Overview

For the longest time, Zwifters have complained about how ZPower riders ruin races, increasing the pace of the entire racing, and messing up the results. From August 2nd to 9th, Zwift will be testing races where riders will be required to have a certain level of trainer. Tests will vary from Zpower only, Zpower + HRM only, Power source + HRM only, Power source only.

How can organizers test this?

Note that organizers will not be able to test this new feature. The rollout of this feature will be a lot more restricted compared to the rollout of category enforcement. For the time being, only Zwift will be using this feature for designated test events.

The events

Events will have category enforcement enabled, and will be at 2:00, 9:00, 18:00, and 23:00 UTC. The event titles be be titled in this format: Zwift FutureWorks Test – [Requirements]. Riders who try to change their power source mid ride will be stuck in the pairing screen for the remainder of the event. If your source of power/heart rate disconnects at any time in the race, you can pair the devices again, you just need to pair the exact same devices. Anybody can join these events, but once in game, if they are not paired to the correct hardware, will not be able to join in game.

Feedback

In order to provide feedback for these races, head over to this link: https://zwift.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bxONYCe2uZ7eNXU. For some FAQ’s, head over to this link: https://forums.zwift.com/t/zwift-hardware-requirements-public-test-2-9-aug/587139. For a list of events, head over to this link: https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/tag/hardwarerequirement