Is the Tron bike the best bike in Zwift?

So the Tron bike does, in fact, give a significant advantage in Zwift, although not as much as most people claim. The Zwift Nationals are on the Figure 8 course, by riding a Tron bike you'll save 14 seconds over the two laps. Are you going to go climbing for it still?
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[@loulew07]

I started on Dec 22 2023 , few days away from the Tron bike , will go from daily hills to couple times per week . Im stronger now on the hills and flats thanks to my pursuit of the Tron bike, and will maintain that power and start to enjoy a balance of flats thrown in .

[@baspater2370]

every time you do a work-out on zwift with erg mode, chose the road wich goes to the alpes... makes its quite easy to get the elevation...

[@chrispritch]

Ooooh.... Now that's a cracking idea!!! 👍

[@scipioafrikanus9511]

Yeah, I do this too. May as well have the elevation. Thing is, the mind plays tricks and the workout seems harder because you can visually see you are going uphill.

[@mikedickerson3944]

Yup, this totally works. And if you don’t have a direct-drive trainer, it prevents rear-wheel slippage. Make sure to choose a workout long enough to cover the whole time needed for the climb-say, something from the Grand Fondo workout plan.

[@danjo1967]

erg on the Alpe is Lame!

[@thestopper5165]

So long as you don't mind getting it at walking pace... First time I did the *Zwift Worlds KOM Reverse* (by accident) I was on a dumb trainer with a crank-based power meter... it took *half an hour* (at an average speed of 11.1km/hr and average power of 259W). And on some of the steeper bits of the NY course, I was literally at 5-6km/hr on a dumb trainer + power meter. I keep meaning to go back to the hilly part of Innsbruck, and see what it's like on the KickR - then I wake up and think " _Nah... I'll ride laps of Richmond Flat instead_ ". I can tolerate the _Kleiner Hügel_ in Innsbruck - mostly because the next bit of the course is a decent downhill, which gives us 97-kg guys a fairly easy 60km/hr descent with not much effort. Someone will release a hack that will give the Tron bike, and then every plodder will have one - I have no doubt that there are a bunch of 'fake 50kg' guys among those who have it now. If such a hack happens, I will never ever it because it will be far too obvious; after all, I've only climbed 8,400m in a total of 1,200km - so I would not even be 95% of the way up Everest yet!

[@christwardzik]

radness. Thanks man

[@TayebMC]

Chris I heard the Tron bike was much better when doing 70 rpm /not. I am also trying to get the Tron using ergo mode. Anyway cool video enjoying this series.

[@jokkemartens8065]

I'm at 61%. I ain't quitting now!

[@chrispritch]

Hahaha don't do it!!!

[@patrickbaker6978]

I have a tron bike but don’t use it ,have you ever been outside on race bike n wearing Lycra n been overtaken uphill by a paperboy on a bmx same thing .As someone already mentioned I got mine by doing workout mode up the alp ,added advantage also got the wheels at top of alp in workout mode

[@DarenC]

It's the best because you have to earn the heck outta that bastard! Shows everyone you're hardcore! :D

[@DarenC]

Who cares about being dropped? In fact, having a Tron bike is *more* impressive for us slower riders, as it took relatively more time and effort for us to get them. Three years for me.

[@DarenC]

Hahah, you so funny. :rolleyes:

[@danjo1967]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed - you clearly dont have one, and probably find it too hard a challenge

[@DarenC]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed Any advantage is actually pretty small. Chris Pritchard did a comparison a few days ago of the Tron vs the Cervelo at 347W, and it was a handful of seconds over a full Watopia lap. So yeah, there's some advantage of you can make a long solo break hold; but it's not going to win a sprint for anyone. As for whether it's fundamentally fair, the same could be said of people using the Emonda and Lightweight wheels in a hill climb event I guess - and realistically it's not much different from all the other variables. People with better equipment, better real world bikes, better genetics, more time to train blah blah blah

[@DarenC]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed I think it's you who doesn't know the definition of cheating. Aside from anything else, "cheating" and "unfair" are different things. You can say having a Tron is unfair, but it's not cheating.

