Zwift Chat

[bridgy]

Wow - just watched it

We could be seeing the rise of a new superstar of the sport with

Spoiler

Brennan

- I hope so!

 

[Norry1]

We could be seeing the rise of a new superstar of the sport with

Spoiler

Brennan

- I hope so!

Me too. Bit muscular up top isn't he 💪

 

[ColinJ]

I am really missing Eurosport!

It's almost impossible not to stumble across race results while I save my pennies for a 1-month sub to TNT to binge-watch the early season races.

I plan to do that with 45 days of racing that I want to watch, which would be before the Giro. £0.69/day seems ok.

Hopefully, Quest will show the Giro. Dauphine and TdF on ITV4, then later in the year a second month on TNT to catch up on other races.

 

[Legs]

50kms towards the sl8 first upgrade. Have to admit it is quite motivating, and fair play to zwift for getting people talking, hopefully doesn't get too complicated.

Wonder if anyone has done an upgrade yet. @Norry1 @Peter Salt would normally be high mileage riders but maybe outside at the minute and a few others injured. @Legs @alex_cycles @bridgy ?

With the Tron having been nerfed, I bought the SL8 and put 20km on towards its first upgrade this morning. This will double up as my climbing bike too, now that the Aethos has been supplanted.

It's really not clear whether the halo bikes are going to be any faster, so I'm not going to invest time in trying to get them.

 

[bridgy]

With the Tron having been nerfed, I bought the SL8 and put 20km on towards its first upgrade this morning. This will double up as my climbing bike too, now that the Aethos has been supplanted.

It's really not clear whether the halo bikes are going to be any faster, so I'm not going to invest time in trying to get them.

The SL8 does seem like a good place to start re: upgrading for sure.

The Aethos will be a quicker climber once fully upgraded though.

And the Tron is quicker on the flat than the SL8 (and any other bike except the Specialized Project 74 Halo bike) so I still would use that for very flat races I think.

And a fully upgraded Tron is also quicker uphill than a non upgraded SL8 so I did initially wonder if it's worth first upgrading the Tron. But to do that you have to first upgrade 3 Zwift frames, and then the Tron itself - which in total would take a whopping 10,800km (if my maths is right!)

To fully upgrade the SL8 is "only" 1,600km so I'm going to start with that one too!

Whether I'll ever want to spend months and months riding basic Zwift frames just to get to the point of being able to start upgrading the Tron, I really don't know! Although I suppose once I've done the upgrades of the SL8 and maybe the Aethos, I could just ride the Zwift frames in group/bot rides when not racing and gradually pile the miles on them that way, while using my upgraded bikes for racing. Will take YEARS though!

 

[Legs]

And a fully upgraded Tron is also quicker uphill than a non upgraded SL8 so I did initially wonder if it's worth first upgrading the Tron. But to do that you have to first upgrade 3 Zwift frames, and then the Tron itself - which in total would take a whopping 10,800km (if my maths is right!)

Blimey - I’ve ‘only’ ridden 17,300km in more than 4 years of Zwifting. Not sure it’s worth bothering to do that!

 

[alex_cycles]

The SL8 does seem like a good place to start re: upgrading for sure.

The Aethos will be a quicker climber once fully upgraded though.

And the Tron is quicker on the flat than the SL8 (and any other bike except the Specialized Project 74 Halo bike) so I still would use that for very flat races I think.

And a fully upgraded Tron is also quicker uphill than a non upgraded SL8 so I did initially wonder if it's worth first upgrading the Tron. But to do that you have to first upgrade 3 Zwift frames, and then the Tron itself - which in total would take a whopping 10,800km (if my maths is right!)

To fully upgrade the SL8 is "only" 1,600km so I'm going to start with that one too!

Whether I'll ever want to spend months and months riding basic Zwift frames just to get to the point of being able to start upgrading the Tron, I really don't know! Although I suppose once I've done the upgrades of the SL8 and maybe the Aethos, I could just ride the Zwift frames in group/bot rides when not racing and gradually pile the miles on them that way, while using my upgraded bikes for racing. Will take YEARS though!

I've got my SL8 up to level 1 for tomorrow's DRS. Sadly it's an aero upgrade, not a climby one, but it's the first step.

 

[Peter Salt]

50kms towards the sl8 first upgrade. Have to admit it is quite motivating, and fair play to zwift for getting people talking, hopefully doesn't get too complicated.

Wonder if anyone has done an upgrade yet. @Norry1 @Peter Salt would normally be high mileage riders but maybe outside at the minute and a few others injured. @Legs @alex_cycles @bridgy ?

I made sure I selected the new 'Factory Tour' challenge when that came about, and now I'm just riding around on the Dogma 2024. Not sure it's the best grame to make upgrades to, but I find myself using it the most. I think I'm fairly close to doing the first one, but don't expect to see/feel the difference.

 

[mjd1988]

The SL8 does seem like a good place to start re: upgrading for sure.

The Aethos will be a quicker climber once fully upgraded though.

And the Tron is quicker on the flat than the SL8 (and any other bike except the Specialized Project 74 Halo bike) so I still would use that for very flat races I think.

