I’m assuming that’s up a hill because the flats that’s not really a very big wattage. Heavy guys often have lots of power.
This is probably the most balanced thread about the issues of eSports racing. Maybe worth a declutter so it can stay on topic?
I am not answering for Chad but from my perspective he was not attacking you. He was only answering your question. Without facial expressions and tones of voice, written responses in general can sometimes be misunderstood, especially across cultures/languages.
Again, I am not answering for nor defending Chad. I am sure Chad can and will speak for himself. I am only saying that from my perspective his answer does not look to be intentionally attacking you or written in a bad tone. 
Can’t we all get along 
Seriously, this forum is great compared to many others. The information here is useful. People are encouraging and friendly. TR users also seem to love TR and not constantly complain about TR here in the forum. Hopefully, we can all keep it that way.
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I see it as a pretty blunt response from McNeese that one can read without attaching emotions.
@Nate_Pearson and @chad are a couple names you could drop if you really feel the need to complain.
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For categorisation on Zwiftpower, they use the best three 20 min efforts during Zwift races to get your category. Your FTP in real life is irrelavent when it comes to Zwift categories.
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Yeah. I’ve heard you can never calibrate and use climate control to get a significant advantage with some trainer/power meter setups. I’m not a strain gauge expert but the reported extent to which this can be successful surprised me. Guess temperature compensation in the power meter industry isn’t ubiquitous.
Or, hyperbole in the cycling community is endemic.
Actually, probably more likely the latter.
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Well that’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard in my life no I am not being hysterical!!
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@Chester_Grimpeur so noted! This will probably be my last Zwift thread ever…in any capacity.
But, for me, at least, this has been a fun thread.
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Naw, man. Zwift it up. If for no other reason than it gets some people all in a tizzy about “the purity of our forums!!”
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I think that a lot of people cheat on zwift because it is too easy to just change the weight and go e-faster. I don’t think that these same people would be cheaters in real life because taking actual drugs is at another level.
I would compare these Zwift cheaters with people that ride in pelotons on Ironman Races. They will cheat if it is easy enough that it will not cause any harm to them.
I, honestly, don’t judge them. I put the blame on Zwift and Race directors that should have counter measures to keep these people from cheating.
It is like a famous say from my my home country(Brazil): The occasion makes the thief(Rough translation from “A ocasião faz o ladrão”, in portuguese).
Personally I prefer to just stay away from eRacing and do my IM races on my own, I don’t care too much about cheaters because if the conditions are right they will always be there.
Cheers
Ronaldo
This comment will seem a bit odd and lack some context since Chester deleted 3 posts in this thread that lead to this response. But I will make a reply here anyway, in part because others replied to one or more of those posts before they were deleted.
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The first half of my reply is a direct answer to the first comment/question about why a Zwift related post is present on this forum.
- It was a simple and pragmatic approach to respond to the question.
- I made a multi-point list to cover the various reasons this thread is relevant for this forum.
- I used that method to make it direct in order to highlight the specific reasons this thread is allowed here.
- I included a bit more info overall because we have seen similar questions, about other non-TR topics, that some members questioned with respect to the relevance or existence on this forum. It was meant to also address the broader issue of non-TR topics and the fact that they are welcomed in this forum.
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The second half of my reply expanded beyond the Zwift specific aspect.
- Again, just about any topic is open for discussion; Zwift, Sufferfest, other TR competitors, and many other topics that aren’t even directly cycling related are present in this forum.
- There are many forums on many topics around the world. The existence of those does not preclude the presence of related topics in this forum. Nate and other TR reps have made it clear that they are open to topics that go well beyond the TR universe.
- I also included info about the ability to effectively hide/remove any discussion from a persons topic feed. This was and FYI as some people aren’t aware of the option, and it makes it nice for them to remove items from their feed that they don’t want to see.
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To the question about who to consult if there is an issue on the forum, to the best of my knowledge:
- @Bryce is the proper starting point. His title as the “TrainerRoad Community Manager” seems the most related. He is very responsive and helpful.
- You could tag Nate (and he seems to respond to most requests I have seen) but considering his position in the company, he is quite busy in many areas.
- I would not tag Chad for general comments or issues on the forum. I would only do that for workouts and other training related topics.
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I’m not sure how I follow that. Seems like real life FTP would be incredibly relevant to Zwiftpower. Zwiftpower seems to take 95% of your 20 minute power, which is the same calculation that you would use to estimate your real world FTP. I see very little differences in the amount of power I put out in real life as opposed to on Zwift.
My point was, if anything FTP is irrelevant to your real life racing category. Real life rewards you for knowing how to play the game. Zwift has many tactical points that are different than real life that can be more easily learned if you work your way up through the categories rather than just starting in the A group.
It seems to me that there’s a lot of real life cat 5s that would be A riders on Zwift, but then there’s also a ton of cat 3s that would probably be C group on Zwift!
But 20 minute power in a race will most likely be lower than a 20 minute FTP test due to the variation of power during a race. So they really aren’t comparable IMO.
Cheating on Zwift?
Who cares?
I certainly don’t.
Soccer players cheat live on TV with thousands watching, with a referee, linesmen and multiple TV cameras, and then deny cheating.
Back to zwift, people cheating are only cheating themselves.
If ever money becomes involved, they will have to force riders to all race together in the same room on calibrated equipment and under scrutiny.
Meh. I’ve had some of my best 20 min power in race situations. The extra motivation really makes me dig deeper than I can in training.
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Yes I’ll admit I’ve had some good 20 minute efforts in a race too. Just not as consistent because it’s so dependent on the situation.
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I think the point I was trying to make is that you can have a FTP of 5w/kg as tested via one of the protocols, but if the average of you best three 95% of 20 min efforts during races is 3.9w/kg you’ll be a B Cat racer on Zwift as defined by the Zwiftpower category. Does that kind of make sense?
Yep, I agree 100% it is about playing the game! The riders that win, IRL and on Zwift, are the ones that know how to save energy and when to burn matches. It’s the 1 and 5 min powers that make a difference rather than FTP, unless it’s a race on the Innsbruck climb or Epic KOM.
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I’ll give you that, consistency of 20 minutes in a race is lacking. Sometimes my 20 minute is really low, other times I’ve had 20 minutes that would make me shoot myself if I used them to calculate FTP.
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Well yeah exactly. I can hold over 4 w/kg for over two hours relatively easily. However, when I race zwift I make sure to keep my 20 min under 3.9 w/kg. It’s more fun that way. It’s actually a bit of a challenge in itself to to throttle back the power. If you use too much power early on you won’t be able to respond later in the race if that response would put your power over the edge.
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