10 Mistakes To Avoid On Zwift | Get The Most Out Of Indoor Training & Racing
Zwift is a popular platform for indoor training and racing on the bike, but there's plenty of features to explore and take full advantage off in order to get the best experience. It's easy to make simple mistakes when riding on Zwift and miss out on some of the fun! Here's Manon to run you through a few common Zwift mistakes!
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Have you made these mistakes? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments 👇
One day too late. Yesterday, I thought that my FTP would automatically sync from Garmin or Trainingpeaks and I ended up with 40W too high in Zwift which multiplied really ugly on „just over VO2Max“ intervals to „neuromuscular nightmare“. When I dropped below a certain cadence, I was practically „strangled“ by the turbo increasing the resistance.
The "zwift effect". The urge to chase after some random name in front of you when you want to go on an easy ride. Gotta learn to resist it.
I don't have zwift . I ride only out doors
Spotted another one. You can't pair the Tron bike with the disc wheel🙄
and another... feather reduces %of weight not kgs.
#1 mistake to avoid on Zwift: riding with your back to the screen 🤣
lol
True...lol
Had to do that for a few days without an extension power cable
@Darren Goh #1 is not having a bike
Too funny 😂
Don’t leave it til the last minute to join an event / meet up - that’s when Zwift will decide you need to do an update and you’ll miss it!
been riding zwift on and off since it started way back 2015... i had no idea the different wheels, frames etc had an impact to your stats while riding. Always thought they were purely cosmetic.
Thank you that was very helpful!!! 👍🏻
Love this channel
Select the Tron bike challenge immediately after joining Zwift. None of your climbing counts until them and you will want ever meter to count!. I lost several months of climbing because I didn't.
How? What challenge is it precise?
@@VonckK The actual name of the challenge is "Climb Mt. Everest" and upon completion you are award a unique fluorescent bike (hence the name 'Tron' bike) that is one of the best performers available. 50,000 meters of climbing is required, but only those that you log after signing up for the challenge applies. You can join this challenge and others on the same Zwift page that contains the Garage, Settings, Pairing, etc.
@@rzeckner thank you 😄
I'm about to start "zwifting" next month, is this challenge still available? What do you mean climbing won't count before that?
When I first started Zwift I thought that all my climbing counted toward the Tron bike. Zwift only gives you credit toward the Tron bike for the climbing you do after you join the challenge. The year or so of effort I did before I joined the challenge did not count.
Very helpful. 😎 Thanks 😊
Thanks love and light 😊
Is putting the fan behind you for a tail wind cheating?
No, it doesn't increase your speed.
@@31redorange08 r/wooooosh
@@31redorange08 Wow
I thought that's what the burrito does
@@31redorange08 You are an absolute beast. 30 min of laughing mate, i swear. Epic.
Awesome video....THANKS.....just got wahoo kickr V6....can't wait it set it up and get started
Enjoy it 🙌
Correction - you can't couple the Tron bike with a disc wheelset, it only allows the stock wheels.
also, the feather doesn't remove a static weight now, it removes a percentage (I forget the number). You stand when you are double your FTP (not simply over it). And while I have no personal experience with this, I think she must be wrong that it's not very fun to enter a category that's too easy for you, because sooo many people do it, heh.
And out of the saddle is because the rider is at a low cadence (under 70) while on a grade (3%+)
@@gerald_t zwiftinsider.com does tests on the fastest bike/wheel combos for both flat and climbing courses. The tron is a great all-around bike, but the Canyon Aeroad with the Zipp rear disc options is faster on the flat. For climbing, the Tarmac Pro (not the Sworks Tarmac) or the Bridgestone Oly bike with the Enve climbing wheels is the way to go....until you earn the Millensteins (sp) from the Alpe du Zwift prize wheel.
LOL...So true.
The black GCN kit really look great. Any chance to get it in Zwift in addition to the red one?
One mistake I made is not getting out of the saddle when doing Zone 2 training - got some gnarly saddle sores!
