This week, community race organizer turned Zwift employee James Bailey posted a notice on the Zwift Riders Facebook group to let everyone know that, moving forward, Zwift-owned races will not be allowing virtual power users.
Let’s dig into why this decision was made, and what it means for Zwift racing.
Virtual Power Basics
As explained in our “Virtual Power Basics for Zwifters” post:
Zwift only needs to know your wattage in order to get you moving in game, and supports several methods for transferring your efforts into avatar momentum. The most accurate method (and also the most expensive) is to use a smart trainer and/or power meter. But Zwift also supports most non-smart (aka “classic” or “dumb”) trainers when coupled with a speed sensor (a simple device which counts your wheel rotations).
Basically, there are two ways to get your avatar moving in Zwift:
- Send power data directly via a power meter, smart trainer, or smart bike.
- Select a dumb trainer model and send wheel speed data. Zwift will compute your power based on the power curve Zwift has stored for your trainer model.
While power data from power meters or smart trainers/bikes can be inaccurate, “virtual power” from a speed sensor + dumb trainer is notoriously inaccurate. Yes, it’s possible that a rider could have their virtual power setup dialed in and working fairly accurately. But it’s also very easy to do it wrong, and the results can blow apart races as riders fly around the course at superhuman speeds.
Zwift’s New Rule
Zwift’s new hardware requirement begins June 3rd, and disallows virtual power in the following Zwift-owned race events:
- Monthly ZRacing
- Zwift Hill Climb Racing Club
- Zwift TT Racing Club
- Zwift Crit Racing Club
- Zwift Epic Races
- Zwift Women’s Racing Series
This means you’ll need a power meter, smart trainer, or smart bike paired as your power source to join the start pens for these events.
It should be noted that Zwift is far from the first race organizer to implement this hardware requirement for their races. In fact, if you remove Zwift’s events from the equation, the majority of races on the platform now have this requirement. Let’s look at those stats a bit…
Race Statistics
As of May 29, 2024, there were 896 races (see on ZwiftHacks) coming up in the next 7 days on Zwift (this includes events tagged as a race, TT, or TTT). 301 of those have disallowed virtual power (see on ZwiftHacks), so it would seem like 37% of races in the next week are disallowing virtual power.
But that percentage is artificially low due to most of Zwift’s races allowing virtual power until June 3rd. Remove all of the Zwift races from that figure, as well as WTRL TTT events (which have their own hardware enforcement rules) and suddenly 59% of upcoming races disallow virtual power.
Zwift tells me that “less than 1%” of riders participating in the recent Zwift Games races were on virtual power. With so few racers on virtual power, and virtual power being notoriously unreliable, I imagine we’ll see more and more races disallow it to improve race integrity and experience. We’ve banned virtual power in the Tiny Races since the early days of the series, and have never regretted the decision.
Affected Categories
While in theory this change affects all race categories, the riders who will notice the biggest change are A-cat racers. Why?
Because riders with inaccurate power end up being forced to race the A category due to their inflated power numbers. For example, if you’re riding with an unsupported trainer (and anyone can choose this option when pairing their dumb trainer), you’ll be capped at 400 watts. That’ll get you updated to A quickly, where you’ll find yourself at the front of the pack or breaking away from the peloton on a regular basis.
Hopefully, this change will make A-category races more competitive and realistic.
Your Thoughts
Do you agree with Zwift’s decision on virtual power in races? Share your thoughts below!
Bravo!… I’d also like to see Zwift take Virtual Powered riders off the leaderboards as well.
I agree 100% with this decision.
I hope this is one of many steps Zwift will make for legitimate racing on the platform. Im happily using Zwift for my intervals and groups rides but left the platform for racing. Im hoping they are taking this more serious and get some good racing again. The second that Zwift gets serious to get rid of cheating i will be the first to come back for racing
I think we can all agree getting rid of cheating in races should be a priority. And it’s free to all users, excludes nobody (but cheaters) and easily implemented/tweaked, and doesn’t require anyone to go get new hardware.
Most of the cheating on Zwift is not subtle. Maybe the price increases will help with this too, although maybe people will just feel they’re entitled to do what they want if they pay enough.
And, regardless of rules and the perception and enforcement of rules, there’s also a lot of people who don’t think their rank is what it should be, and will never think their rank is what it should be. Some will like to attribute this to Zwift categories, or cheaters, or hardware discrepancies, or anything else that is put forward.
Virtual power is the only way I can make my 9 year old boy to ride with me in the winter. Racing and/or group rides are what he likes the most. I hope grope rides will still continue to allow virtual power, because I’m not buying another smart trainer for him.
he can join in higher category groups and thread it like it’s a race. I believe Cat B or Cat A group rides will make him happy.
But it won’t make the cat A and B riders happy when he joins. Get a proper set-up or don’t join other events. Don’t destroy an event above 1 persons luck.
My guess is that group rides won’t have this restriction, but that’s just a guess.
Follow the rules, buy him a proper smart trainer. Some kids also love to drive a car but for obvious reasons they are not permitted to obtain a license for their happiness.
buy him a proper smart trainer? why? and your reference to driving makes no sense what so ever
Buy used, Craigslist or Marketplace.
All power is virtual power. No setup measures ‘power’, never mind ones that aren’t properly and frequently calibrated, or that people use in ways outside of very narrow conditions.
What the hardware does is measure some thing it can measure, and then from that, infers power.
The rest, including ‘notoriety’, is just branding and sales. And it’s fine to spend your money on such things if it makes you happier.
This is, pretty clearly, another move to shrink the user base. And that’s fine.
