After the release of Zwift’s Play Controllers, many are wondering whether it is a worthy purchase. We’ve selected 5 reviews/hands-on experiences from content creators around the globe to help you decide and learn more about the product.
Zwift Play Controllers Review: Is It Worth It? (Smart Bike Trainers)
Tariq provides his thoughts on the controllers after some hands-on experience. He also gives a run-down of the features this device brings to the platform.
Zwift Play Controllers Review (ZRace Central)
Oli Chi reviews the Zwift Play Controllers after using them quite a bit. He covers the functions of the controllers, hands-on experience, and ultimately answers whether it is worth the purchase.
Zwift Play Controllers // Steering, Braking, and Full Control of Zwift! (DesFit)
Des from DesFit goes over his experience with the controllers, along with some of his thoughts and feature requests.
Zwift Play Controller Review: Surprisingly Useful! (DCRainmaker)
Ray provides a full review of the Play Controllers including setup, a demonstration of the functions, and ultimately his final thoughts.
Zwift Play Controllers: First Live Gameplay! (Nathan Guerra)
Looking to see what it looks like to use the controllers in Zwift? Nathan provides the first-ever livestream with the controllers and talks through the functions, steering strategies, and more!
Honorable Mention: New Hardware from Zwift // Zwift Play Controller (GPLama)
We featured this video last week, however, it is a well-made review of the product that deserves to be in this post. In this video, Shane installs, tests, and reviews the controllers.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Climb Portal First Ascent Challenge Announced June 30-July 30
Zwift launched the much-anticipated Climb Portal this week, and with it a challenge for July calling Zwifters to complete at least two climbs to earn bragging rights and an achievement badge. Here are the details of the “Climb Portal First Ascent Challenge” which begins tomorrow at noon PST…
Getting Started
To sign up for the challenge, click its card on your homescreen, then click to register at the bottom-right. That’s it!
Completing the Challenge
To complete the challenge, you must complete at least two climbs: one climb from the “stage 1” group, and one climb from the “stage 2” group. Here’s the list of climbs grouped by stage:
Stage 1:
Cote de Trebiac (3.4 km at 5.8%) Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Stage 2 on July 24, 2023 Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift brings an exciting climb in the final kilometers, perfect for riders to make their move.
Col des Aravis (4.4 km at 6%) Tour de France Stage 15 on July 16, 2023 Experience the Col des Aravis—a renowned climb featured over 40 times in the Tour de France.
Col d’Aspin (12 km at 6.5%) Tour de France Stage 6 on July 6, 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Stage 7 on July 29, 2023 Climb Col d’Aspin—a Tour de France staple with 70+ appearances since 1910 and a pivotal climb on Stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Puy de Dome (10.5 km at 8%) Tour de France Stage 9 on July 9, 2023 Climb a piece of Tour de France history on Puy de Dome in Climb Portal. Closed since 1988, this historic climb and its switchbacks makes a triumphant return to the Tour this year.
Stage 2
Cote de Domancy (2.6km at 8.6%) Tour de France Stage 16 on July 18, 2023 A legendary climb named after Bernard Hinault. With its demanding gradient, it’s sure to be a key moment in the Tour’s only time trial on Stage 16.
Cote de Pike (2 km at 10%) Tour de France Stage 1 on July 1, 2023 Stage 1 of Le Tour features the brutal Cote de Pike—a 2 km ascent with a 10% gradient. Expect time gaps and an exciting finish. Try it yourself, then watch the pros in action.
Col du Platzerwasel (7.1km at 8.4%) Tour de France Stage 20 on July 22, 2023 The final ascent of this year’s Tour de France can be climbed on Zwift. Then get ready for some nail-biting action as the GC contenders battle it out on this climb on July 22!
Col du Tourmalet (16.9 km at 7.4%) Tour de France Stage 6 on July 6, 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Stage 7 on July 29, 2023 One of the most famed climbs in Tour history, the Col du Tourmalet has made over 85 appearances since 1910. This monumental climb offers a serious challenge for riders of all levels! Test your skills before watching the men attack it on Stage 6 and the women on Stage 7.
