Sizzle and Flash: All About Zwift’s Aero Lightning Socks

But than I would still see the lightnings on other peoples bikes. I like my screen as clean as possible, so I dont want it cluthered with lighning bolts going off everywhere in a sprint.

I understand people will like this and still want to see it, but what would it hurt to get a choice to see the visuals or not.

Someone likes their coffee without sugar

Yes, that is how coffee should be drunk

24 downvotes on something that would only affect my view on screen and would not alter yours at all.

You Internet people are really special …

here is an idea, stop using Zwift since you all clearly hate it so much

I understand your concerns. If a lot of people wear these socks in a while, it could quickly become too much.
But how cool would it look if you could split the lightning, fire, and confetti into different objects so they could all be used at once, which almost everyone would do, and your screen would turn into a party while you drive?

there are options you can set for a cleaner view. You can also turn off other people completely. However, I hope I don’t ride around you. You kind of seem like a buzzkill. I need optimism in my life. Not complaining.

I agree, I like my screen to look as real as possible, hence I never choose the Dinosaur course or the futuristic course , unless it’s an event/race , same with the daft headwear, Tron bikes etc ,I don’t know what it would hurt to have a no effects option …

Unfortunately, people just don’t get it. Just because you want things a different way than them, they poke fun and say you are offended easily (although it’s the other way around since they seem to be triggered by your request to reduce the cheesiness. funny how that works, eh?). Zwift added the animal in your pocket for consecutive weeks, and you can turn that off, so they are clearly getting enough requests to turn off this stuff off. If you want to use the silly stuff, cool. If you don’t, cool.

See… I’d like to take it a step further. I want to be able to turn off weather and time of day changes. It drives me nuts. I’d also love to see the ability to turn off ALL avatars. Just my guy riding whatever route I pick. And why can’t we do workouts in freeride mode? If we do a workout outside, you still have to manage the road changes.

But hey. lightning bolts.

No idea why this has got such an extreme reaction. I personally don’t mind too much but totally get where you’re coming from. At times the UI can become very busy with confetti flying, ride bombs etc. I’d get why people might want to quieten things down and focus on the cycle.

Would love to turn the visuals off. Nothing like racing with loads of flames, lightning, etc. flying around.

Some poeple aren’t watching at the right time.
Timing your launch and getting the jump can be decisive.

I don’t wear the Fire Socks for this reason and now, there are socks that have an aero advantage but I have to shout out loud that I’m winding up for a Sprint.

A simple On/Off toggle would be superb.

Maybe that’s the trade-off? You have to choose. Do you want the aero benefit enough to risk everyone knowing when you’re attacking? I was hoping it was only going to be a 1-2 second over an hour advantage so that I could just say, well, it’s not worth it. 12 seconds on the other hand is pushing the question of whether it is worth losing the element of surprise.

Then again, there are people who just don’t care. There were at least 2-3 people wearing the fire socks in my group in the ZRL finale race last night.

It would indeed be very small. But in a sprint finish, the time differences are very small…tenths, hundredths, and even thousandths of a second. In a photo finish, Aero socks could be enough to be the difference maker

But such a change (overestimating FTP) will cause other correlated metrics to lose their meaning and connection to reality (workload, TSS, fitness, etc.)