All Indoor Bikes have Different Resistance. Does it Matter?
Two bikes with Different Resistance Consider these common scenarios. You have: Bought a new indoor smart bike / trainer. Two bikes / trainers of the same brand and model. Moved a trainer from one bike to another Something is wrong . The same physical or virtual gear does not feel the same as your other bike. If you take a single set of power meter pedals and measure the power produced by each bike at a given cadence for the same virtual gear, you can easily confirm different power readings. Why is Resistance Different? Imagine for a moment, all the indoor trainers and bikes available on the market. When doing a race or free ride, each bike/trainer is controlled by an app like Zwift in the same way. Zwift will say to the bike: "Produce the appropriate resistance to simulate a 70 kg rider going up a 5% incline on an asphalt road surface" where 70 kg is the rider weight set in Zwift, and incline and road conditions are determined by Zwift according to the riding conditions i...