Set the power estimate (or what its called these days) to 3 seconds - and push hard right before any short ascend. Once you enter it, you can reduce power already, at least by some amount. That way, Zwift uses the median of the last 3 seconds for calculating your power, which lets you ride up those short steep sections at much higher speed. Very useful in the Esses in Watopia, and some points in New York... It is similar to riding in the real world, “punching” up short climbs. Oh, and that cooling fan is definitely number 12. Make it a high-volume one, too.
Ride in kilometers, you gain more experience points per 100km than if you rode that same distance in miles. Also end rides on a whole km/mile so you get all those points.
In addition to riding in km rather than miles if you're looking to level up as fast as possible also ride the TT bike. The TT bike is the fastest in the game so you'll get more km for your work and you also always get XP bonuses when you go under banners and never the Aero Boost, Drafting Boost or Climbing Boost. Also...world hack...Google it. #Richmondsucks
Always finish at .1km further than what Zwift shows you've ridden. I've stopped right at an even number, like 30km, then only been credited for 29.99km. Makes a difference in XP.
As someone who has never done a Zwift session but seriously thinking of giving it a try, this video has been invaluable. Extremely well explained and at a pace that a non-Zwifter can follow. In addition, your method of explaining each step does not give me loads of options which I don't understand. Instead, you show how to choose one of the options so that I can at least make a start. Well done. Thank you.
my Top zwift hack was getting a fan (the one that blows wind at you, although now that i think of it, maybe some friends cheering you on might be pretty cool too!) In all seriousness though...i rode without a fan during workouts and the amount of sweat pouring off me was clinically dangerous. The fan makes a HUGE difference in keeping you cool allowing me to workout longer and much more enjoyable.
Nick Cup couldn’t agree more. My watts without a fan is dismal. 10mins at my true outdoor FTP max. Add a massive industrial fan and I can put out the same watts as I do during a TT for over an hour. Not sure why this isn’t mentioned more. Sod the little piddling fans, everyone should adopt a massive blower.
I use a small fan, low setting for like warm up and Z1 PLUS a remote controlled 3 speed fan on a pedestal for the efforts and depending on the temp inside.
You can also manually over ride which course you ride by editing the configuration file with a 2 tag. In case you don't like that day's default course.
Ha ha that totally kills me that Si would have a go at Hank about Sweat! Super cool video. Definitely got to say that getting on Zwift when its completely dark outside in the winter evenings does make riding so much more pleasurable. Definitely recommend the GCN workouts and would love to see some new GCN workouts and challenges on Zwift! Love the video guys!
Ohhhh, it's a "holographic display". New to Zwift and I was wondering why I was seeing all these people who look like they're reading the newspaper as they ride...
I'm featured again on GCN! 7:25 So, why aren't the sponsors calling me?! Just because it was a "D" race? Pshaw. I should at least get a pair of socks. 😂
Halloween was cool last night. Some people had pumpkin heads. I had a cool bat bike, which was the tt bike. Jack-o-lanterns on the side of the road and it was night the whole time too.
Missing tip: you aren’t limited to riding on one of the three ‘available’ worlds! Create a Meet Up ... even if with a random Zwifter on your following list who you know won’t / can’t come ... and you can choose ANY world! Also ... during a meet-up you can also choose to do a Structured Workout
Not sure that you are quite correct on trainer difficulty - You still have to achieve the same wattage to get up a hill or reach a certain speed but it reduces the need to change gear - well that's my understanding anyway. Otherwise everyone would set it to zero before a race...
That's my understanding too. An easier setting makes it like a longer climb at a lower gradient - same total amount of work, but less need for gear changes. In addition, it compensates for situations in which you might not have the gearing on your bike for those 17% climbs.
One thing I picked up on, if your not using a smart trainer, then I found that I need to shift up on hills to make any progress. Otherwise, just sitting and spinning for an hour to move 1k.
No, having a fan should have been Tip 1, not 12. When I started riding Zwift I was nauseas after rides when riding in an unheated garage when it was 25 degrees or colder outside. A few rides later I dehydrated so badly I threw a kidney stone. I was drinking just as much as I do on the road.
the best tip for zwift is that trainerroad is dedicated to making you a faster cyclist, better plans than zwift and calendar is so good. trainers are boring either way. might as well maximize your time and get a good workout.
@@gregoberry3976 yeah, I tried both and zwift was fun for a day or two. can see it would be fun if you have friends on there. but i found it wasn't really very focused on much so I migrated to the training plans. and trainerroad works out better there. also I don't want to spent up to 12 hours a week in the zwift world. I'd rather be reading/watching TV shows I like etc while on the trainer. all of which are much more interesting than Zwift. Zwift is cool but I prefer the basic and comprehensive plans offered by trainerroad and the ability to sequence them and other workouts in calendar.
Keith Ratcliff I hear you. Any visual distraction reduces the boredom. For me, riding with others provides a measure of pacing and gets my competitive juices flowing, resulting in a harder effort, when I want to give a hard effort, such as a race, FTP test or HIIT intervals.