Yeah, remain seated for the whole 3 hours of endurance ride from active offseason and anyone's butt would be simply desintegrated 😂
I❤U Manon
You'd think that it wouldn't be too hard on Zwift programmers to make it impossible to enter a lower category than your current FTP (and make a fresh FTP-test, say within the last 8 weeks?, manditory for entering a race). I'm tired of cat B races where top ten puts out > 5W/kg for 45 minutes. Well, now I'm slowest in cat A with 4,05 W/kg FTP, so now Zwift racing is useless anyway since I have to race Si-borg, Hank and the rest (more categories above 4 W/kg needed). Thinking about getting TrainerRoad in the autumn instead of Zwift.
I saw Zwift, and it pulls the inner-gamer out of me. I somehow want this...
All good stuff, except I don't agree with coasting downhill. You give up the easy sweat "drops" from all your hard work climbing and it teaches bad habits for those in-person, non-virtual rides...particularly group rides. Typically I will soft-pedal on a descent to get my drops and recover, then ramp-up the wattage as I freshen.
Manon’s gorgeous!!!!!!!
I love Zwift!
It's taken me 4 months to work out why I can't keep with a bunch and seem to get no drafting benefit. I had selected a TT bike! No drafting benefits whatsoever if you have this bike selected, it's for solo rides only.
Thanks for the warning! That's not obvious, but makes sense.
Hey your back
What about riding mode? Erg or sim? How do I find that and change it? Thx
Join races earlier not only to warm up, but also to manage all the fiddling with equipment in time.
And it helps ensure you make the race at all if Zwift does an update.. .those darn things can take forever. If you push it close you can easily end up forfeiting the race.
OMG Manon, DOB, height, weight, all leaked. love you for being the one don't care about those numbers. lol
Happy birthday Manon btw:-)
I see Manon, I hit the like button. Simp. Yes I am.
never used a fan even not for the prl full or my longest 6 hours ride
Manon, you predicted Mark Cavendish's win well
Didn't Zwift change the featherweight power up to 9.5% weight reduction from kgs, because lighterweight riders had a huge advantage over heavier ones?
Not having a fan in my garage in Scotland isn't really an issue 🤣
Corrections - Aerotuck is over 56kph and you can't have disc wheels on the tron , other than that great tips
The burrito = undraftable 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Nice to see Manon looks after her phone unlike Si in the strava video last week!
I got a Zwift ad before this Zwift ad
I have A Enduro MTB, is it possible to change the resistance to counter the lack of gears I have with a 1x11 setup?
Yes, if you move the bar to the left so it's less realistic you will find your gears have a much better range
I'm thinking the Burrito power up won't allow drafting due to the resulting growler from having eaten the burrito 😀
My mistake was riding for months without setting a challenge. If I'd had the Everest climbing challenge active from the start I'd have the Tron bike already 😢 You can only set challenges while in game on a ride in the menu on the bottom left.
Pro Zwift races require you to set the Trainer Difficulty to at least 50%.. Another mistake is to use a speed and cadence sensor withour real a powermeter and think you are a pro if you see high watts (they may be fake unless you don't have a proper powermeter) :D
I know a lower % trainer difficulty isn’t exactly cheating but I think that if you want climbs on Zwift to feel as real as possible (and isn’t that what we want?) you should only be using the gears available on your bike, so 100% trainer difficulty. And if it was up to me I would require all races to be at 100%.
@@gerald_t everybody can use any equipment without problem. It's just that not everybody knows that certain trainers are less accurate than others, like those on dumb trainers and with cadence & sensors, so they may think to be super fit but in reality their numbers are just overestimated.
What kind of cradle are you using for your phone? Would like to buy that.
Manon has plenty of fans in the comments!
sees manon on the thumbnail, clicks the video before actually reading the title of the video
Simp.
@@31redorange08 thanks!
Feather is now 10% reduction of rider weight.
Maybe Manon weighs 90kg😆
No blue shell option?
5:35 thought that happens when cadence is below 70 rpm 🤔
below 70 rpm on an incline
i like RGT for exploring.
