Hello! New to this thread and new to zwift. Santa bought me a trainer 😁 I’m really enjoying it so far.
Question about distances. I’m always surprised at the distance zwift says I’ve travelled. I definitely feel like I work harder on Zwift than I do outside, I push harder. But the Zwift mileage looks very generous. Any thoughts?
Hello! Glad you came over
On the distance topic: I actually kind of did a test on that. I rode pan-flat 130km on Zwift, in a custom meet-up, with no one else around on an average frame with average wheels. Then did the same outside, 130km, pan-flat circular route, only left turns and my road set up (which is very average). I also replicated indoor-style pedalling (i.e. no coasting, just spin all the time). Outside it took me 4:28, inside 4:15.
Not a big difference but a difference and here's I think why:
- Outside there's weather, especially wind.
- Outside you get distractions, even on a circular route. You temporarily drop the ball and ease off or forget to pedal altogether as you know for a fact you won't stop completely right away
But here's the thing: When you get on Zwift you have a selection of very expensive and fast frames and wheels. You also get thousands of people that temporarily give you draft. And that adds to the difference.
But then you can make the counter argument and say that an hour on a turbo is, in fact, harder than an hour outside. So don't feel bad about raking up a few more miles.
I was in the exact opposite situation than you. My first proper bike in years was an indoor trainer hooked up to Zwift. Did that for a few months and then bought a road bike. On my first ride outside I couldn't believe how easy it was