Choosing Your Climb
You can access all 8 climbs whenever you’d like during July. Just click the challenge card on your homescreen, then select a climb.
You can also access the climbs while free-riding in Watopia or France. If you do it this way, you’ll be taken to the scheduled portal climb for the day. July’s Climb Portal schedule:
July is a special launch month for the Climb Portal. Once August begins, Zwift tells us climbs will rotate every 2 weeks, with the France and Watopia Climb Portals both hosting the same climb at the same time.
Why not a host different climb in each portal? Zwift says regardless of whether you enter the climb from France or Watopia, everyone will be able to see each other on the portal climb (*mind blown*). So our guess is, Zwift wanted to ensure the day’s climb was well-populated. Of course, the Climb Portal schedule could always be changed, and Zwift assures us they’ll re-evaluate the scheduling as necessary.
Double Up
Zwift’s regular monthly mission for July was also announced this week, and it’s all about climbing. Named the “Climb Tourmalet” mission, completion requires a total of 2,115 meters of climbing – the same as climbing Col du Tourmalet.
Why not double up, and finish this mission while completing the First Ascent Challenge?
The latest Zwift update has been announced and will be released in phases over the next few days. It includes the much-anticipated Climb Portal feature, new stuff for Apple TV and Play Controller users, and a pile of bug fixes!
Let’s dig into the details…
Climb Portal
The Climb Portal was announced as an upcoming feature back in April, and today it arrives in game – although most Zwifters won’t be able to use it until noon PST this Friday, June 30. (A limited number of Zwift testers, including myself, have had access to it for several days.)
There are actually two Climb Portals – one in Watopia (near the Volcano), the other in France (near the Castle). These portals can be accessed via the home screen, route menu, or when free-riding in either world.
The Climb Portals give us access to a curated list of iconic climbs with a “gamified” look unlike anything we’ve seen before in Zwift:
We got early access to ride Col du Tourmalet!
As you climb, the road changes color based on the gradient. There is no surrounding “natural” environment – just sky and floating shapes.
Why the “gamified” look? Because it makes it easy for Zwift to release new climbs! With no need for custom artwork, Zwift can simply feed a famous climb’s GPS data into the game, break that climb into defined segments, and add it to the library of Climb Portal climbs.
Once you reach the top there’s a turnaround loop, then you can enjoy the descent you earned:
The HUD has been customized for these climbs, with each iconic climb is broken up into sections that begin with an arch and are individually tracked via a dashboard on the left. The HUD also shows your estimated finishing time, an overall progress bar which includes distance, climb, and percentage progress, and a profile minimap and overhead map view:
Eight climbs are included in this initial launch. Why did Zwift choose these climbs? Because each of them features in the 2023 Tour de France and/or Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift!
Cote de Trébiac: 3.4 km at 5.8%
Col des Aravis: 4.4 km at 6%
Col d’Aspin: 12 km at 6.5%
Puy de Dome: 10.5 km at 8%
Cote de Domancy: 2.6km at 8.6%
Cote de Pike: 2 km at 10%
Col du Platzerwasel: 7.1km at 8.4%
Col du Tourmalet: 16.9 km at 7.4%
These climbs will be part of the “Climb Portal First Ascent Challenge” which begins Friday (watch for a post all about this challenge, coming soon). You’ll be able to ride any of the eight climbs you’d like, or choose from one of the two climbs featured each day which will rotate during the month of July.
Zwift says, “Following the Climb Portal First Ascent Challenge the portals will feature a selection of the world’s best-known climbs, with new ascents available each month.”
Video Screenshots let you easily save 15-second video snippets of your Zwift gameplay. “Notable moments” are automatically recorded (think: race finishes or segment PRs) but you can also tap the screenshot icon in Companion or on the Action Bar to save a recording of the last 15 seconds. Here’s one notable moment Zwift recently auto-recorded:
Did you see that? I topped the leaderboard for a solid tenth of a second!
Video Screenshots were released for iOS and MacOS back in February, and according to Zwift the capability has been rolled out to “most” iOS and MacOS users. Today, Zwift begins rolling out Video Screenshot capability to Apple TV users.