I am new to Zwift. I tried a workout using the app on Windows 10. When I stopped pedaling for a few seconds, I lost the connection and I couldn't resume the session where I left off. The connection would pick up and drop.
Sophie, I had a similar problem, so now I use my Android phone to run the game and an adapter (USB-C to HDMI) to connect the phone to my TV. The issue that forced me to use my phone is that my Microsoft Surface tablet/laptop has an integrated graphics chip that does not work well with Zwift. It always dropped out. With my phone/adapter setup, I rarely have issues like that anymore.
I wish they would just get rid of the categories completely. The ranges of each category are so wide that anyone at the bottom of the correct category is much too tempted to enter a lower one. As the races go, all the riders end up in smaller groups of similar abilities anyway. So for me, being a lower to mid level C rider, I just end up racing with a group around my ability. I have no chance of winning Cat C races because I put out 2.7W/kg and someone doing 3.1 W is always going to beat me. Who cares if who wins Cat C anyway? The Categories are made up and really the only winner is the Cat A winner. I'm just racing against guys like me. We always find each other in every race by natural selection. Without any Categories the results would then show how strong you are against EVERYONE. So if I come in 60 out of 100 that's where I am compared to the Zwift community as a whole.
Import a route from Strava is the most important update that never comes! Anyway to do it? Anyone knows?
What do I need of IT hardware? Is a Ipad enough or do I need a powerfull PC?
An iPad works just fine for me. Edit: It does run a little choppy from time to time, but overall I have no complaints.
Middle ground PC hardware works great for 4k ultra mode 60fps average, which is the maximum configuration. Needs a dedicated graphic card to achieve this. Processor don't matter too much, the 10th gen i3 is plenty enough. But again, it's all about the graphic card if you want the best graphics and frame rates. Integrated graphics will work but it'll automatically drop to basic graphics mode and the frame rate can get really janky in large group rides, sometimes unplayable in the Makuri world with large event type group rides.
i have technogym indoor training, but all may descente i'm up to 100 rpm and I lost the group. can you give a help?
Your virtual speed is determined by the watts produced - not your rpm. Speed is also adjusted according to your weight, so make sure that weight is correctly configured in your profile. I suggest trying to increasing the trainer difficulty as described in the video. I guess this will increase the resistance and force you to produce more watts if you keep up the same rpm as before.
I thought the whole idea is that you wear your home clothes lol I would totally do it in my PJ’s 🤓
I just felt in love
I couldn’t get into the Power ups, featherweight, draft boost, aero boost, cloaking etc as they are gimmicks that turned me off of Zwift.
I have never get "cloaking" and "burito" in game - never totally... only firtst three
Trainer difficulty set up to max makes the experience more realistic riding to the outdoors, same gear ratio. It shouldn’t be an option so everyone is at the same setting. Good video!
But not everyone uses a road bike with gearing that's conducive to climbing. People who are using converted MTB's, Gravel Bikes, or even road bikes with gearings for the flat areas many people live won't work well for most Zwift courses. The setting lets them convert their less than ideal gearing to a proper range for climbing. Of course, some people are going to cheat the system and ride a bike with an already great gearing and adjust it down even further, which can help certain riders in certain situations, but at least they still have to put out the same watts to cover the same distance.
@@k0pper I've been able to use a single speed bike on Zwift so not everyone has the gearing for max trainer difficulty. As said in the video the watts needed is the same no matter what the trainer difficulty is set at.
@@k0pperdoes this mean if you reduce the difficulty, it makes the pedaling easier but you also move slower in the game, the same as you would in an easier gear? As if it only makes pedaling easier a though the hill wasn't as steep, and doesn't adjust your speed accordingly you will complete the climb with less overall power output
Trainer difficulty to 20-40% for races?! C'mon! Appreciate the hills Zwift created and set it to 100% or otherwise do flat races ;-)
I wish. Not that I race but at nearly 70 years age, trainer difficulty is a God send for me. At least I am not on an E bike lol (not yet anyway)
@@user-fk8rb8ue5h Fair enough! ;-)There are always exceptions, keep it going! :-) But for people like Manon with enough gears on their bikes there are no excuses.. :P
Trainer difficulty doesn’t increase the amount of total power required to complete any course so it doesn’t really matter. The trainer difficulty simply affects the type of gearing you’ll have to use to get there.