If you can’t buy power hardware from the last two years, you probably won’t be overspending on a zwift branded joystick or maintaining a zwift account at whatever the rate is going to be moving forward. And you probably will have computer hardware that assumes that the devs are coding with things like memory and processing efficiency in mind. All of which is just a pain to support if you don’t want to.
Your post is pretty ridiculous start to finish but I’d like to address just one specific point:
You don’t need “power hardware” from the last two years. A ten year old Wahoo Kickr V1 has a power meter built in. You’ll probably be able to buy a used smart trainer for under $100 these days.
“You don’t need “power hardware” from the last two years”
Yet.
The reaction is hilarious, by the way. Look at Eric’s logic for one ‘power meter’:
Because that sensor is converting the trainer’s wheel speed to power and sending that power figure to Zwift.
i.e. it does exactly what ‘Virtual Power’ does, but does it using a harder to upgrade algorithm and processing on the device itself.
(others use flywheel speed)
spot on, no real difference between dumb and smart, all the algorithms are guessing the power!!
Agreed, I have an early quarq pm that over 15 years old and is still easily within 2%
Maybe do some reading and bring yourself up-to-date. Power accuracy is marking BS.
At last – sense. Bravo.
Any checks to stop all the inflated sticky watts from certain powermeters?
Any idea if a Kinetic dumb trainer with inride sensor is considered a type of power meter for these events?
Also, for some, a smart trainer prices us out. My (used) Kinetic wheel-on trainer + inride setup cost about $75. Cycling in general, including Zwift, is still for the relatively well off.
I understand the interest in accuracy, though.
Inride sensor would classify as a power meter, I would guess, unless Zwift has purposely made an exception for this device. Because that sensor is converting the trainer’s wheel speed to power and sending that power figure to Zwift.
Thanks. The article photo seems to show something very like my setup, so I appreciate the clarification.
Nobody cares, anyone wanting to race seriously already left Zwift for other platforms. Zpower was an issue 3 years back… too little too late…
why is this guy still here? he must care
I have had a Pioneer power meter on one bike and a Stages power meter on my other and have always thought that was better then a speed and cadence sensor. I like it when I am riding on the road to. I have found IRL rides that go the same distance and elevation gain as a Zwift ride wil have very similar times.
Not that Cat A ZRacing has many populated races anyway…
Now I have a smart bike but I started on a dumb trainer and raced a lot. I was always dropped though whenever there was a hill/acceleration/sprint because it seems at the top end the curve underreports power. Now I have power, I’m so much more competitive, ftp instantly went up 50w. If I hadn’t been allowed to race when I used the dumb trainer (for approx 1200 Zwift miles), I’m not sure I would have got into it like I have.
Imagine a race with 50 riders and 1 on a poorly calibrated dumb trainer. It just takes 1 or 2 riders to ruin the experience for everyone else. As Eric has indicated, there is relatively few racing with virtual power. The decision affects a small population and benefits a much larger population. I’m 100% in favour of the decision.
Totally agree. As for those that say they can’t afford a smart trainer or power meter and therefore they should be able to race on VP, I say, that’s like admitting someone into a IRL race on an e-bike because that’s the only bike they have
Great decision!!
I spend all of my money on my IRL set ups combined with my child’s daycare, and have stayed on a supported dumb trainer because the numbers are accurate. It’s pretty obvious there is plenty of weight cheating in the game, and a close friend of mine on a smart trainer can beat me in game but not in real life. I doubt zpower is a big enough market share to matter.
This will not be of much help. We have got riders from the Middle East who are suddenly dominating A+ races, despite never winning any local races in their own countries. Then there is this Chinese guy pretending to be Japanese, riding his e-bike at 500W for 10 minutes. He gets reported, banned, but comes back the next week with a new account and the same old 500W. Some races should mandate the use of smart trainer power to prevent cheaters from tampering with their power meters. Top-tier races should require a license, meaning you have to get a UCI number from your national cycling body and have your height and weight measured. Only then will things start to change. Until then, see you at indieVelo.
I get mixed feelings on this.
On one hand, I will appreciate no longer having one guy put out pro watts in a race.
But on the other hand, I also appreciate the openness of Zwift, and the possibility for everyone to do races, and stay fit in a fun way. Without the hassle of transportation to a race venue and the potential risk of kissing the asphalt in a crash.
Its easy to go “Get yourself a proper smarttrainer”. Not everyone have an economy that allows that kind of luxury. I feel sad for those people.
I hope they will still get races where they can join.
Finally!
With the ability to game a power meter, weight dope and height dope – what are ZHQ trying to achieve? I know that game developers are on a constant hunt to stop the latest ways in which a game can be gamed and IMHO racing is the thing that prevents Zwift being far more dominant that it is. It will never scale in the way in which is needs to (for it’s investors) as the requirements for a power meter / smart trainer can be off-putting for the masses.
I recall at regular Zwifter working for an international body who regulate, for example, the measured kilogram, and they had a solution for the measured watt and then building a machine that truly measured a watt. The take-up, as I recall and I stand to be corrected, wasn’t there, as wattage accuracy is more about marketing hot-air than fact – check out the watts that come out of a Shimano power meter!
At long last, at least 4 years too late
So Zwift really is in a death spiral, increase prices at a time when most users pause for summer to ride irl, then deny those who enjoy racing but have a dumb trainer, the chance to race, therefore either forcing them to pay for a new trainer or power meter, or force them off the platform. Who is actually in charge at Zwift? as it seems they dont actually know how to manage a business very well at all.
End of the day, its a game and there are plenty of others that offer the same for cheaper or free.
Interesting that this comes just before the June 12 new product/feature drop. Seems to be driving more users to a dedicated trainer/smart bike.