PC and Android users: your time will come. Zwift says they’re working on it, with PC coming very soon.
Haptics for Play Controllers
“Haptics” are vibrational feedback, and the Zwift Play controllers now use haptics in certain situations. The release notes say, “Zwift Play controllers now have haptic feedback on Mac, PC, iOS, and Apple TV, with Android coming soon.”
Here’s the full list of Play haptics:
Controllers Paired
Use Powerup
Return a Ride On
Give a Ride On Bomb
Braking
Repack Rush: Boost
Repack Rush: Hazard
Repack Rush: Bonus Time Pickup
Play haptics are rolling out in phases, so if you don’t have it yet, you should soon. Zwift says ~25% of Play Controllers will have haptics starting today.
A “Controller Haptic” option has been added to the settings menu, too, so if you don’t like the vibrations you can turn them off.
Got feedback on Zwift’s new Play Controller haptics? Share it on this forum thread.
More Fixes and Tweaks
Additional tweaks and bug fixes Zwift listed for this update:
Fixed an issue with Coffee Stop that would cause the first use of Coffee Stop after 30 minutes to be 30 seconds instead of the expected 3 minutes. This was most prevalent in events.
Fixed an issue with Coffee Stop that would result in the timer getting stuck, preventing Zwifters being able to use Coffee Stop.
Water textures are back and less gray.
Fixed an issue which occasionally caused cyclists to not appear to be pedaling despite having cadence connected.
Tiny Race Series – July 1 Routes and Last Week’s Results
Last week’s races on Worlds Courses were real butt-kickers. As top IRL cyclists took on Nationals around the world, we took on Worlds… from our homes!
This week we’ve got a new theme, but first a shout out to the ladies, who made a good showing last week with Na Tomi (TMR) taking the overall win in Zone 1 C while Duonporn Daffner (Race3R) raced all three zones and took the overall win in Zone 2 D!
Le Tour de France 2023 kicks off Saturday, so we chose routes based in Zwift’s France and Paris maps to celebrate the world’s greatest cycling race. Allez allez!
Race 1: Douce France (7.047km – ends at Ballon sprint banner) This rolling, twisty route will take you flying through Les Intestins and over a few rollers before sprinting for the Ballon Sprint arch.
Powerup: none
Race 2: Lutece Express (7.22km – ends on climb after passing start pens) Our first time racing this route, we’ll do just over 1 lap’s worth of riding, finishing partway up the climb after we pass the start pens.
Powerup: Draft Boost (2x)
Race 3: Ven-Top (3.1km – ends about 100m past intersection with Petit KOM road) The world’s shortest Queen Stage! For the longest climb of the day we turn right from the pens and head straight up France’s Ventoux KOM.
Powerup: Feather (1x)
Race 4: Champs-Elysees (4.52km – ends at Lutece Sprint banner) Of course, we’ve got to end in Paris. This time we won’t even complete a full lap… just the lead-in around Jardin des Tuileries, then it’s a hard drag up Montée des Champs Elysées to the sprint banner for the finish.
Zwift displays preliminary race results in game when you cross the line, but points are computed after all four races are finished, with final results on ZwiftPower. (We have to do some data processing on our side to compute results, so if your rankings don’t show up right away, be patient.)
Riders will earn points based on finish position in each of the 4 Tiny Races. The category winner of each week’s series is the rider with the most points across their timezone’s 4 races. Here are the links for each timezone’s results on ZwiftPower:
Tiny Race rules are simple, but still every week 7-10% of registered ZwiftPower racers get disqualified and removed from the final results. Don’t let that be you! Four races, four rules:
You must have a ZwiftPower account, because final results are processed by ZwiftPower (learn how to sign up)
No skipping then returning. These races are meant to be raced as a set of 4. If you need to leave early, that’s fine… but once you miss a race in your hour’s set of 4, don’t come back and race another or you’ll be disqualified from that race since you rested while others were racing! (Example: racing only races 1 and 2 is fine. Racing 1, 2, and 4 is not – you will be DQ from race 4. And if you race 2, 3, and 4, you’ll be DQ from all those races, since you skipped race 1!)