[@reflectionsdetail]

I also wonder if how you connect to zwift can make a diff in speed and or time, ie. bluetooth vs. ant+. I think a course that has lots of changes in speed (central park) would be ideal to test

[@hornetluca]

I'll let you know when I got it

[@edgarmooney874]

Tron rules. Period.

[@steviesteve750]

Sprinters logic 👍👍👍

[@BenBrawn]

It's not actually 3.02 seconds. You did the subtraction wrong but you also have used minutes, seconds and then thirtieth of a second, so your subtractions are also out because of that. The 3.02 seconds is actually 2 and 28/30 seconds or 2.9333.... seconds. Likewise, the next calculation should have given 7 and 18/30 seconds or 7.6 seconds. Yes, I know, I am sad.

[@chrispritch]

no you're not sad..... you just probably listened in math class!.... As you can see, I didn't! :)

[@Requiredfields2]

But the wheels glow.

[@ashleyhouse9690]

More of an advantage on the descents though where you don't have to maintain 357W for the same speed. This is what everyone overlooks when considering aero advantage.

[@chrispritch]

Ash... explain a bit more? I'm lost??

[@ashleyhouse9690]

@@chrispritch Wind resistance is proportional to the velocity squared so the faster you go, the more resistance the air offers. On mountain descents you will be travelling considerably faster than on the flat so the aero advantage of any bike is going to be considerably increased. There was a GCN video a while back talking about this very topic. If I can find it I'll post a link.

[@ashleyhouse9690]

I think this is the GCN video I was talking about Chris. It gives some interesting power figures that the aero bike saves for a given velocity. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r16qmX1pr66Dedk This Cycling Weekly video is also interesting. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJXWlKisj9J9a8k

[@DarenC]

347 is a lotta watts. Is the advantage greater for us lesser mortals? Me at 230W on a Tron vs the Cervelo. :D

[@chrispritch]

We started with 347 watts and the base line as that was the average watts Cam put out on the alpe. It would be interesting to see if the time is reduced at a lower wattage!

[@lehtjug]

Tron bike have one advantage because it's a TT bike, it's a sticky draft free. No need to worry about stick behind a slower rider like with any other non tt-bike. That point of view it could be much more faster in a race or any other events.

[@chrispritch]

But is if it's a TT bike you wouldn't benefit from any drafting would you??

[@lehtjug]

Yes Chris that is true too.

[@chrispritch]

@@lehtjug are you sure you don't get any draft from. Other riders? I can't understand why anyone would use it in a race if there's no draft benefit??

[@lehtjug]

Chris, only what i'm sure is that you can't stay in sticky draft with Tron or TT bikes like what happens with regular road bikes in Zwift, it's aerodynamic advantage of TT-bikes. Probably you can go faster in a good pace which suppose to be a natural aerodynamic behavour.

[@danjo1967]

BULLSHIT. i use a tron, and i get sticky drafted sometimes! from my observations, the stickydraft seems to occur by some sort of weight differential calcualtion ingame between 2 riders. i being a 70kg rider on occasion gets ruined by 100+kg fatso who lets a gap open, and i have to do atleast a 1.5kg over what that guy is doing to break the stick..

[@richardhutchings1980]

Big watts over 14mins. Getting back some Games fitness

[@chrispritch]

😂😂😂 you don't think that's really me do you!!?

[@thestopper5165]

@@chrispritch don't let on how it was done, mate - _nek minnit_ Zwift will be chockers with numpties doing the same thing in races. (They will get their HR up by watching porn and feverishly abusing themselves while the machine clocks up their race). It'll be like the 'two magnets on an old speed sensor' folks; they always get found out (because someone will pipe up and say " *Hey - I know that guy. 5W/kg for 20 minutes? **_Pfft_** . He got dropped 15 minutes into a local B-grade race last Saturday* ")

[@chrispritch]

@@thestopper5165 secret is safe Geoffrey! 👍

[@reflectionsdetail]

I've wondered how much the algorithms are off for full-figured riders. I'm a 103kg and on zwift my power is pretty different than on the road, it takes more power on zwift to do the same effort on the road. Yes I'm doing a spindown calibration often. I just think the metrics within zwift might penalize someone over 90Kg.

