Yes thats completely unacceptable, you should never be at a disadvantage at any time in your life, just as your mother raised you. No one is going to lose or gain 5kg overnight or shrink a 1cm. Heavy riders not only have a huge advantage on down slopes (the steeper the more advantage); they also have an advantage on the flats; its only when it gets to above 5%+ you can start to break a heavier rider. As we said in the first post, "Assuming race organizers can access the data via ZwiftPower, and the site includes simple tools for spotting potential weight or height dopers (perhaps flagging those who made dramatic changes recently), then hiding weight and height data from the public should work swimmingly." You should do much better at your actual weight in that case. I think he is referring to the 2021 Haute Route GC (or lack thereof), Sorry, thats right, it was the Haute Route 2021 events. SoggyAlbatross2. Launch Zwift and go to the Menu. Thats why there are no top 40 Cat C riders in 70-75Kg range. thanks for the help with the graphs. Cyclingnews is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. That's it! Ive done multiple races where my main goal was to keep the watts as low as possible while hanging with the front group. You do you. Just short of my 68th birthday I still dont see any point in cheating. Blaming Zwift for eating disorders is not sensible. Congratulations John on your retirement and Zwift is a great retirement present. Some races (many, in fact) on Zwift work exactly like that. Bump your Zwift weight up to 84kg and even with your new and improved 260-watt FTP youre only at 3.1 w/kg! At least I can be best in one thing on zwiftpower. How Do I Change My FTP On Zwift? If I lose 1 more pound Ill go to 4.0 and its a daunting thing to think of going to As when I am often cruddy in the Bs. Makes me happy to see that the community is able to speak with one voice if necessary. I am not in the least bit interested in competition cycling, so no point in doping in either direction as i would only be cheating myself. Youve got people putting out 5+ watts/kilo atRead more . Thats the graph. hanging with the front group is very though for me because i am exactly at the bridge between A and B. Weight doping is a key challenge for cycling esports to overcome, and its one reason why many big races (e.g., those with prize money) require riders to show up and weigh in on-location in a supervised environment. Since we know that lighter weight=higher virtual speed, this is a very easy way to cheat the system on Zwift. I completely missed these as I reinvented the wheel, trying to stir up the hornets nest on the Zwift forums the other day. My HR numbers are almost identical to yours. Heres how it works. if youre on zwift and intentionally cheating to get whichever fake virtual badge or win whichever fake virtual place in a race, then youre real-life literal loser. 2 Likes _Jynxy_EVO (:)) October 1, 2021, 1:41pm #8 thxs mike, I once made myself much heavier so I could compete against my 11-year-old son in a head to head Zwift climbing race. I may try it just to see what difference it makes. Read on for our guide on how the app works, how to get set up, and how to analyse your racing. I am 42 years-old with a HRmax of ~169 bpm. On one occasion I entered a flat race (Laguardia Loop) following my ZP category (class C), finished almost three minutes down (though since it was a small field I still got third place), and then was disqualified for averaging 3.6 w/kg and 206 watts. In spectacular and shocking fashion. Im quite heavy, at about 85kgs, but also 183cms tall (and 52 years old). Maybe they should display and categorise HR as a %age? Problem solved! People still rode at B level pace in a C group. My weight is showing orange everytime. ), So what is reverse weight doping? Noob question though, whats the etiquette around weighing with kit on or off. We are both lighter riders and find the w/kg categorisation system frustrating (unfair even) but its what we have at the moment I think most people feel like they have a right to be competitive but this simply is not the case and ifRead more . EDIT Found my answer: 250w, Theres a chart about halfway down this page: https://zwiftpower.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=5528. Contribute a post, shop through us, make a donation, advertise on this site. I dont mind the low HRs but the low power and high w/kg really irk me! It's a real community hub. More of an issue than thisRead more . Ive been on a mission to get back to my racing weight in 2020. The key phrase there is have the same W/kg its very easy to boost your W/kg simply tell Zwift you are lighter than you really are. Knowing when to go hard and having the fitness to do so are also vital skills.). Im not heavy (68kg), have a typical climber/TT phenotype (no short sprint but good FTP). It does not stop cheating at all. Among the communicated changes were plans to hide the visibility of height and weight from ZwiftPower in an effort to encourage individual health and wellness. If other people want to obsess about my weight thats up to them but I wont. 2 yr. ago. Would love your thoughts, please comment. I wont do and will rather try my very best to compete with the As. It just makes a mockery of the whole system. Bath IRL cycling pros are not exactly heavy weights and lean-ness is highly encouraged. 