Heart rate monitors are required for podium finishers
ZPower/Virtual power is not allowed. Smart trainer/smart bike or power meter required.
Join a Chat & Chill Cooldown
Immediately following each hour’s racing, we’ve scheduled 30-minute “Chat & Chill” events where riders from all categories can spin their legs together and chat about how it all went down. Find them at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces.
Zwift Insider Kit Unlock
Finish any Tiny Race or a Chat & Chill ride and unlock the Zwift Insider “Ride Smarter // Ride Harder” in-game kit.
Steering + Gear Indicator Enabled for Tacx NEO Bikes on Zwift
We’re a bit late in getting this news out, but Zwift flipped a server-side switch a few weeks ago to enable in-game steering and gear indicators for the Tacx NEO Bikes.
There are two versions of the Tacx NEO Bike. The original “Tacx NEO Bike Smart” requires a firmware update to support steering + gear indicators, while the newer “Tacx NEO Bike Plus” should support it out of the box.
With this update, the Tacx Neo bikes join the Wahoo KICKR bikes on the list of smartbikes that support steering in Zwift. But what about the Stages SB20 and Wattbike Atom bikes? We know that both companies have made agreements with Zwift re: enabling steering, but we’re also not sure why steering isn’t yet enabled.
Hopefully with Zwift’s renewed focus on steering these bikes will be able to steer soon.
Questions or Comments?
Are you a Tacx NEO Bike user who can now steer on Zwift? How’s the experience? Share below!
Zwift has rolled out a fresh Mission for July, and it’s especially fitting given July is Tour de France month in the world of cycling.
The “Climb Tourmalet” mission is all about elevation and is named for France’s Col du Tourmalet, one of the most famous climbs in the world. (A bit of TdF trivia: the Tourmalet has been included in the Tour de France 89 times, including this year!)
Note: signups opened June 23 in game, but the Mission doesn’t begin until July 1.
Getting Started
To begin the Mission, select the mission card on your homescreen and click to register:
Once you’ve registered, clicking the mission card will show your Mission progress.
Completing the Mission
To complete the mission and earn the achievement badge and cap, climb at least 2,115 meters during July. This can be done in one epic ride, or spread across as many rides as you’d like!
Important: elevation gained in Meetups will not count toward this mission.
Climb Portal Coming Soon?
If you recall, Zwift said the new “Climb Portal” feature would be coming this summer, and the Tourmalet would be included in the list of available climbs. Will we be able to climb a virtual Col du Tourmalet in the coming weeks?
We think so. Zwift has been teasing the Climb Portal’s release on socials, and with the Tour de France happening in July, it would make perfect sense for Zwift to release the Climb Portal this week or next.
Unlocks
Complete the mission to unlock the mission badge and 2023 “Watch The Femmes” cap. Note: this same capped is unlocked when you complete one of the rides in July’s “Watch the Femmes” Zwift Ride Series events, which we’ll be detailing in a separate post.
Last week we announced our first set of Zwift Insider “steering-required” Zwift races. Rider feedback was generally positive, with Zwifters telling us that the racing felt more “dynamic” and “strategic”. When you can cut a corner for a more efficient line, change lanes to shake off a wheelsucker, or adjust your position for maximum draft benefit things suddenly feel more immersive and interactive.
This week we’re on a fresh course, and we’ve made changes to the starting pen structure to increase the size of the peloton. See details below!
Changes from Last Week
In the first week’s races we had each category racing alone, but since we are requiring a steering device those individual category pack sizes were a bit small. So this week we’re having all categories start together! This will make for a larger peloton and a more competitive experience, so bring your A-game (even if you’re a C).
Schedule and Route
This 4-week series rotates to a different “steering-friendly” race course each week. For week 2 we’re on Glasgow Crit Circuit for 8 laps. This route has 15 sharp turns where a good steering line can shave time, so ride smart!