@@gregoberry3976 yup I get ya, definitely noticed I sped up when someone overtook me in Zwift! Then again, trainerroad (or zwift training plans) force you to hold power targets too. I suppose these softwares are in early days so all will improve with time. I just hope that the market is big enough to sustain a few different options for consumers. Zwift definitely have the marketing nailed with GCN and I don't want them to take all the market share! Keen to see how the VR stuff develops though. and it'd be nice to see other options discussed on GCN goldencheetah/perfpro/sufferfest etc etc
Note: trainer difficulty doesn't change the number of watts needed to climb... Just changes the response of your smart trainer if you have one. So basically I would need to change gears less when at a lower "difficulty" with 0% acting like a "dumb" trainer and 100% having me grinding up some of those steep grades and spinning out on the downhill. So to clarify when Si says it makes the downhills "harder" what he means is you will spin out (run out of gears). This is problematic when racing as you need to be able to power down the descents to keep up (especially if you are a lighter rider)
Do you change gears less when riding actual hills than flats? It depends if you're trying to cancel out what the trainer did to try maintain steady cadence (like you do in the real world), or if you're trying to hit cadence targets. If the first, you'd change gears MORE in 100%, if the latter, you'd change gears less. Either way, yeah, you can control with your gears anyway. Hills only affect speed and in a simulator, speed is just a number.
The way I see this is more that setting your trainer difficulty lower, would in the real world mean having lighter gears. For me, Iiving in a very flat part of the world, it helps me riding up the mountains on Zwift with my lowest gear of 36x25.
@@larsborghouts8360 Most trainers can only simulate about 7% hills anyway. For a 36/28 gear combination, which I might call intermediate, that's 229 watts at 90 rpm for 83kg bike + rider which is probably about the assumption used in the 7% number. Most reasonably young folks should be able to hit that at least for awhile after some time in the sport. For a 34/34 (which is now available in ultegra long cage road) it's 180 watts, and for a 39/25 it's 280 watts, still not enormous. So in other words if you've got a light gearing and you're riding sweet spot at 180watts and 90rpm in a 50/24 gear (2.08 ratio) and you hit a hill the trainer will suddenly get twice more resistive, its ABSOLUTE MAX resistance, and you'll shift to 34/34 (1.06) and you will STILL be doing 180 watts at 90 rpm. Sure if you've got heavier gearing it will force you to higher power or lower cadence, but you could do that anyway by upshifting instead. Bottom line, I don't see any point in having the trainer increase resistance unless I'm already in my 50/11 and still want to go harder at a given cadence. Unless I'm already there I can still increase it myself, and the rest is a head game. However for low cadence intervals in the 50/11 and recovery at high cadence in a 34/32 or so, it could be nice to expand that range with some automatic resistance control.
I may look at changing this, I use an original Kickr with an 11-30T 11 speed cassette. I was going up a 13% gradient earlier at 90rpm doing around 4.5W/kg and wasn't even in 1st gear! Would making this towards the "max" setting mean It'd be more like riding up a 13% gradient (ie I'd be in 1st gear for sure!!). Cheers.
@@rossfripp4503 it would do that. Of course if you want a lower cadence to feel like you're on a hill (and to get low cadence high force workouts) you can also just shift into a harder (not easier) gear. In the end there are only two things that matter: Power, and cadence. Likewise if you want to spin out on the downhills, you can just shift into an easy gear and spin away.
@@liaml.7529 look up redbull bay climb NorCal Cycling. He's a US domestic pro and he holds 784 for 1:10 in the first round. Second round holds 810 for 1:10. Do you even follow cycling?
Is it bad that I'd want to turn this into a Road Rash style game where you could kick other riders, hit them with bats, chains, and sticks crow bars into other riders wheels lol
Can you guys help me understand the limits of Zwift? Hubby is doing rehab after a stroke and has really low power in his legs - but this looks like a great tool to help. How slow/weak is too slow/weak to actually make use out of Zwift? He could probably pedal 5mph for 3 miles. Is it worth trying - does the program have a way that people with limited abilities can join in? Would be great if it did.
Here is a new tip: you can turn off the annoying Intro music. You have to log on and enter the game, but then choose settings and the top item allows you to turn on/off the happy time Zwift music (this tip was from Shane Miller - GPLama). Cheers gents. See you next year at the Birmingham Velo...need a live GCN feed!
Thanks for letting us know this! I actually requested this feature in the Zwift Feature Request Forum. Believe it or not, some people actually said they like it (forums.zwift.com/t/intro-music/12704). So I guess they made it optional, but they didn't mention it on the forum.
How to get the Lightweight Meilenstein wheels.... cycle up alpe du Zwift... you may get them on your 3rd... 10th or even 30th attempt. I got mine on my 19th summit... kept getting socks and gloves
Once I got on Zwift and something was going on with my Kickr and by even just barely turning over the pedals it said I was producing 2000 watts. I was flying by everyone at 50+ mph. Hilarious. Some sort of bug, I assume. Haven't been able to replicate it again.
I have a hart condition, and need to regain some fitness. using a smart trainer coupled with swift! will it cope with my very slow workouts? or am i way to slow for swift to be of any use.
Is there a way to get an elevation chart along the bottom (or top) of the screen for either the route you're doing, or for the KOM, showing how far along you are? I like how it shows you your ETA at the end of the KOM....I don't like how it only shows you this once you're about 1/2 way through, is there any way to change this? Thanks :)
If I ride different types of bikes (in this case, a carbon road bike and an aluminum recumbent trike), do I need to create two separate accounts to keep from commingling the two?
How do you crank out of the saddle. I’ve tried standing up in 6% grades and big ring little gear and still hit no resistance space on every crank. This doesn’t happen outside on a real ride. What am I doing wrong?
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of using rollers especially when racing, I struggle to find watts above 550 on rollers therefore impossible to sprint finish. Is there anything else I’m missing?
ZWIFT training programmes are excellent. Got my FTP to 365W in 4 months. New York needs a bit more variety IMO, feels like cycling around a massive garden.