@@TROll-oe9ng the amount of people that STILL don't understand this (another 2 years after your comment) is staggering
@@Vonobox1can you explain? As I've seen comments and even a video saying it's not the same as different gearing, but then what is explained sounds like different gearing. What would make it clear which I haven't seen explained is the effect on your speed: If it makes climbing a hill easier and slows you down, then it is like being in an easier gear If it only makes hills easier and you continue to climb as you would if the hill was not as steep, and effectively just reduces the trainers resistance across the board, then it's nothing to do with gearing and is just making zwift easier
You would think they would hide the power strip along the floor a little better…
you can try EPO too
Give me some.
I recently learned that I need to eat during rides. I always just had water. I would start out strong, then lose energy later in the ride. Now I have gel packs and one bottle with energy drink and another with water. It is amazing how much longer I can sustain power and push hard all the way to the end now. The fan is something I never thought about as a performance gain. I just sweat into a huge puddle below my bike. I might have to try a fan now.
It's is sweaty ride
My zwift is really slow and some how I put the wrong location. I have a wahoo blue sc on a dumb trainer
Tbh I much prefer riding RLV's.
Purchasing it.
Make sure you have a towel handy and your tunes pumping.
42 km/hr
I never forget to eat. But I often forget to stop to eat.
Just confirmed that i am the same age as manon, haha
-Achievement unlocked-
Hi, I'm new on Zwift. My avatar is always up and not sitting on the saddle. Why ? Can someone can help me on this little issue ?
To slow cadence
Get pushing Carl
their logo is a mistake. i have a redesign. where can i send it???
Just realised Manon is the same age as me.
I’ve tried Zwift but couldn’t use it. I have a kickr snap, so it’s a smart trainer, and I’ve attached a number of bikes to it. It’s confusing. Outside, on my Emonda SL6, in the face of a 10mph headwind and on the flats, I can easily maintain 20mph for a few hours, between 180 and 200 watts. The same conditions (sans headwind) in Zwift and I’m barely breaking 10mph in the same cassette/chainring gear. My speed and power indoors seems to be much much slower and lower than outdoors, so I don’t enjoy the experience at all. I can’t figure out why it’s so different even after setting trainer difficulty, weight, FTP, and so on.
Hmm.. Strange enough, mine results in training spits are pretty similar to the real ones, probably even faster a little bit.. Have you ever tried using another smart?
@@WirklichRP I only have one, the Wahoo Kickr Snap. Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m too sensitive. There is a huge lack of feedback when cycling virtually, such as gradient changes, surfaces, or wind direction, and as a result there isn’t any coasting or recovery windows. There is no need to stop pedaling - there aren’t any stop signs or stoplights - even “downhill”. When I’ve tried Zwift I can’t stop comparing what I’m seeing in-game to what I would be seeing outside and it ruins it for me.
Have you performed a spin down (ie calibration)?
@@TROll-oe9ng many times. Instead I switched to Rouvy and the speeds are much more realistic.
This is the opposite of my experience. 30mph wind resistance is not easy IRL. Even 25mph is significant work, and not sustainable for hours for most. Now in kph, that would be more reasonable. In the game, riding with C cadence at 2.3W/kg gets you 40kph on the flat (with the help of a huge bunch). Double draft makes it unrealistically easy... But it's a great way to rack up miles (XP) and drops. Get in front of the group and you'll immediately notice it takes work on your own...
Get a training wheel and a training tire because you'll wreck those expensive ones quickly.
Not if you are using a direct drive trainer like in the video
@@OldHunters Well duh.
@@gabkoost oh sorry i didnt know you knew that. oops
I thought you couldn’t change the Tron Bike wheels?! 🧐
You can't
What about Rainbow Road? Watch out for them bananas.
breakaway burrito LoL
Try over heating in a freezing garage in December m8!!