Every week has 3 race events scheduled on different days/times for maximum availability. Here are the signup links for this week’s events:
Wednesday, June 28: 12 pm PDT // 3 pm EDT // 7 pm UTC // 5 am AEST (Thursday) Sign up here >
Saturday, July 1: 11 am PDT // 2 pm EDT // 6 pm UTC // 4 am AEST (Sunday) Sign up here >
Sunday, July 2: 1 am PDT // 4 am EDT // 8 am UTC // 6 pm AEST Sign up here >
Rules and Results
These are simple scratch races, and each race is a standalone event. Category enforcement will be used, with all categories starting together.
A smart trainer or power meter is required to enter (no virtual power racers).
Since we don’t need ZwiftPower for special post-race results processing, final results will be available on screen as soon as you cross the line.
Steering Required
Steering is required to enter the start pens for these race events, so when you log in to the game to join the event, make sure you have your steering device connected. When the join event prompt appears, you can only enter the event if you have a compatible steering device connected.
Zwift Play is quickly becoming the most popular steering device on Zwift, but you can also steer with the Elite Sterzo, JetBlack Smart Turn Block, Elite Rizer, Wahoo KICKR Bike, and Tacx NEO Bikes.
Update: Zwift released an fresh version of Racing Score in June 2024. Read all about it >
Zwift just announced the public launch of their “Racing Score” metric – a single number meant to rank racers based on their finishing position in Zwift race events. How does it work, and why is it important? Read below to find out!
What Is It?
Simply put: Zwift’s new Racing Score metric is a single number meant to rank racers based on their best performances in recent race events. A 0-1000 scale is used, with higher scores being better.
In the future, this number will be used to group racers into categories. But for now, it’s just a number on your profile.
How Is It Calculated?
If you’re familiar with how ZwiftPower calculates rider rankings, Racing Score will be easy to grasp since it’s based on the same inputs. The only difference is that Racing Score uses a 0-1000 scale (with a higher score being better) while ZwiftPower uses a 0-600 scale (with a lower score being better).
Without getting too deep in the math weeds (you can do that here), each time you finish a Zwift race where scoring is enabled, you will receive a result/score for that event. This score is computed based on three factors:
Race Quality: determined by the five highest-ranked finishers in the first ten places of the race
Points Per Place: determined by field size
Your Finishing Position: the higher your finish, the higher your result
Your overall Racing Score is the average of your 5 best race results in the past 90 days, but it’s important to note that not all races on Zwift will be “scored” events (more on that below).
Finding Your Racing Score
Your Racing Score is displayed in the Companion app, in game, on your Zwift.com profile (click “My Profile” on zwift.com/feed), and under your ZwiftPower profile:
Companion appZwift.com profileZwiftPowerVisible in the top-rightAlso visible when editing your profile
Your score is private (only visible to you) in Companion, in game, and at My Profile at Zwift.com. If you are signed up for ZwiftPower, your score is visible to any ZwiftPower user.
Scored Events
Zwift has been calculating race results in the background for months, so your Racing Score today is based on your best race results in the last 90 days. Through June 29, 2023, all race events will be used to compute your Racing Score. But from June 30 onward, only specific races will have their results scored. Specifically, beginning June 30, only Zwift’s ZRacing monthly races will be scored events.
Why is Zwift only scoring certain races for now? Two reasons:
Racing Score is only based on Zwift results and not ZwiftPower results, so any race that uses custom rules like points would have a disparity between Zwift results and final ZwiftPower results, resulting in a Racing Score that isn’t accurate.
Zwift doesn’t have the UI to indicate which races are being scored, so they wanted to pick a very obvious set of races as scored events.
Zwift says, “…we will gradually make more races scored as time progresses. We will communicate which other races will be included in the score calculation.”
Provisional Race Score
Zwift is also calculating a “provisional race score” based on your best 5-minute power in the last 90 days. This provisional score isn’t visible, but is used in the background if you haven’t finished 5+ races in the last 90 days.
If you haven’t done any races in the last 90 days, your Racing Score will show up as — or 0. In this case, if you were to sign up for a race that uses Racing Score for categories (none currently exist), your provisional score would be used to determine your category.
If you’ve finished 1-4 races in the last 90 days your Racing Score will be visible, but Zwift will “fill in” any missing races with your provisional race score. This prevents your actual race results from being weighted higher than they should be.