Michael J Brennan I cycled to Dobbies Garden Centre once abs also walked the garden aisles of B&Q. All uploaded to Strava as it didn't happen if its not on Strava
Two more tips: 1) when using vpower one needs to know the resistance curve of the trainer, especially if one wants to use the Zwift training programs. For example, my Minoura topped out at 400w, my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine only hits 1200w; 2) when trying to follow training programs in vpower, use instant sampling. 3 second average sampling makes it harder to realize and control fluctuations in output - it also kills your 10 second sprints.
the thing about zwift is that i keep seeing it advertised with people setup up like pros with rigs that cost way too much. i'm a casual commuter that loves long distance bikepacking. i need to stay fit by having a good experience while gathering my fittness data accurately without carrying about competitions while at home. how do i know if this is for me or not?
You don’t have to compete - you can just ride and it’s a lot of fun. Obviously if they showed a setup that looked like my old basement rig it wouldn’t merit much views here. Hence these pros and their dream setups. A speed and cadence sensor for your bike is around $100 USD and then a dumb trainer isn’t much more than that and you can use an iPad for your Zwift machine. Try it- I thought like you did but now I’m addicted to it and it has transformed my winter fitness.
GCN Team, can you put some pressure so that Zwift enables sync from Zwift to Google Fit & Apple Health? It's unreal they block this. Zwift also blocks the sync coming from other apps, such as Strava or Google. For example, I sync my Zwift activities to Garmin Connect, and then I have an app (Health Sync) that syncs to Google Fit. Every normal activity done with my bike gets synced, excel the Zwift activities. The developer of the app Health Sync reached out to Zwift several times, but they have not fixed this yet.
@@david131092 it's high enough for a "retired" racing cyclist. Think I managed an FTP just over 300W at peak fitness. Now somewhere south of 280W. Quite a bit south.
My Power2Max unit reads a slightly different power to my kickr, if I have the power sensor as my power2max unit but my "controllable" unit as my kickr, will it take power readings from my power2max and adjust the kickr accordingly (like power match on trainer road), or will it just take power readings from the power meter and not adjust the kickr resistance? Thanks.
@@jdr4307 Oh, .. you would be surprised at what a console can do... It is more of the servers being able to handle the demand. The graphics is the easy part, .. playstation and Xbox can handle that part very easily. The problem is this, I believe: Sony (Playstation) and Microsoft (Xbox) do not think that there would be much of a demand for this type of gaming. Boy, .. are they wrong there, ... biking is an amazing sport globally. But a biking game would at first appear VERY boring to gaming designers as this is far too simplistic a game (in THEIR minds). The gaming designers have not even thought of how this would be a BOOMING industry to be able to race against others by using one's OWN bike rather than a controller. This would be a Battle Royale type of game but rather than guns and grenades, ... one uses a bicycle to beat the opponent, and when to overtake others, etc.
Any technique issues you can help with , will be really appreciated, I changed the 11 Speed to 10 Speed the gears does not line up . I have tried to line it up ,than it messes up the setting on my bike . Also opening the legs on the SUITO ELITE is hard, have you tried closing it , how are you suppose to pull the lock up at the same time push the legs in . I am no feather weight , build like a small tank but this is hard as it is so stiff. Any smart tip will help. The equipment is brill but I still love my rollers,
I realize your comment is 2 years old and you have hopefully figured this out by now, but for anyone else who is reading this- you need a 1.8mm spacer to put a 10 speed cassette on an 11speed hub!
1:39 what is that keyboard he is using? Also, I am using a pc (not a laptop) with the Wahoo USB ANT+ Kit. Can we still use the companion app? It says you have to be on same wifi but my pc is hard wired. Any solution for this?
Tell them about the spiral of death, when you can't keep on top of the watts and it just gets harder and harder !! Set your trainer onto 100% and prepare to suffer.
Trainer difficulty has nothing to do with what GCN or you guys say. It simply changes the affect on gearing. ie, at 0% you don't need to change gears when you hit a steep incline, at 100% you need to knock it back into the 39/28. All that matters is watts, and unless you are putting out more watts, you won't be faster using 0%. So to sum up, 100% difficulty is neither harder or slower than 0%. Unless you run out of gears and can't maintain cadence. That's what the difficulty setting is for, for people who don't have a large enough gear spread.
Hi, GCN! I asked the Zwift support about "sprints" that occur in for example group rides. They didnt answer my question properly so now I turn to you for helping out with this. How can I know where a sprint begins and where it ends. I know theres a green panel on the left about sprint leaderboards and Ive been told that on the mini map you should look for some green lines or arcs. I´m confused. Kind regards Pär
Semi new, thanks for sharing some good stuff. Any idea how or why the ride stops when your cadence or HR sensors unpairs during a ride and you go to sensors to reconnect? It’s terribly discouraging when you lose 200 spots for the 4 secs it takes to re-pair.
I dont have a smart trainer, I only have the turbo trainer where I had to manually adjust the wheel resistance...however, when I use swift even in the easiest resistance, I always seem to go super slow, even at 2mph whilst pedallin with all I've got. I have a cadence, speed and heart rate sensor connected and I dont seem to be able to workout why zwift is underestimating my power?
Is there a way to make the speed more accurate. I am using a Whahoo Kickr Snap and the cadence sensor and there is a pretty big disparity around what the speed says from the speed sensor and what the program says I am doing. I have never averaged 17 mph outside so I can’t imagine this is correct at 83 average watts of power on flats
Hi All, I’ve only been Zwifting for about one and one-half months. Lovely. Simply lovely! I notice that a number Zwifters add content in parentheses to their Zwift name. I think most of that content refers to a Zwift riding Club that person belongs to. But others have what appears to be just fun, personal info like J.Strong (Old Fart 64). Is that ok to do? I want to be a good member of the Zwift community, so don’t want to break any unwritten rules of decorum.
