Does the Elite Sterzo Smart make virtual racing more realistic?

I’m not great at racing.

The few races I’ve done, the women’s field all started together—Elite 1 and 2, the masters women and my beginner race group: Elite 3.

My race report is the same every time: I frantically try to find a wheel, I have no idea what’s happening, I get spit out because I take the corners badly (I think) and I finish the race riding with a small group at basically a conversational pace. Despite barely racing, I cross the line with a taut smile and still finish in the top 10 or even top five because there are so few women in my category.

I think I’m a relatively strong rider, but it’s hard to feel that way when I’m getting dropped by junior national level cyclists 10 years younger than me. It’s difficult to get experience and learn race strategy when you don’t have people to race with. That’s why this indoor season I committed to doing something I don’t love: Zwift races.

Realistic racing

Zwift offers a huge pool of racers in every category to compete against. There are races hourly from A (fastest) to D (slowest) and even women’s-only events. I knew this was the closest I would get to the real thing, especially during the pandemic.

In order to make my racing experiences as realistic as possible, I set up my bike on the Elite Sterzo Smart steering plate. The steering plate takes the role of a riser block, cupping your front wheel. It allows you to steer left to right on the virtual roads of Zwift when you turn your handlebars.

The first time I rode in Watopia with the Sterzo Smart, I realized it was important to have a slightly tacky mat under the plate as it moves around a little otherwise. After getting used to riding with steering, I signed up for one of the Zwift FutureWorks steering races later that week.

Different focus points

The race description on the companion app said: “You and your avatar are about to bond like never before.” That was definitely accurate.

The day before I tried the steering race, I had joined a similar but non-steering race in Zwift’s Crit City. I signed up for a B category because my FTP fit in the upper range of what was listed and it said there were anti-sandbagging controls. I clearly trusted the system too much as I was unceremoniously dropped after 7 km and had to work for the rest of the race with one other naive rider to hold onto our 36th and 37th places.

As my pump-up music blasted and I worked hard for my mediocre finish, I focused solely on power and making sure I was pushing enough to stay with the other not-really-B rider. I didn’t really give much thought to the course.

The next day’s steering race was an entirely different story. Imbued with the wisdom of my past experience, I joined the C race this time. The gate opened and I started to hammer to keep with the front group, but I was instantly reminded that I needed to think about my positioning as we turned the first corner.

Drafting and cornering

The steering function on Zwift is a double-edged sword. When using the Sterzo Smart, if you position yourself properly before the turn, you can take corners much more tightly than the standard avatar. On the other hand, you need to put yourself behind other riders actively in order to draft, otherwise you’ll be riding beside them and working much harder.

Cornering and positioning are two elements of racing that I definitely need to work on and, using the Sterzo Smart, I was constantly thinking about them. The corner-rich Crit City map is perfect for steering.

As the laps went on and I learned the intricacies of the course, I figured out which corners to take sharp, when to position myself on the left or right side of the bunch, and how to get the best draft. I don’t have the Tron bike yet, but positioning myself well and turning cleanly around the corners made Zwift feel much more like a video game.

Race strategy

According to ZwiftPower, I put down exactly the same W/kg as the previous day’s race, but this time, I spent much more time thinking about strategy. I finished in a much better place, too (seventh on Zwift and first on ZwiftPower). I did feel that my avatar was more of a representation of myself, movable on a 3D plane rather simply yo-yoing with increases and decreases in power.

One of the popular criticisms of Zwift racing is that it lacks the subtleties and techniques that go beyond sheer power that are required to be successful in road racing. I think the Elite Sterzo Smart is a step toward more “IRL-style” e-racing. I found that the Sterzo Smart forced me to think ahead about the layout of the course, consider my positioning and race in an overall smarter manner.

Will my Zwift racing regimen paired with the Sterzo Smart improve my race results in real-life? It might be awhile before racing picks up again and I get to test myself. Until then, I’ll continue to annoy my neighbours with my techno racing soundtrack as I steer around in Zwift pretending I’m in Tron.