And a fully upgraded Tron is also quicker uphill than a non upgraded SL8 so I did initially wonder if it's worth first upgrading the Tron. But to do that you have to first upgrade 3 Zwift frames, and then the Tron itself - which in total would take a whopping 10,800km (if my maths is right!)

To fully upgrade the SL8 is "only" 1,600km so I'm going to start with that one too!

Whether I'll ever want to spend months and months riding basic Zwift frames just to get to the point of being able to start upgrading the Tron, I really don't know! Although I suppose once I've done the upgrades of the SL8 and maybe the Aethos, I could just ride the Zwift frames in group/bot rides when not racing and gradually pile the miles on them that way, while using my upgraded bikes for racing. Will take YEARS though!

This is a very good synopsis. Aethos definitely a better climber in the new tests below and Tron an even better weapon on the flat

https://zwiftinsider.com/top-performers/

 

[alex_cycles]

This is a very good synopsis. Aethos definitely a better climber in the new tests below and Tron an even better weapon on the flat

https://zwiftinsider.com/top-performers/

The SL8 is the best all rounder now and probably the best one to upgrade first if you want to use it for racing.
The Aethos fully upgraded will be better at climbing than the SL8. but the SL8 is better than the Aethos if neither of them are upgraded.

Zipp 454 or Meilenstein for climbing. Enve 8.9 for flat and Enve 7.8 for rolling/hilly

 

[ColinJ]

It’s very quiet - quite a bit quieter for the equivalent cooling effect than my rotary fan. I tried downloading a decibel meter for my iPhone but the readings are very noisy (excuse the pun) and not very consistent - I think the readings are highly dependent on the position and direction of the microphone - so I can’t give you objective data!

I got my Cardio54 fan this afternoon, plugged it in, stood back, took hold of the remote control, and switched the fan on...

I must have accidentally switched it to level 3 because a gale force wind almost blew me off my feet! Oh, that was actually level 1... Yes, that is one powerful fan!!!

I found the noise level of the fan on level 1 was fine. The device itself was pretty quiet - most of the noise being due to turbulent airflow over my ears. I am going to mount the fan on a tripod and turn it through 90 degrees to direct a vertically aligned band of wind over my body, and will tilt it down slightly to keep most of that turbulence away from my ears.

Levels 2 and 3 are impressive! As expected, noisier, but given that I would have to be thrashing myself to need that level of cooling and will probably have music cranked up, I don't think that it will be a problem.

 

[mjd1988]

The SL8 is the best all rounder now and probably the best one to upgrade first if you want to use it for racing.
The Aethos fully upgraded will be better at climbing than the SL8. but the SL8 is better than the Aethos if neither of them are upgraded.

Zipp 454 or Meilenstein for climbing. Enve 8.9 for flat and Enve 7.8 for rolling/hilly

Yes I'll be on the sl8 for the foreseeable I think!

I got my Cardio54 fan this afternoon, plugged it in, stood back, took hold of the remote control, and switched the fan on...

I must have accidentally switched it to level 3 because a gale force wind almost blew me off my feet! Oh, that was actually level 1... Yes, that is one powerful fan!!!

I found the noise level of the fan on level 1 was fine. The device itself was pretty quiet - most of the noise being due to turbulent airflow over my ears. I am going to mount the fan on a tripod and turn it through 90 degrees to direct a vertically aligned band of wind over my body, and will tilt it down slightly to keep most of that turbulence away from my ears.

Levels 2 and 3 are impressive! As expected, noisier, but given that I would have to be thrashing myself to need that level of cooling and will probably have music cranked up, I don't think that it will be a problem.

They are pleasingly industrial. I've used them to blow leaves with the extension cord on occasion 😂

 

[IrishAl]

This is a very good synopsis. Aethos definitely a better climber in the new tests below and Tron an even better weapon on the flat

https://zwiftinsider.com/top-performers/

Perhaps I misheard but I thought GP Lama said in his update update that in races the bike upgrades where neutralised, but reading the ZwiftInsider write up it definitely looks like you retain the bike upgrades. I’m averaging 1 ride a week on Zwift (other 8 hours work of rides are outdoors lately) and I’ve cancelled my monthly renewal from early April, so I could well be coming into the autumn Zwift season on a basic frame set - boo hoo!

 

[ColinJ]

Hmm, further distractions work required... the plastic mount on the tripod couldn't take the weight of the Cardio54!

I'll use the fan on the floor for now and see how I get on with it there.

(The airflow feels narrow vertically, much wider horizontally so I do think that it would be better turned through 90 degrees to cool more of the body.)

 

[alex_cycles]

Perhaps I misheard but I thought GP Lama said in his update update that in races the bike upgrades where neutralised, but reading the ZwiftInsider write up it definitely looks like you retain the bike upgrades. I’m averaging 1 ride a week on Zwift (other 8 hours work of rides are outdoors lately) and I’ve cancelled my monthly renewal from early April, so I could well be coming into the autumn Zwift season on a basic frame set - boo hoo!

For the Zwift Games, yes. For general racing NO. But organisers can request it, or choose a designated bike (FRR does that).

It would be totally self-defeating of Zwift to come up with all these new incentives for people to level up and then switch them off when you need them. Even Zwift aren't that stupid. (Famous last words )