Hi Can you buy Zwift outright, like you would a game, and simply log into the online interaction when you choose to use it? This tethering via monthly billing seems to be becoming too commonplace in our society. I don't need more direct debits, I need less. God bless
I was hoping to find out some hacks I didn't know about... This would have been better named, "11 Things You Already Know About Zwift". It's okay - I still had fund watching and you guys do a great job on GCN. :-)
Zwift isn’t interested in your speed as you report, they figure it out. Power is it. I guess speed is easy to modify, that’s why. I use power, cadence, and HR. All recorded. No matter the grade, unless training specific, I watch and limit HR but power responds faster, so I may be going just 4 mph at 11% grade according to Zwift, but putting out same wattage as going 20 mph on flats.
I use a dumb trainer with a PM. When racing especially on new courses its very difficult to realise you’re going uphill till too late!! Is there a more obvious way of displaying gradient??
Pedals are always as light or heavy as you gear your equipment to be. The speed on screen changes. Does that have any impact on your workout? I can't see how.
Matt, I am a recreational rider who suffers from OFS (Old, Fat and Slow) Syndrome, so I wanted an indoor option but was not interested in spending thousands...I think there are plenty of budget options for putting together a setup. The trainer setup in my garage cost about $300, not including the $200 Walmart bike that I have sitting in it.
@@danielshrage4990 Yes, unfortunately now everyone wants one they're all out of stock, so all the used ones on ebay are fetching over new retail price!
Hey Matt I have a spin bike I bought off eBay , I use training videos that are on RUclips use your phone or iPad or your tv if you can get internet on it, you adjust the power manually in effort from 1to 6 I think , 1 being the easiest and 6 your maximum, don’t need dongles and things just follow them from the spin bike. Good training and cost much less. 👍
GUys can you help me I use dual power meters faveros yet zwift only picks up one side so power is halfed a real pain any idea how to get around this thanks guys
What's your top Zwift hack? (Don't lie about your weight 😂) 👇
Set the power estimate (or what its called these days) to 3 seconds - and push hard right before any short ascend. Once you enter it, you can reduce power already, at least by some amount.
That way, Zwift uses the median of the last 3 seconds for calculating your power, which lets you ride up those short steep sections at much higher speed.
Very useful in the Esses in Watopia, and some points in New York...
It is similar to riding in the real world, “punching” up short climbs.
Oh, and that cooling fan is definitely number 12. Make it a high-volume one, too.
Ride in kilometers, you gain more experience points per 100km than if you rode that same distance in miles. Also end rides on a whole km/mile so you get all those points.
@@jonathanzappala do all your rides in workout mode (you can just select a free ride one) and you get a over 10 points a minute, which is even better
In addition to riding in km rather than miles if you're looking to level up as fast as possible also ride the TT bike. The TT bike is the fastest in the game so you'll get more km for your work and you also always get XP bonuses when you go under banners and never the Aero Boost, Drafting Boost or Climbing Boost.
Also...world hack...Google it. #Richmondsucks
Daniel Hughes I’ll have to start doing that!
Always finish at .1km further than what Zwift shows you've ridden. I've stopped right at an even number, like 30km, then only been credited for 29.99km. Makes a difference in XP.
As someone who has never done a Zwift session but seriously thinking of giving it a try, this video has been invaluable. Extremely well explained and at a pace that a non-Zwifter can follow. In addition, your method of explaining each step does not give me loads of options which I don't understand. Instead, you show how to choose one of the options so that I can at least make a start. Well done. Thank you.
I feel like that sound bite from 4:06-4:09 could be used in some interesting ways...
Good lord hahahaha
my Top zwift hack was getting a fan (the one that blows wind at you, although now that i think of it, maybe some friends cheering you on might be pretty cool too!) In all seriousness though...i rode without a fan during workouts and the amount of sweat pouring off me was clinically dangerous. The fan makes a HUGE difference in keeping you cool allowing me to workout longer and much more enjoyable.
It certainly does!
Nick Cup couldn’t agree more. My watts without a fan is dismal. 10mins at my true outdoor FTP max. Add a massive industrial fan and I can put out the same watts as I do during a TT for over an hour. Not sure why this isn’t mentioned more. Sod the little piddling fans, everyone should adopt a massive blower.
I use a small fan, low setting for like warm up and Z1 PLUS a remote controlled 3 speed fan on a pedestal for the efforts and depending on the temp inside.
And this was a revelation. A fan. 🙄
Definitely 👍
4:05 love the look Si gave after shifting the gears =)
You can also manually over ride which course you ride by editing the configuration file with a 2 tag. In case you don't like that day's default course.
Or you can change the date on your lap top in settings to the date that suits to load a different world if you aren't wanting to change configuration
@@russellkelly8980 U just hacked the hacker mate. GJ
Ha ha that totally kills me that Si would have a go at Hank about Sweat! Super cool video. Definitely got to say that getting on Zwift when its completely dark outside in the winter evenings does make riding so much more pleasurable. Definitely recommend the GCN workouts and would love to see some new GCN workouts and challenges on Zwift! Love the video guys!
Ohhhh, it's a "holographic display". New to Zwift and I was wondering why I was seeing all these people who look like they're reading the newspaper as they ride...