Can I not just drink a coffee? why caffiene gels?
Conditioning for one since you might be training for IRL
I regret getting a peleton
You can't get into super tuck quickly with a wheel on trainer
an expensiveee indoor training...
You can’t put disc wheels on the tron bike☝️😉
I notice on these videos that the presenters are using top end bikes - as someone who only recently got into cycling, my bikes are pretty ordinary - can any bike be used with indoor trainers and apps like Swift? I'd not be expecting to win any races or anything like that but it'd be for fitness training.
Any bike that works on the trainer is good enough. And when bike manufacturers are paying you to look fabulous on their gear on KZhead, then of course use their bike instead.
A lightweight carbon bike, deep carbon wheels, etc. don't make a bit of difference on a trainer. Presenters are just using the same hi-end bike they ride outdoors. I found that dedicating one of my older bikes (a 9spd aluminum frame fuji from 2004) makes it easy to just hop on and ride.
I have a dedicated very low end bike permanently mounted. The benefit is I have a much more comfortable, and heavy, saddle and the bars are mounted much higher than they normally would for the road.
Been using zwift for four months. Have not seen cloak or burrito...
i would love to get a smart trainer but they do be expensive😅😅
I just want to free ride. Do I still need to do FTP test?
FTP test is not required. It isn't as accurate but just free riding will gather data and give an FTP.
Nope. Any time you have a 20min. segment of a ride where your average power is >105% of your FTP, Zwift will adjust your FTP to 95% of what that 20min. ave. power was (and congratulate you on your new FTP at the end of the ride).
#AD
#892 chamois cream!
Too much information. But Manon is so pretty that I wait for the whole video to finish
OK Manon's ftp is 244 watts, who else's is low than that?(+1)
but she was a racer so not surprised there, I'm at 207 last test.
@@stevelewis7077 no way her FTP is that low, shes probably actually 300+
@@ghostdancesc well she is only 59 kg even with 244W that's already 4.0+ w/kg...
@@ghostdancesc …no way.......
330 watts FTP, kek But I'm almost a hundred kilos of weight, and nearby 2 metres tall 🙄
Helmets are purely cosmetic and have no effect on aerodynamics in-game. The mistake I notice most regularly is inappropriate use of powerups, like the steamroller on tarmac or the feather on descents. If you don’t want the power up, trash it with the companion app button rather than using it inappropriately like a scrub 🤣
I love Zwift but I hate the powerups.
Looks like Manon got engaged! Congrats if so!
cue all the smug comments from people who think riding outside is the only way one should be allowed to ride!
There's definitely a lot of people who have gotten a lot fitter and stronger riding thousands of miles on Zwift, Peloton, Nordic Track, etc. A lot of people just want to get in better shape and have a way to quantify what they're doing. Not everyone is up for the sport of outdoor cycling, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I mean, if there's no risk of being hit by a car, what's the point?
Zwift Insider ran tests and claims helmets have no real affect on overall speeds, 1 to 2 seconds over 29 km. I tend to believe Zwift insiders reports. Also, I wasn't aware that I could change tires on the Tron, aka Zwift Concept bike. One mistake you missed was not changing challenges based on the route being ridden, or even starting a challenge at all.
The only measurement that matters is watts and drag coefficient. Time is too dependent on wind, personal muscle, and even temperature so it's not a repeatable measurement
way too cartoonish or me thar zwift thing also costs more than my local gym haha
Mistake number 1: training indoor when you are that hot
She's so cute!
I feel like this is just a sale pitch of all the features
Has anyone ever seen someone walking their bike up a hill on Zwift?
Races, workout, and events = my three least favourite things about Zwift! Just ride!
Use the Zwift TT bike for no drafting messages or power-ups = the bliss of a simple life! Want to compete? 1. go against yourself; and 2. ride for a bit and try to stay in front of that rider behind you who looks dangerous (alternatively, the rider in front that would take just a bit more effort to pass... and stay passed! It's especially satisfying passing s/one who flew past you near the start of the the Volcano KOM... though of course, we don't usually know the age or level, just the W kg^-1.