8 months ago I was 96kg, but didntRead more , As a light (58kg) rider racing in the Bs it is very frustrating on flat routes where since the main thing that matters is raw watts and not w/kg I would have to put out well over 4 w/kg to keep up with the heavier guys and therefore I pretty much always get dropped before too long. The issues with e-racing remain the same, and largely ignored for years now. As long as youre being honest with yourself I wouldnt worry about it too much. Some people, I think, just have a lower HR. If they keep riders from competing in categories below their ranking, it will reduce the number of sandbaggers and cruisers. But without any hard and fast rules, we cant say anything is illegalat least for certain races. What particularly annoys me is being beaten by light but moderately powerful riders doing individual time trials on flat courses. For me its the most fun to see the progress I make on strava, new PR on climbs or on flats (hanging in on the back of a group) If I would lie about my weight I throw off my goals to Improve atleast make them near impossible for the coming time in the End I dont see the funRead more , I reversed dopped by mistake when I first started Zwift putting my height as my weight and weight as my height. I suffer from excess sweating and will easily lose 10kg in a race on Four Horseman, for example (although Im certainly not the norm, but to say no one is untrue). I never thought i should weigh myself with my kit on. As long as people are using reasonable weight/height and arent cheating or changing it drastically all the time (my scales autoupdate my weight, so mine changes once a day, but by small increments), Im much more interested in being able to see the weight of my teammates so I can properly plan my TTT lineup than I am the weight of my competitors. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. When you're in the game, click "Menu". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The best solution would be for Zwift to actively monitor all racing for people cheating. But it highlights a bigger problem, and that is the fundamental flaw of using watts per kilo for race categorization. BA1 1UA. If its not done during a competitive Zwift event, I dont see it as a problem. I would say 1kg or more is more normal. The Forerunner 265 series watches have become Garmin's lowest-priced AMOLED display endurance sports-focused watch, coming in at roughly half the price of the Garmin Epix series launched a year ago - but here with full multiband GNSS support on all Forerunner 265 units, while also adding in Training Readiness - a major Garmin endurance sports focused feature. ThatRead more . Zwift lets you adjust the difficulty of your workout, before or even during your ride. It's possible to check just about any kind of Zwift result using ZwiftPower, with the website sortable by leagues, race series and segments. But then you could have someone in the same age group who maxes out at 170. I would thought with how sensitive the sensors are they could place another one somewhere on the unit that simply does the job and takes away all the manual input. Even some of the regulated weight rides will give 2kg leeway. The race I did had all categories racing together with a mass start, so the categories felt arbitrary as my place was not within my chosen category but across the whole field anyway. Its only a bit of fun at my level (solid B with the odd podium). Mike, Great article as ever Eric. It all has to do with the way Zwift's racing categories work. Zwift power usually looks at numbers vs the category race he entered. The categories currently used in most Zwift events are based on your FTP watts per kilothat is, your FTP in watts, divided by your weight in kilograms. This is done by separating riders based on their FTP (functional threshold power) a wattage test you can take part in on Zwift over a 20-minute, 45-minute or 1-hour period. I currently weigh 59kgs but my BMI is 25 which technically overweight. Dont worry about your weight fluctuating through the week and remember you gain 0.5kg by drinking a half-litre bidon and lose it again through sweat (and by going to the toilet). Note how he wins races while his max HR is around 30 beats below his maximum. All the emphasis on physical metrics makes sense for putting