Apparently, Simon has the same problem I have: the jersey becomes a crop top when standing (0:14).
My tip: Race suits.
yas96225 🤣🤣🤣🤣👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
You don’t need a race suit unless you’re racing!! Outside! Ridiculous.
Once I saw your espresso setup I wasn't able to concentrate on anything else anymore....
I'm featured again on GCN! 7:25 So, why aren't the sponsors calling me?! Just because it was a "D" race? Pshaw. I should at least get a pair of socks. 😂
Halloween was cool last night. Some people had pumpkin heads. I had a cool bat bike, which was the tt bike. Jack-o-lanterns on the side of the road and it was night the whole time too.
Jonathan Zappala they do something for April fools day as well.
As a newbie I found that really useful thanks
Missing tip: you aren’t limited to riding on one of the three ‘available’ worlds! Create a Meet Up ... even if with a random Zwifter on your following list who you know won’t / can’t come ... and you can choose ANY world!
Also ... during a meet-up you can also choose to do a Structured Workout
A rather dry comedic review to get me interested in this thing . . . loved it !!
Not sure that you are quite correct on trainer difficulty - You still have to achieve the same wattage to get up a hill or reach a certain speed but it reduces the need to change gear - well that's my understanding anyway. Otherwise everyone would set it to zero before a race...
That's my understanding too. An easier setting makes it like a longer climb at a lower gradient - same total amount of work, but less need for gear changes. In addition, it compensates for situations in which you might not have the gearing on your bike for those 17% climbs.
Agreed
How does the avantar make turns? Are there sensors on the handlebar? Is there gravel bike races on Swift? How about mountain bike?
One thing I picked up on, if your not using a smart trainer, then I found that I need to shift up on hills to make any progress. Otherwise, just sitting and spinning for an hour to move 1k.
I would like a swift kit for geezers (65+ riders)
ah - Simon's grin at 04:09
Always great content guys
3:40 "An accurate estimation". Love it ! :-p
No, having a fan should have been Tip 1, not 12. When I started riding Zwift I was nauseas after rides when riding in an unheated garage when it was 25 degrees or colder outside. A few rides later I dehydrated so badly I threw a kidney stone. I was drinking just as much as I do on the road.
4:06 with eyes closed
LOVE THAT TREK BIKE!
the best tip for zwift is that trainerroad is dedicated to making you a faster cyclist, better plans than zwift and calendar is so good. trainers are boring either way. might as well maximize your time and get a good workout.
Keith Ratcliff training in a virtual reality with other riders is a helluva lot less boring than riding a trainer with either no video or just data...
@@gregoberry3976 yeah, I tried both and zwift was fun for a day or two. can see it would be fun if you have friends on there. but i found it wasn't really very focused on much so I migrated to the training plans. and trainerroad works out better there. also I don't want to spent up to 12 hours a week in the zwift world. I'd rather be reading/watching TV shows I like etc while on the trainer. all of which are much more interesting than Zwift. Zwift is cool but I prefer the basic and comprehensive plans offered by trainerroad and the ability to sequence them and other workouts in calendar.
Keith Ratcliff I hear you. Any visual distraction reduces the boredom. For me, riding with others provides a measure of pacing and gets my competitive juices flowing, resulting in a harder effort, when I want to give a hard effort, such as a race, FTP test or HIIT intervals.
@@gregoberry3976 yup I get ya, definitely noticed I sped up when someone overtook me in Zwift! Then again, trainerroad (or zwift training plans) force you to hold power targets too. I suppose these softwares are in early days so all will improve with time. I just hope that the market is big enough to sustain a few different options for consumers. Zwift definitely have the marketing nailed with GCN and I don't want them to take all the market share! Keen to see how the VR stuff develops though. and it'd be nice to see other options discussed on GCN goldencheetah/perfpro/sufferfest etc etc
Note: trainer difficulty doesn't change the number of watts needed to climb... Just changes the response of your smart trainer if you have one. So basically I would need to change gears less when at a lower "difficulty" with 0% acting like a "dumb" trainer and 100% having me grinding up some of those steep grades and spinning out on the downhill. So to clarify when Si says it makes the downhills "harder" what he means is you will spin out (run out of gears). This is problematic when racing as you need to be able to power down the descents to keep up (especially if you are a lighter rider)
Do you change gears less when riding actual hills than flats? It depends if you're trying to cancel out what the trainer did to try maintain steady cadence (like you do in the real world), or if you're trying to hit cadence targets. If the first, you'd change gears MORE in 100%, if the latter, you'd change gears less. Either way, yeah, you can control with your gears anyway. Hills only affect speed and in a simulator, speed is just a number.
The way I see this is more that setting your trainer difficulty lower, would in the real world mean having lighter gears. For me,
Iiving in a very flat part of the world, it helps me riding up the mountains on Zwift with my lowest gear of 36x25.
@@larsborghouts8360 Most trainers can only simulate about 7% hills anyway. For a 36/28 gear combination, which I might call intermediate, that's 229 watts at 90 rpm for 83kg bike + rider which is probably about the assumption used in the 7% number. Most reasonably young folks should be able to hit that at least for awhile after some time in the sport. For a 34/34 (which is now available in ultegra long cage road) it's 180 watts, and for a 39/25 it's 280 watts, still not enormous.
So in other words if you've got a light gearing and you're riding sweet spot at 180watts and 90rpm in a 50/24 gear (2.08 ratio) and you hit a hill the trainer will suddenly get twice more resistive, its ABSOLUTE MAX resistance, and you'll shift to 34/34 (1.06) and you will STILL be doing 180 watts at 90 rpm. Sure if you've got heavier gearing it will force you to higher power or lower cadence, but you could do that anyway by upshifting instead.
