Zwift Community KB | Terms, Definitions and Acronyms

Just a dictionary

Dumb Trainer - This is not what we call our personal trainer when he tries to push us to run another mile, push another 10 pounds or do 30 more squats. No, a "dumb trainer" is a name for a stationary trainer that is resistance-based, where effort is controlled via a knob that applies more pressure to the rear wheel, or a lever mounted on the handlebars that applies increased pressure to the rear wheel mounted against a roller. See "smart trainer"

Fan View - When you're in "View-only" mode in the Zwift application or in Zwift Mobile Link watching another rider riding the course, or watching their data in the ZML application.

Flier - A Flier in Zwift is somene who intentionally or inadvertently uses zPower to surge ahead of all of the other riders at an inhuman rate of speed and power. This can happen when they are incorrectly configured with zPower, or they're intentionally misusing that advantage to gain jerseys, KOMs or PRs in the game.

FTP - FTP stands for "Functional Threshold Power" and represents a cyclist's ability to reach and hold the highest possible power output over 20, 45 and up to 60 minutes (depending on the test). Your results will vary depending on whether you're a trained athlete or just a recreational cyclist. The FTP is calculated by taking 95% of the 20 minute average power and using that to determine your FTP.

Jarvis Island - During the early beta phase of Zwift in 2014/2015, the first and only course available was "Jarvis Island", and for many, it still holds a special place in their hearts. It was a short, relatively flat course but it was the first look into what Zwift could do.

Jarvis is no longer with us, having sunk into the sea as Watopia rose up, but there's a nod to Jarvis, a mini-recreation in the center of "Ocean Boulevard" on the Watopia Island course.

KOM - King of the Mountain, a prestigious title for the rider who has made it to the top of the measured climb with the shortest time on the clock. For doing so, you earn the polka-dot jersey.

NPC or NPCs - Non-Player Characters, or "bots", sometimes called "ghost riders" or "Smurfs". These are the blue, transparent riders you see riding along the course during lighter days. When the course is very busy with several hundred riders, the NPCs are removed and only human riders are found on the course. As things lighten up, the NPCs come back.

PR or PRs - Personal Records are your achievements that have bested your last time through a loop or segment

RideOn - RideOns are the social vitamins for riders on Zwift. They're the virtual and Zwift equivalent of a Facebook "Like" or an Instagram "double-tap". You pass them out to fellow friends and riders you want to say "Great job!" to while they're riding.

Sandbagging - A term that describes a rider who deliberately underperforms in a ride or race event so they can surge ahead at the end to win. One example is a Cat A racer who rides with Group B on Zwift so they can always take 1st place.

Scotty (the Squirrel - "Scotty" the Squirrel is the official Zwift mascot. Sometimes you'll see him around the gas station on Watopia, sometimes you'll see him on the login screen or other areas of the game.
If you spot Scotty in the game, shout it out and let everyone know!

Smart Trainer - A smart trainer is one that is controlled by the PC or an app running on your mobile device. This means that resistance is applied based on buttons you press on the app (mobile) or by an FE-C profile that the computer controls. In Zwift, when you reach the bottom of a hill, the resistance increases on the trainer because the PC controls it. On a "dumb trainer", the only way to increase that reisistance on a hill is to change gears to a harder gear or to tighten the resistance knob at the back of the trainer.

Watopia Island - The second course that Zwift created for the community after Jarvis Island, is Watopia Island. This course has several new routes on it that climb up steeper ascents, curvy "Esses", and along the watefront on "Ocean Boulevard". The course alternates on the schedule between the Richmond UCI course and the Watopia Island course. If you look at where Strava and other tools place your ride data, you'll see that it lands on the real island of Te Anu in the Solomon Islands chain.

zPower - This is the virtual power that Zwift calculates and applies to your profile when you select using a non-Smart or "dumb trainer" in your Zwift settings. It will use the speed from your speed sensor, your weight and your cadence to simulate an actual power and speed output on screen. See "Flier".

ZTR - Zwift Training Race, also referred to as "Zwift Timed Race". These are very fast-paced race events, usually held on the same day with a training race earlier in the day and a full-gas race later in the day. This race attracts a lot of exceptionally-talented riders from all over the world and is often streamed and broadcast live on Nathan Guerra's Twitch channel. If you think you've got what it takes to hang with the group, hook on and ride in one!

Zwiftcast - What would the Zwift community and experience be without its own radio show! Simon Schofield, journalist and author at Cycling Weekly Magazine has put together a great audio podcast for Zwift riders and enthusiasts. The episodes have interviews from Pro riders, Zwift company staff, community supporters, vendors and more! Catch up with it each month and stay current with the latest and greatest in the Zwift universe! Give it a listen and subscribe to it on your favorite podcast application.

Zwift Effect - Sometimes called ZwiftEffect or #ZwiftEffect, is the phenomenon that you experience after riding hard on Zwift for hours, weeks or months and then take those endurance, FTP and performance gains back out to the real world, and find that you're much stronger than you were before on the same real-world segment. Zwift really does make you a stronger rider. The #ZwiftEffect is real!

Zwift HQ - This is a term used to describe anyone that is officially part of the Zwift staff. This includes Eric Min and his senior staff, Jon Mayfield and his development and engineering team, Lindsay Ruppert and her support team and more. Honorary members also include retired racers Ted King and Jens Voight. If you see them on the course, say hello and flip them a #RideOn!

Zwift Nation - Since the current version of Zwift (as of February 2016) doesn't officially support or track races, considering them "niche", one member of the community, René Rolighed, decided to scratch that itch and create his own race results tracking site called "Zwift Nation".
The site uses results from your name in-game and your Strava uploads to correlate and aggregate your exact race timing as compared to other riders in the same group ride, race or event. For more details on this, see the Zwift Nation website and the accompanying KB article here: "How do I create a race on ZwiftNation?"