In case anyone’s curious, because I was, the cumulative probability of getting the wheels is:

1-{(7/8)^[number of times to peak]}

So only 49% of people will have the wheels after 5 summits. After 10 trips to the top 74% of people will get the wheels. 5% of people who have made 23 trips to the top will still not have won the wheels. 1% of people who have ridden to the top 35 times will be throwing their trainers through the window.

Considering how many people there are on Zwift I’d imagine some people are in for some frustration.

I’ve done 8. Still no wheels but that’s not at all surprising.

(This assumes that Zwift keeps the probabilities the same for the entire series.)

I got the wheels on 5th summit, didn't realize so coveted. I'm at 65% to Tron bike as of today, maybe gonna focus on ADZ for a bit to snatch that carrot.

ADZ is an great route, and one of my favorite Zwift additions. But don't sleep on the other climbs. The mountain route, which includes the Radio Tower is pretty fun. Also if you like to do hill repeats, The Lutscher or Lutscher CCW courses on Innsbruck are great, as you ride out to the mountain then repeatedly climb and descend. And that's a pretty good climb. The CCW is the steeper of the two.

A shorter/lighter version of this is the Grand Central Circuit course in New York. That course is basically to just go up the Lady Liberty Climb, descend, then go up it again. It's a 7 km course with 140m of elevation gain.

Well I can’t say they’re that coveted. But I def want them. They’re the fastest climbing wheels but even more importantly for me, I really buy into the rewards of Zwift: leveling up, earning new gear (now with drops, before by leveling up), etc. They are all very motivating.

I've got a few ADZ climbs under my belt, the middle of the climb with a few of those longer switchbacks can be a bit demoralizing, as when you're in the really steep parts and runners pass you while you're riding (until it flattens out a bit and you drop their asses!)...

It's a great course for an FTP test, my average power for the climb most of the time has been above my FTP...

Most of the coaches I know advise against doing the ftp tests on inclines. It doesn’t produce an accurate ftp.

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Human Person

I bagged the KOM for alpe this past Thursday! The key being only 9 people were on the list lol (I get a lot of jerseys with all the good people being elsewhere!!) I have never done the alpe in sim mode, I run trainerroad workouts and use zwift just to have something to see. Thursday was a couple of 30min sweet spot intervals so there were a few mins of riding easy. My time was 53:13 and my intervals were at 4w/kg (280w for me). Someday I would like to try the alpe at 100% trainer difficulty and do the simulation and in hindsight I should have done it in preparation for a granfondo in Europe I did last summer that had some HC climbs, living at sea level in New England does not lend itself to adequate preparation!

The "Tron" bike doesn't use standard wheels so any wheel options you've accumulated become worthless if you're riding that - just so you know ;)
I rarely worry about unlocking kit options except when it distinctly changes the graphic in a favourable way (that's mostly jerseys and helmets and to a lesser extent frames and wheels). I only adopt them very occasionally and based on appearances rather than performance.

All Zwift workouts (including FTP tests) put the trainer in a controlled resistance mode - either erg (for most) or slope (during the FTP tests). During workouts, the slope of the road is ignored. So, it doesn't matter what your avatar is doing...it is just something to watch!

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but a free ride sector in a workout does not prescribe controlled resistance to the best of my knowledge.

It's been awhile since I've done a Zwift FTP test, so memory may be wrong.

I know for a fact that if you do the workout labeled "free ride", the watts/time plot just shows a gray plateau. If you do that workout, it will set a non-changing resistance (slope mode) and you can adjust with the intensity arrows and/or shifting gears. My memory is that during the 20 (or 8 or whatever) minute FTP portion of the FTP test, it is the same.

Exactly. Unless you're doing the step test, no erg mode. And the OP said he was able to obtain higher watts when climbing.

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Human Person

Wow, that is unfortunate.

You can run erg mode for any zwift workout.

I always preferred at least a slight climb for the FTP, because it was easier to keep the effort on a consistent throughout, I find on flat courses, I had way more power variation due to lapses in concentration... These days, I tend to stick to ramp tests for assessing my FTP...

It's my understanding that this is the point. It produces a number that isn't repeatable on flattish roads.

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Human Person

It's an individual thing. Some people can hold better watts climbing or into the wind, some do better on the flats. I'm definitely the later. On flatter roads, I feel like I'm always on top of the gear. When I get in a groove, a nice high cadence starts to feel slow, smooth, and really efficient. All that said, the wattage difference is small for me (2-3%), climbing just feels harder and less efficient.