Bottom line, I don't see any point in having the trainer increase resistance unless I'm already in my 50/11 and still want to go harder at a given cadence. Unless I'm already there I can still increase it myself, and the rest is a head game. However for low cadence intervals in the 50/11 and recovery at high cadence in a 34/32 or so, it could be nice to expand that range with some automatic resistance control.
I may look at changing this, I use an original Kickr with an 11-30T 11 speed cassette. I was going up a 13% gradient earlier at 90rpm doing around 4.5W/kg and wasn't even in 1st gear! Would making this towards the "max" setting mean It'd be more like riding up a 13% gradient (ie I'd be in 1st gear for sure!!). Cheers.
@@rossfripp4503 it would do that. Of course if you want a lower cadence to feel like you're on a hill (and to get low cadence high force workouts) you can also just shift into a harder (not easier) gear. In the end there are only two things that matter: Power, and cadence. Likewise if you want to spin out on the downhills, you can just shift into an easy gear and spin away.
4:28 - he is warming up to 335w and ten rides 30 second intervals at 720w? How is that even possible?
Lars Pros can hold 700-800 watts for a minute.
@@Jebusjoose false
@@liaml.7529 look up redbull bay climb NorCal Cycling. He's a US domestic pro and he holds 784 for 1:10 in the first round. Second round holds 810 for 1:10. Do you even follow cycling?
@@Jebusjoose fuck off m8 do you even race, it's easy to hold 800 watts for a minute if that's all your doing it's a different story in an actual race.
@Inthegarden 123 fuck off go back to the garden you ass clown
Guys, I’m on Level 14 and didn’t know some of these things, so thanks heaps.
Is it bad that I'd want to turn this into a Road Rash style game where you could kick other riders, hit them with bats, chains, and sticks crow bars into other riders wheels lol
Can you guys help me understand the limits of Zwift? Hubby is doing rehab after a stroke and has really low power in his legs - but this looks like a great tool to help. How slow/weak is too slow/weak to actually make use out of Zwift? He could probably pedal 5mph for 3 miles. Is it worth trying - does the program have a way that people with limited abilities can join in? Would be great if it did.
Here is a new tip: you can turn off the annoying Intro music. You have to log on and enter the game, but then choose settings and the top item allows you to turn on/off the happy time Zwift music (this tip was from Shane Miller - GPLama). Cheers gents. See you next year at the Birmingham Velo...need a live GCN feed!
Thanks for letting us know this! I actually requested this feature in the Zwift Feature Request Forum. Believe it or not, some people actually said they like it (forums.zwift.com/t/intro-music/12704). So I guess they made it optional, but they didn't mention it on the forum.
A bottle of The Chita whisky in the background. I like it.
How to get the Lightweight Meilenstein wheels.... cycle up alpe du Zwift... you may get them on your 3rd... 10th or even 30th attempt.
I got mine on my 19th summit... kept getting socks and gloves
Once I got on Zwift and something was going on with my Kickr and by even just barely turning over the pedals it said I was producing 2000 watts. I was flying by everyone at 50+ mph. Hilarious. Some sort of bug, I assume. Haven't been able to replicate it again.
That's because of your first name
I have a hart condition, and need to regain some fitness. using a smart trainer coupled with swift! will it cope with my very slow workouts? or am i way to slow for swift to be of any use.
Is there a way to get an elevation chart along the bottom (or top) of the screen for either the route you're doing, or for the KOM, showing how far along you are? I like how it shows you your ETA at the end of the KOM....I don't like how it only shows you this once you're about 1/2 way through, is there any way to change this? Thanks :)
If I ride different types of bikes (in this case, a carbon road bike and an aluminum recumbent trike), do I need to create two separate accounts to keep from commingling the two?
In real life, I spent 8 days climb the height of Mt Everest and using the time after work before sunset.
How do you crank out of the saddle. I’ve tried standing up in 6% grades and big ring little gear and still hit no resistance space on every crank. This doesn’t happen outside on a real ride. What am I doing wrong?
If you participate in a race does that automatically put all racers on the same "Trainer Difficulty" setting?
Love this!!!
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of using rollers especially when racing, I struggle to find watts above 550 on rollers therefore impossible to sprint finish. Is there anything else I’m missing?
This video is life during indoor training times!!
Excellent! Will be binge watching all of these. Finally learnt the other day that the lighted cards/mountains in people’s back pockets are ride on’s 😅
ZWIFT training programmes are excellent. Got my FTP to 365W in 4 months. New York needs a bit more variety IMO, feels like cycling around a massive garden.
What was your previous FTP?
Slein92 280W.
It is cycling around a massive garden. Have done it IRL covering thousands of miles.
Michael J Brennan I cycled to Dobbies Garden Centre once abs also walked the garden aisles of B&Q. All uploaded to Strava as it didn't happen if its not on Strava
SAF1981 all of my riding in NYC was pre Strava. LOL
Two more tips: 1) when using vpower one needs to know the resistance curve of the trainer, especially if one wants to use the Zwift training programs. For example, my Minoura topped out at 400w, my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine only hits 1200w; 2) when trying to follow training programs in vpower, use instant sampling. 3 second average sampling makes it harder to realize and control fluctuations in output - it also kills your 10 second sprints.
