Earlier this week, Zwift released a major update with a lot of cool features, you can read about it all here. One main feature I was interested in is the Power Match. I gave it a try this past weekend and I liked it.
Power match is basically a feature where Zwift uses your power meter as the source when using ERG mode. ERG mode is available when doing a structured workout in Zwift. Basically, when you select ERG mode, you are giving control to your smart trainer to adjust resistance until you hit your target power. So if your workout is asking for 200 watts for 15 minutes, your smart trainer will adjust resistance until you reach 200 watts regardless of your cadence. So if your cadence is 90 rpm, the trainer will adjust the resistance to match 200 watts. If your cadence is 60 rpm, your smart trainer will adjust resistance until you hit that magic 200 watts or whatever watts your workout is asking for. With ERG mode selected, usually, you don’t have to change gears.
So how did it perform?
One thing to note here first is the Power Match feature is still in beta so Zwift is still ironing it out. However, during my ride, it performed really well.
Here is a portion of at 2-hour ride I did this weekend. There was some noise in the file for the second ride and I also had to disable ERG mode and that’s why I am not including it in this graph. You can see how smooth the lines are. Entering harder intervals was smooth and you will notice the resistance gradually increase. Toward the end of each interval, the resistance decreased slowly rather than a sudden release where your power just drop.
You can see how smooth the lines are just like you would expect when using ERG mode. Entering each interval was a smooth process. You will notice the resistance gradually increase until you hit your target power. Toward the end of each interval, the resistance decreased slowly rather than a sudden release where your power just drop.
I paused the workout around the hour mark and that’s where you see the power drop in the chart above. When pausing the workout using the Zwift Mobile app, the trainer will release tension so when you are ready to resume your ride, you can easily start back up and ramp up power before ERG mode takes over again.
| Interval time | Target Power | Actual Power | Diff% |
| 15min | 157 | 154 | -2% |
| 10min | 183 | 182 | -1% |
| 5min | 255 | 253 | -1% |
| 10min | 183 | 183 | 0% |
| 5min | 255 | 252 | -1% |
| 15min | 210 | 206 | -2% |
| 5min | 297 | 294 | -1% |
| 10min | 210 | 209 | 0% |
