I do a lot of indoor cycling and racing. Surprise! Of late, I’ve been doing some time trials, and have performed satisfactorily against myself, but looking at the data I seem to be going much slower than you’d expect given a basic understanding of fluid dynamics and… physics? I don’t even know the fields, but I know enough to know something isn’t right.

A flat TT is all about equipment and raw power. Weight doesn’t matter and theoretically, height should matter little; when in the same position, as you would be virtually, frontal area difference is minimal. For both of these races, we’re all on the same equipment too so raw power should be 90% of the equation. It’s clearly not.

So let’s take a look at the folks around me (I’m the middle person in both):

Race 1

Absurdly different power numbers. This would equate to minutes in real life. Near 40% power difference between 10th and 11th equating to only 3 seconds…

Race 2

10% difference in power between 1st and 2nd = 5% difference in time. 8% difference in power between 2nd and 3rd = .3% difference in time. The only real difference is the 10% difference in height so can we assume a 10% difference in height nearly negates an 8% difference in power?

Something ain’t right.

Update

Since posting on a popular Facebook group for other users, I’ve received a lot of feedback from short people. This mostly centers around Zwift not trying to be a simulation (I believe that to be a cop-out; their aim is realistic with a few “gaming” touches) or me not having a clue about the subject and it’s sour grapes. Since I’m hurt, I’ll be planning a series of tests to either prove or disprove my theory and try to draw some conclusions on weight and height. Until then, how about a video of a pro cyclist coming to the same conclusion? Granted, he’s doing a hilly course so it’s not a perfect example, but PRO and former world record holder in time trialing!