Hi , can you view the structured session like blocks style on your screen while doing a pacific set ?! Thank you 💯💨
the thing about zwift is that i keep seeing it advertised with people setup up like pros with rigs that cost way too much.
i'm a casual commuter that loves long distance bikepacking. i need to stay fit by having a good experience while gathering my fittness data accurately without carrying about competitions while at home. how do i know if this is for me or not?
You don’t have to compete - you can just ride and it’s a lot of fun. Obviously if they showed a setup that looked like my old basement rig it wouldn’t merit much views here. Hence these pros and their dream setups. A speed and cadence sensor for your bike is around $100 USD and then a dumb trainer isn’t much more than that and you can use an iPad for your Zwift machine. Try it- I thought like you did but now I’m addicted to it and it has transformed my winter fitness.
Based on my understanding, a heart rate monitor is required for Zwift racing.
GCN Team, can you put some pressure so that Zwift enables sync from Zwift to Google Fit & Apple Health? It's unreal they block this. Zwift also blocks the sync coming from other apps, such as Strava or Google.
For example, I sync my Zwift activities to Garmin Connect, and then I have an app (Health Sync) that syncs to Google Fit. Every normal activity done with my bike gets synced, excel the Zwift activities. The developer of the app Health Sync reached out to Zwift several times, but they have not fixed this yet.
Simon has an FTP of 350W. Godtheactualdammit
I guess it's Simon's account as the avatar has his name! ;-)
Ah, that's only about 100W more than me.
@@dariohug6669 That's even worse. James probably has a higher FTP.
werdsmyth is that high?
@@david131092 it's high enough for a "retired" racing cyclist. Think I managed an FTP just over 300W at peak fitness. Now somewhere south of 280W. Quite a bit south.
Is it recommended to use your main carbon bike on a trainer or would you recommend using a “winter bike” that you don’t care about..
Just make sure to properly clean the bike when finished. That sweat can be more corrosive than you think!
3 bottom brackets later....
@@hardleesoft5919 Yep, it's the nasty business nobody talks about but mechanics have to fix.
Get a fan with massive CFM... problem sloved!
Guys thank you for explanation
My Power2Max unit reads a slightly different power to my kickr, if I have the power sensor as my power2max unit but my "controllable" unit as my kickr, will it take power readings from my power2max and adjust the kickr accordingly (like power match on trainer road), or will it just take power readings from the power meter and not adjust the kickr resistance? Thanks.
why doesn't Zwift pair up with Xbox or PlayStation and then get a zillion more units sold? This would be soooo cool
Thats actually pretty cool idea but I dont think consoles cant handle it
@@jdr4307 Oh, .. you would be surprised at what a console can do... It is more of the servers being able to handle the demand. The graphics is the easy part, .. playstation and Xbox can handle that part very easily. The problem is this, I believe: Sony (Playstation) and Microsoft (Xbox) do not think that there would be much of a demand for this type of gaming. Boy, .. are they wrong there, ... biking is an amazing sport globally. But a biking game would at first appear VERY boring to gaming designers as this is far too simplistic a game (in THEIR minds). The gaming designers have not even thought of how this would be a BOOMING industry to be able to race against others by using one's OWN bike rather than a controller. This would be a Battle Royale type of game but rather than guns and grenades, ... one uses a bicycle to beat the opponent, and when to overtake others, etc.
@@davidokanagan3368 dont worry dude I play fortnite :) I know about xbox and ps4. I was thinking about connecting devices to it
@@davidokanagan3368 but I would really like to see this
Start a petition
Hay guys my Tip would be that some speed/cadence sensors max out at 400w, so if you want to race you will want somthing higher.
Any technique issues you can help with , will be really appreciated, I changed the 11 Speed to 10 Speed the gears does not line up . I have tried to line it up ,than it messes up the setting on my bike . Also opening the legs on the SUITO ELITE is hard, have you tried closing it , how are you suppose to pull the lock up at the same time push the legs in . I am no feather weight , build like a small tank but this is hard as it is so stiff. Any smart tip will help. The equipment is brill but I still love my rollers,
I realize your comment is 2 years old and you have hopefully figured this out by now, but for anyone else who is reading this- you need a 1.8mm spacer to put a 10 speed cassette on an 11speed hub!
how to ensure accuracy of power output on vortex, is it inferior compared to direct drive trainers?
My top Zwift hack is to use The Sufferfest.
What is trick to riding faster on hills? Higher cadence? Higher watts?
Good spin bike vs Trainer is an advantage or disadvantage?
1:39 what is that keyboard he is using? Also, I am using a pc (not a laptop) with the Wahoo USB ANT+ Kit. Can we still use the companion app? It says you have to be on same wifi but my pc is hard wired. Any solution for this?
Tell them about the spiral of death, when you can't keep on top of the watts and it just gets harder and harder !! Set your trainer onto 100% and prepare to suffer.
Stephen Cowman 100% is the way to go.
Getting a smart trainer doesn’t seem so smart now!
100% on the Trainer Difficulty is closest to what actual road cycling effort feels like, so get real people, happy Zwifting.
Trainer difficulty has nothing to do with what GCN or you guys say.
It simply changes the affect on gearing. ie, at 0% you don't need to change gears when you hit a steep incline, at 100% you need to knock it back into the 39/28.
All that matters is watts, and unless you are putting out more watts, you won't be faster using 0%.
So to sum up, 100% difficulty is neither harder or slower than 0%. Unless you run out of gears and can't maintain cadence. That's what the difficulty setting is for, for people who don't have a large enough gear spread.