[@chrispritch]

I think you might be right... I don't know how easy/hard it would be to test outdoor compared to indoor effort. I do agree with you though I do feel it's harder for the same effort when indoors..

[@reflectionsdetail]

@@chrispritch I wonder if you could test in 2Kg changes on zwift at a 300watt steady output, and then graph that data say from 90-110kg. I'm betting it will show discrepancies

[@chrispritch]

@@reflectionsdetail We will be doing that soon!!!

[@danjo1967]

FUCK NO - you DO NOT have a penalty. you have the advantage now days. i have noticed lately a change between riders, and i think zwift has been altering the algorithm to combat weight doping.

[@SlowtwitchDe]

Hm. Think about this: re-test with 250 or even 200 watts. Why ? This will take longer thus the advantage will be more obvious as the time spent on the bike(s) will be longer. Thats why "slower" rider benefit more from aero gains, as they are out on the road longer. What you think ? . Please retry !

[@chrispritch]

Good point Stephen! 👌 we'll give it a try!!

[@kuchenkuchen6633]

How do i even get a neon/light bike ???????

[@chrispritch]

you climb... then climb again, and again, and again and then.... climb some more. you have to make sure you're doing the everest challenge then climb a total of 50k

[@alfonso2501]

If it's a flat loop why not use the TT bike?

[@scipioafrikanus9511]

I suppose if you want to race then TT bike would be useless as you cannot draft off anyone but they can draft off you. However, as a test, would be interesting to see how TT bike fares against Tron bike with no drafting on a flat course. Chris!.....er Chris....OI PRITCHARD!

[@chrispritch]

@@scipioafrikanus9511 what Afrikanus said... And yes we will be testing the TT bike soon!!!

[@paddybaptiste4111]

After climbing the 50,000 m to get the bike, the advantage is all on the legs :D (hopefully) i'm on about 55%

[@chrispritch]

true that Paddy!!!

[@richardhutchings1980]

Central Perk Ross

[@htukmumfie]

myth or truth. trek madone with the unlock wheels from top of alpe d z is the fastest climbing bike setup?

[@timd7958]

"The Trek Emonda frameset coupled with the new Meilenstein Lightweight wheels beats all other combinations, whether you ride up the Alpe at 1 w/kg or 5 w/kg." zwiftinsider.com/fastest-bike-alpe-du-zwift/

[@chrispritch]

What Tim said.

[@danjo1967]

the (cervelo & disc)combo is meant to be as fast as the tron.

[@chrispritch]

it might be.... but who has a disc wheel to test this!?

[@jeffreyanthony7348]

Forget the tron bike I want a bike with mag wheels 🤣🤣🤷🏿‍♂️

[@larsborgman3443]

Tron bike is probably fastest bike because its fastest on the flats and fastest on the climbs. Its faster than the tarmac on the hills. Please repeat the test with that cervelo on the alpe and the flats with the tarmac

[@DarenC]

Also, how long before a race series bans the Tron just like they have for the "Pro" league? (Which I think is a bonehead decision.)

[@harrylook7810]

I'm at 82%, and this video is pissing me off!!! lol

[@chrispritch]

hahaha harry... it's worth it. keep going!!

[@NielsHeldens]

5:39 Chris looking and talking like a 15-year-old who’s trying to persuade a girl to go to prom with him #FleshlightsAreTheSameAsTheRealDeal

[@stevenmeitner8477]

0:50 Your rear tire is low. That's going to cost you time.

[@chrispritch]

hahaha! :D

[@ceyjai413]

2:26 Its not 3.02 secs but rather 2.18 secs

[@occyman]

Hahahaha Ride the flat roads to earn the Tron bike...good joke.