together how speed is calculated but not how one can race. Not too many people actually want to see other peoples height or weight except to be able to verify race results are reasonable. On Zwift, weight dopers seek to gain an advantage by entering a lower-than-life weight into their Zwift profile. Its a huge problem. . Why try to force IRL parameters that can not be enforced. You make a good pointthere isnt a published race ruleset that clearly states that riders are 1) required to use accurate weight and 2) enter the correct race category. Some big Zwift races have specific rulesets, etc. Good question. The only trouble is the downhill doesnt take as long of course, so the light advantage is obviously better. Because narcissistic people want to get validation from somewhere/someone that theyre special/different and if they cant get it legitimately theyll lie, cheat, and steal to do so. I have to say I weigh myself most mornings in the buff (just my glasses on so I can see the numbers)! Racing the As resp. yea but realistically is it worth it for them to dedicate the resources to that $$$$$$$, Well, thats good news. People with eating disorders, or a proclivity toward extreme dieting. You lose 10 liters of sweat during a medium long ride? Even at my age I still plan to compete in MTB races when the world gets back to racing. Fact ! It's harder than real racing. In order to ride with him I have to drop my weight to allow me to keep up. Hes not looking for a trophy every race. I have heard women admit on social rides that their zwift weight is their goal weightRead more . EZ and self regulating. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. My best race results as a Zwift B are on flatter routes, and I find my watts per kilo are consistently lower than most of the riders around me. Zwift Insider makes a small commission on purchases made from these links, so please shop through them to support our efforts. I averaged between 300 and 310 watts for all segments and my heart sat pretty consistently between 140 and 144.Read more , saying x number of watts per kg at xxx hr is flawed anyways max and resting hr can vary alot. Changing weight - ZwiftPower Community - Zwift Forums I am alleging that weight cheating is endemic in zwift, especially among those who care about winning. Whether w/kg is the appropriate way to categorise races is anotherRead more , As a 92kg rider, with a w/kg FTP of 289 (or 3.14 w/kg) I wholeheartedly agree. I take issue with the weight doping is okay in none competitive events because of strava. So I just bumped myself up to the B group and went faster overall simply because there were faster people to draft off of. My solution would make everyones chances equal, while yours would strongly favor heavy riders. If there are problems, Zwift already has a reporting function and everything is recorded police that properly andRead more . Im new to Zwift and its racing and what I like notice is how well I do compared to theRead more , This is not just about cheating. I am racing in the Cs finishing in the 40-50s but there are 30 + racers ahead of me posting watt/kilo of A, and strong B racers. I just we had a better system than category limits, racing license anybody? I argue that he is intentionally misrepresenting his weight so he can place higher in B instead of getting shelled in A (like I do). Its funny, I was talking to one of my work colleagues who also Zwifts about AdZ and how because Im heavier (125kg / 276lbs) I would never be a sub 60m AdZ rider (I reckon Im looking at sub 2 hours, if lucky), Ive never once considered weight doping, sure I know I could but why would I? I now know of over 20 category D zwift users that have said theyre not going to bother with the Zwift races anymore. I mean youve both got a point. I am 65 kg with FTP of 270 W, which equlas 4,15 w/kg. Races can use different schemes to categorise riders, but most of them use this scheme: You can, of course, progress through the ranks as you race. What I think your articles miss to point out, though, (Im sure you are well aware of the problem), like people have mentioned already, is exactly how many cheaters there are that manage to stay in lineRead more . Find out more about how we test. I may try and snag a couple of cat C golds before taking the break, but definitely wont be reverse weight doping to do so the upgrade to B will be a bigger prize than any gold medal. Im older heavier and relativily fit. Keep it on. What you see a lot are riders who are (claiming) to be really light with decent but not exceptional watts. Finally, just head back to ZwiftPower and click 'Connect to my Account'. To move up to the next rank, ZwiftPower will take 95 per cent of your 20-minute average w/kg figure from your previous three races. In theory (at least) weight dopers could game the results based categories as well.