Hi, GCN! I asked the Zwift support about "sprints" that occur in for example group rides. They didnt answer my question properly so now I turn to you for helping out with this. How can I know where a sprint begins and where it ends. I know theres a green panel on the left about sprint leaderboards and Ive been told that on the mini map you should look for some green lines or arcs. I´m confused.
Kind regards
Pär
Semi new, thanks for sharing some good stuff. Any idea how or why the ride stops when your cadence or HR sensors unpairs during a ride and you go to sensors to reconnect? It’s terribly discouraging when you lose 200 spots for the 4 secs it takes to re-pair.
I dont have a smart trainer, I only have the turbo trainer where I had to manually adjust the wheel resistance...however, when I use swift even in the easiest resistance, I always seem to go super slow, even at 2mph whilst pedallin with all I've got. I have a cadence, speed and heart rate sensor connected and I dont seem to be able to workout why zwift is underestimating my power?
"XP points"
experience points points
eXPerience points
It’s like a BFF Forever
3:00 that shift 😁
Is there a way to make the speed more accurate. I am using a Whahoo Kickr Snap and the cadence sensor and there is a pretty big disparity around what the speed says from the speed sensor and what the program says I am doing. I have never averaged 17 mph outside so I can’t imagine this is correct at 83 average watts of power on flats
Great vid. Any chance you could do a Zwift series with a cheaper trainer like the cyclops fluid 2 😁
great knowledge to know. I'm new to home trainers. What home trainer were you using for this video please
Wahoo Kickr, awesome trainer!
Hi All, I’ve only been Zwifting for about one and one-half months. Lovely. Simply lovely! I notice that a number Zwifters add content in parentheses to their Zwift name. I think most of that content refers to a Zwift riding Club that person belongs to. But others have what appears to be just fun, personal info like J.Strong (Old Fart 64). Is that ok to do? I want to be a good member of the Zwift community, so don’t want to break any unwritten rules of decorum.
Hi
Can you buy Zwift outright, like you would a game,
and simply log into the online interaction when you choose to use it?
This tethering via monthly billing seems to be becoming too commonplace in our society.
I don't need more direct debits, I need less.
God bless
Great information thanks guys
Simón, why are your Zwift workout segments request for a very high cadence? They're really tough
I was hoping to find out some hacks I didn't know about... This would have been better named, "11 Things You Already Know About Zwift". It's okay - I still had fund watching and you guys do a great job on GCN. :-)
Zwift isn’t interested in your speed as you report, they figure it out. Power is it. I guess speed is easy to modify, that’s why. I use power, cadence, and HR. All recorded. No matter the grade, unless training specific, I watch and limit HR but power responds faster, so I may be going just 4 mph at 11% grade according to Zwift, but putting out same wattage as going 20 mph on flats.
At 2.00 a small orange "tick" symbol in the right hand bar besides S.Richardsson name. What is this symbol mean?
I have seen that you can get the GCN kit using a computer or laptop, can it be done using an iPad Pro with a keyboard??
I use a dumb trainer with a PM. When racing especially on new courses its very difficult to realise you’re going uphill till too late!! Is there a more obvious way of displaying gradient??
Yes Jon. watch the map in top right corner of screen. you can see incline coming up
How do give multiple thumbs up to people around, at the same time? Is the one key to press?
Using the companion app, click on your position arrow and it ride-on bombs the nearest 5 riders to you
does it work the drafting on smart Trainer ? I mean if the pedal becomes lighter or not when you riding with group ?
Yes
Pedals are always as light or heavy as you gear your equipment to be. The speed on screen changes. Does that have any impact on your workout? I can't see how.
Really miss Matt and Daniel.
Yeah
Yepp. I almost completely stopped watching this show now :/
Matt is sort of back :D ruclips.net/video/T9InzRc3Tz8/видео.html&list=LLBBl3D2R0X99gGYLmIraj2g
Matt have become head of the new bicycle team Top-Bonk ruclips.net/video/xdtennf9KgY/видео.html :D
These guys are so posh, I love it.
I did an 88km ride on zwift but I had lost internet when I finished and lost the ride. I was gutted
Would love to give this a go, shame all the gear costs about 5x what my bike did.
Matt, I am a recreational rider who suffers from OFS (Old, Fat and Slow) Syndrome, so I wanted an indoor option but was not interested in spending thousands...I think there are plenty of budget options for putting together a setup. The trainer setup in my garage cost about $300, not including the $200 Walmart bike that I have sitting in it.
@@danielshrage4990 Yes, unfortunately now everyone wants one they're all out of stock, so all the used ones on ebay are fetching over new retail price!
Hey Matt I have a spin bike I bought off eBay , I use training videos that are on RUclips use your phone or iPad or your tv if you can get internet on it, you adjust the power manually in effort from 1to 6 I think , 1 being the easiest and 6 your maximum, don’t need dongles and things just follow them from the spin bike. Good training and cost much less. 👍
I got an old turbo trainer, a crank powermeter and a fan for 350€
does the zwift simulates the REAL WEATHER?
So would you say zwift is for the avid rider? Have you any experience with virzoom?
What do you need to monitor your heart rate? Thanks.
Halo 2 headband and plenty of fans.
Thank you
Guys,can you please tell me how to get the GCN rider kit on IOS please? Great reviews by the way
You forgot that you can pick whatever world you want with a config file change :)
Watching in Jan 2021... spoiled by RUclips adverts every minute,
Does anyone know what make of trainer that is that has a flywheel instead of a wheel/tire?
What are your thoughts on the training there’s a few out there against it.
GUys can you help me I use dual power meters faveros yet zwift only picks up one side so power is halfed a real pain any idea how to get around this thanks guys