Results-Based Categorization
The real reason Zwift is calculating Racing Score is to enable results-based categorization. This is a very big deal, and something Zwifters have been wanting for years!
Race categories on Zwift have generally been based on power numbers. But that’s not how bike racing works, as it would remove the element of skill from categorization.
In the future, races on Zwift will have their categories based on Racing Score, not power. So you might see something like this (note that these are example numbers I made up – I’m doubt these would be used for actual implementation):
A: 749-1000
B: 500-749
C: 250-499
D: Below 250
For now, though, race categorization will not change, with most races using categories based on Category Enforcement pace groups.
Coming Next
Our contacts at Zwift have been quick to stress that this is not the final product. In keeping with the fresh “ready-fire-aim” approach we’ve been seeing from Zwift lately, they shipped Racing Score knowing it would evolve in the next few months before Zwift’s big racing season begins.
What will be changed in the coming months? Only time will tell, but here are some ways Racing Score may be built out so it’s more useful and effective:
In-game results: show your race result score at the end of each race you finish
Score details: which 5 races are being used to calculate my current Racing Score? A quick link to each event from my Zwift.com profile would be welcome.
Rider rankings: Zwifters will want to see global rider rankings, perhaps similar to what ZwiftPower does. This could be expanded to rank riders by country, age group, gender, etc. Team rankings could also be calculated.
Email congrats: finish a race that boosts your Racing Score? Get a pat on the back from Zwift, with an email that includes your new score.
Formula tweaks: the Racing Score forum topic has already lit up with negative feedback from racers wanting Zwift to use a different formula for computing Racing Score. Would it be better to use a formula like ZwiftRacing.app? We won’t get into that here, but we’ll say different ranking models have different strengths and weaknesses and accomplish different goals. Zwift may need to tweak the Racing Score formula before it feels like a major improvement to power-based categorization.
Results-Based Race Categories: if Racing Score accurately represents your abilities, then using it to determine your event category should lead to better racing. We’re looking forward to this!
Data for Race Organizers: before organizers can decide which Racing Score “windows” to use for their races, they’ll need to see stats nicely summarizing the Racing Scores of active Zwift users. A chart or two would suffice…
Zwift’s “ZRacing” has developed into a popular monthly race series, and July’s event details have just been shared. Titled “Beach Party”, the events are held on Zwift routes that run next to the ocean.
In an exciting development, for the first time ever these races are being used to compute Zwift’s new “racing score” (see below for details). Cowabunga!
In an exciting development for Zwift racing, Zwift has just rolled out their Racing Score metric. Beginning June 30, the only scored races on Zwift will be these ZRacing Beach Party events.
The ZRacing series consists of monthly sets of weekly races. Each race is scheduled for seven days (beginning 1:10am UTC on Monday and running through to the next Sunday). Timeslots are consistent week to week and month to month.
Races are scheduled ~15 times each day, so there are plenty of available times to find a race.
Each monthly set of races has a time-based GC (general classification) tracking riders’ best finishing times for each week’s race. The overall winners in each category for the month will be the riders with the lowest overall time for that month’s set of races.
With over 100 weekly timeslots available, riders can race each week’s event multiple times and try to better their finishing time. Tip: the fastest times usually come from the largest race fields!
Note: you must use a heart rate monitor and be on a smart trainer, smart bike, or power meter to show up in ZwiftPower results for this series.
Each month’s series has a unique achievement badge, which you can unlock by finishing every stage for the month.
One and Done
Zwift has planned these events around the idea of a solid 1-hour workout, so each race should only take around 1 hour to complete, including your warmup and cooldown.
Zwift Tests: Draft Benefit and Time Savings with Play Controllers
There’s been a lot of chatter in the Zwift community since Zwift launched the Play Controllers on June 14. While I still maintain that one of the biggest benefits of Play is the ability to navigate menus, etc using its buttons, a lot of the buzz surrounding Play involves steering.
Specifically, many Zwifters are asking if steering makes you faster, and if so, is it fair to have steering in a race with riders who don’t?
I put together a few tests to get some hard numbers to help answer those questions. For science. Because that’s what we do at Zwift Insider!
