I’m using whatever I weigh in on Monday at for 99.9% of my riding on Zwift.
The only exception is when I’ve shredded myself in training the last couple of days and I need a recovery day, but I have B group sweep duty for the ST Rise & Grind workout. Then I will admittedly weight dope just to make the job easier. Immediately after the ride, weight goes straight back up.
I’ve done something similar. If I have a 3 hour ride in the offseason and there is a long group ride on Zwift I will adjust my weight so I hit my target power for my workout but always adjust it back before I will race. I’ve been told I’m a cheater, which blows my mind. It’s a group ride and I’m a big guy. If the group is going to average 3.5 w/kg I would have to average 350w for 3 hours, which is crazy. I’ve also been told I’m a cheater for having a power meter and a dumb trainer as well… so take it for what it’s worth. At the end of the day I know my weight for racing is within a pound of two and my power meter is calibrated correctly and that’s better than at least half the people I’m racing against so I try not to worry about the crazy people.
I do a couple rides where the ride leader actually encourages riders to lower their weight on hard weeks so they don’t get dropped. On a group ride, I would much rather a person lower their weight and stay connected vs. getting dropped (especially if the group is constantly slowing to allow dropped riders a chance to get back on). I understand people not wanting to mess with their weight though. There is a lot of analysis going on with ZwiftPower and I don’t claim to understand it all. I just assume it’s all being tracked. There is a base ride I do every week and I’d like to bump my weight up for that ride to add a little wattage without being the guy trying to ride off the front constantly. For a group ride, I can’t see why it would matter to anyone, but I’m concerned I’ll get red flagged in ZwiftPower for races when I’m adjusting my weight up and down every week.
