'm still crocked ). Fairest thing to do is not to count this week's results as part of the league.

So we'll start the league afresh next week. In the mean time we can discuss whether we should all be choosing the same basic bike or whether it will be up to the individual to choose an appropriate bike for the course!

 

[<Tommy>]

FWIW here is the updated league table with yesterday evening's results included.

It certainly looks like the platform update had a significant impact on the times (there's no way I should be able to go faster than the likes of Lee and Al when I'm still crocked ). Fairest thing to do is not to count this week's results as part of the league.

So we'll start the league afresh next week. In the mean time we can discuss whether we should all be choosing the same basic bike or whether it will be up to the individual to choose an appropriate bike for the course!
View attachment 487671

personally I don’t think we should all be on the same bike. It’s never been a conversation in the past and all the new update has done is install an added variable. On a practical level should we all be on the same bike as the guy who just started out on zwift and joined our league?

I think it would be equivalent to having a conversation about us all setting the same weight or height. I say this as someone who is on level 20 so will generally be disadvantaged by lack of equipment at this point.

Now, how do I take a screen shot of that league table

 

[bobinski]

I don’t think it would be within the spirit of our riding together to restrict bike choice except in TT races.

 

[Brendan Parker]

personally I don’t think we should all be on the same bike. It’s never been a conversation in the past and all the new update has done is install an added variable. On a practical level should we all be on the same bike as the guy who just started out on zwift and joined our league?

I think it would be equivalent to having a conversation about us all setting the same weight or height. I say this as someone who is on level 20 so will generally be disadvantaged by lack of equipment at this point.

Now, how do I take a screen shot of that league table

I have a screenshot and more than willing to share

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

On a practical level should we all be on the same bike as the guy who just started out on zwift and joined our league?

I think it would be equivalent to having a conversation about us all setting the same weight or height. I say this as someone who is on level 20 so will generally be disadvantaged by lack of equipment at this point.

I'm working on it Currently at Level 7 and trying to increase FTP 😅.

As for equipment, I just earned the coloured socks Not quite what I need to make me more aero, but they look good 😁

 

[<Tommy>]

I have a screenshot and more than willing to share

I’m just popping out to buy a picture frame

 

[bridgy]

I'm easy either way. I'm OK keeping my sluggish time, but equally happy not using this course and starting fresh next week.

Or, we could take everyone's Thursday time as the correct time for the course - and for those that have only ridden it Tuesday, they will need to re-ride it to set a time.

Like I say .... all good whichever way it falls.

We'll definitely have to re-start the league because those who had already set a time on Tuesday weren't necessarily riding as hard on Thursday knowing they had a good time in the bank - this was definitely the case for me as I was just marking Lee!

Is there a list anyone can dig up of which courses do have a gravel section and which don't? Might be worth just avoiding courses with gravel until we know a bit more about what's going on?

Up to now, although there are differences in bike/wheelset speed, its been very small really - this gravel thing seems to be much more significant. It's going to basically invalidate previous strava segment times on lots of courses and have a significant impact on races - and I guarantee loads of people are going to be confused for a long time to come! I think this is a really poor decision they've made here because at the moment, how fast you go through the gravel sections is pure chance as we have no idea which wheelsets work best - or how the best gravel wheelsets now disadvantage you on the tarmac. Racing shouldn't come down to chance like this. I can't see any benefits it adds to the experience either

 

[<Tommy>]

We'll definitely have to re-start the league because those who had already set a time on Tuesday weren't necessarily riding as hard on Thursday knowing they had a good time in the bank - this was definitely the case for me as I was just marking Lee!

Is there a list anyone can dig up of which courses do have a gravel section and which don't? Might be worth just avoiding courses with gravel until we know a bit more about what's going on?

Up to now, although there are differences in bike/wheelset speed, its been very small really - this gravel thing seems to be much more significant. It's going to basically invalidate previous strava segment times on lots of courses and have a significant impact on races - and I guarantee loads of people are going to be confused for a long time to come! I think this is a really poor decision they've made here because at the moment, how fast you go through the gravel sections is pure chance as we have no idea which wheelsets work best - or how the best gravel wheelsets now disadvantage you on the tarmac. Racing shouldn't come down to chance like this. I can't see any benefits it adds to the experience either

I might be wrong but the impression I’ve got is that it isn’t every wheel set that has different properties but just the type of wheel that vary. I.e road bike wheels respond differently to say gravel bike wheels. Not zipp road bike wheels respond differently to enve road bike wheels for example.

if that is correct it doesn’t really matter which course we do as it’ll be the same for all of us so long as we’re on the same type of bike?

 

[CXRAndy]

Im a bit slow to pick up the complaint with slower times.

Have wheels/tyres and road surface having a big impact on speed/times or is it Zwift improving their algorithm to reflect real riding ?

 

[<Tommy>]

Im a bit slow to pick up the complaint with slower times.

Have wheels/tyres and road surface having a big impact on speed/times or is it Zwift improving their algorithm to reflect real riding ?

Both really. Zwift have updated the software to create a difference between the way different types of wheel perform on different surfaces. Eg gravel bikes work better on loose surfaces than road bikes which perform better on tarmac.

I’m with bridgy really in that it’s all a bit gimmicky to my mind.