Test 1: Crit City Lap Savings (Steering vs Non-Steering)
First, I wanted to compare lap times on a twisty course between two riders: one steering well into the corners, the other not steering at all.
I set my bot to 375W (5W/kg) on Bell Lap because that gave the solo rider a speed of around 46kph on the flats, which is comparable to an A or B race pack in Crit City. (Don’t let the power number confuse you – the important thing here is the rider’s speed and lap times.)
Lap time without steering: 2:38.9
Lap times with steering: 2:35.7 and 2:35.4 (I got better the second time around!)
Test 1 Takeaways
This test clearly shows that steering allows you to turn in faster lap times in a solo rider environment such as an iTT. Why? Because taking the inside line on corners effectively makes the overall course shorter for your rider.
That said, this test does exaggerate the time savings you would receive from steering, if you’re looking at the entire universe of Zwift routes. Steering time savings is higher on routes with lots of turns, or to put it another way, your “seconds saved per kilometer” would be lower on straighter routes like Tempus Fugit.
Additionally, in a race you may have to choose between steering to the inside of a corner (out of the draft) and staying in the draft while taking a longer line. In my experience, cutting the corner is still the faster move – but losing the draft does blunt the benefit of taking the shorter line.
Test 2: Draft Positioning on Tempus Fugit
We know that drafting is an important part of Zwift, just as it’s a key part of outdoor riding. But now that we can steer left and right as well as brake, it’s probably work looking at how the draft benefit changes based on your position relative to the rider(s) ahead.
For this test, I set up two bots in an event on Tempus Fugit. The front bot held 300W, while I modulated the power of the back bot to test what sort of wattage I had to hold to stay in the draft at different positions. I included a Sauce for Zwift draft overlay in the video below since it’s a useful point of reference:
In the end, I came away with three useful numbers:
On the wheel: 212W
Just off-center (by 1-2′, or 50cm): 240W
Out of the draft (rider in the drops): 300W
Not surprisingly, I maximized my draft benefit by riding directly behind the front rider. Sitting on the wheel of a 300W rider at 212W means I received a 29.3% power savings. On flat ground, Sauce showed a draft as high as 124W in this position.
Note: Zwift says Sauce’s draft number is the “absolute watts” you’re saving in the draft.
If I moved just a bit off center from the rider’s wheel while staying in the draft, I had to up my power to ~240W to keep up. That means my power savings was 20%. On flat ground, Sauce showed a draft as low as ~40W in this position.
Lastly, if I moved far enough to either side that Sauce showed 0W draft and my rider in the drops (indicating no draft), I had to hold 300W to keep up with the rider ahead. Seems logical.
On the wheelJust off-centerOut of the draft
Test 2 Takeaways
This test clearly shows that left-right positioning greatly affects the draft benefit received on Zwift. When you’re just behind a rider, being just 50cm off to either side reduces your draft effect by ~30W, meaning you’ll need to put out more watts to hold position.
It’s important to note that this finding doesn’t apply only to steering Zwifters! If you aren’t steering in game, Zwift is auto-steering for you. While auto-steering generally does a solid job of placing you in a good position, it doesn’t always place you directly behind the rider(s) ahead. If that happens, you may want to bump up your power a bit to avoid losing position while the game auto-steers you to a better place.
Do steering riders have a drafting advantage since they can dial in their left-right position? Perhaps. But if they do, it’s minimal since the game’s auto-steering does a good job of keeping us in the draft. Consider also that steering brings adds a mental/physical load – you have to pay attention and manipulate your steering device in order to draft optimally. You can steer into the maximum draft, but if you steer poorly you can hurt yourself just as quickly.
Other Play Advantages
Zwift Play offers more advantages than just taking the inside line on corners or positioning yourself for the maximum draft benefit. It also places powerups, a rearview cam, and minimap changes right at your fingertips. And of course, steering lets you veer to the far left or right when attacking off the front, so auto-steering (non-steering) riders can’t grab your wheel. That’s a big deal when it comes to mid-race attacks or the final sprint.
Questions or Comments?
Does Zwift Play offer an advantage to racers? I’m not answering that here… just sharing data and observations. But please share your thoughts below!
