Fresh on the heels of last week’s “Four Temporary Zwift Hacks” post, here’s an ongoing hack you can use to level up your frames more quickly. This may be of particular interest to riders like myself who are looking to upgrade their gravel bikes as quickly as possible!
The Basics
Zwift events can be set up to restrict the frames and/or wheelsets available for use. This restriction can be super narrow (forcing everyone to use the same frame and/or wheelset), or much looser (disallowing TT frames in road races is one common example).
When events are set up to force riders onto a particular frame, or disallow a particular type of frame, Zwifters can still select whatever frame they’d like from their garage, in order to accumulate upgrade progress toward their selected frame. This is by design – which I suppose means this isn’t exactly a “hack” – because Zwift rightly wants to let riders decide which frame will receive upgrade benefits from their efforts.
Digging Deeper
There are two types of events regularly seen on Zwift that enforce frame restrictions and thus lend themselves to this “upgrade hack.”
Forced Frame Events
There is a small (and unknown) number of weekly ride events which are set up so everyone is placed on the same frame and/or wheelset. This custom event configuration was first seen in special Zwift events like the Cervélo Gravel Rush Series, where Zwift partners with a bike brand to promote specific bikes. And while it doesn’t happen often with Zwift events, it still does happen: one notable current series is  Zwift Camp: Breakthrough, where all riders are placed on the Pinarello Dogma F 2024 with Princetone Wake 6560 Lava wheels.
Community organizers can ask Zwift’s events team to set up their event with a forced frame and/or wheelset as well. How many events are using this feature? It’s impossible to tell, because Zwift doesn’t use a searchable rule or tag for these events. You can get creative and search for particular text in the event descriptions, such as “Cadex”, but this is far from a perfect solution.
See all events containing “Cadex” on ZwiftHacks >
Events with a forced frame will show the frame’s name in the event details in the Companion app. (Forced wheelsets are not shown.) As far as I know, this is the only place that always shows forced frames. Apart from this, we’re left with whatever organizers put in the event title or description!
Events that force a particular frame and wheelset are the best for this hack, as they give Zwifters complete flexibility in selecting the frame they want to upgrade for credit. Simply choose the frame you want your efforts to go toward upgrading – before entering the event, or at anytime during the event – and your efforts will go toward that frame.
You can even stop mid-event to verify this. Here’s a screenshot in a test forced-frame event showing my Cannondale SuperX‘s upgrade progress before and after a couple of kilometers of riding. (Note that this event was forcing us to use the S-Works Tarmac SL8 with Princeton Blur wheels.)
One caveat here applies to events that force a particular frame, but don’t force a wheelset. In this case, if the event is forcing a road or TT frame, and you want to get upgrade credit for a non-road or TT frame (perhaps a gravel bike or MTB) or a Halo Bike, you’re going to end up rolling the slow “Zwift Classic” wheelset in the event, on whatever frame is forced.
This is because your non-road or Halo bike uses a wheelset that can’t be used on the frame that is being forced in the event. So when you choose that non-road or Halo bike, Zwift doesn’t know what wheelset to use for the event… so it uses the default “Zwift Classic” wheels.
“No TT Bikes” Events
Events set up with the “No TT Bikes” rule allow riders to use any type of frame they’d like in the event, except a TT bike. This is commonly seen in races, including all of Zwift’s ZRacing events, since riding a TT bike can give riders an unfair advantage in a breakaway and makes packs behave strangely due to the lack of drafting.
See a list of upcoming “No TT Bikes” events at ZwiftHacks >
These types of events (and there are hundreds of them every week) allow you to upgrade your TT frame while still participating in the event. Simply choose your TT frame before the event, or at any time during the event, and the minutes you accumulate in the ride will be credited toward upgrading that TT frame.
There’s a caveat to this, though – you will be placed on the default (and rather slow) Zwift Steel frame in the actual event. Here’s our test bot in a recent “No TT Bikes” event, with the Cadex Tri frame selected, but placed on the actual Zwift Steel frame in the event:
Given this caveat, you wouldn’t want to use this hack in a race. But if you’re looking to upgrade a TT frame while also participating in non-TT events – particularly non-competitive group rides – this is a good hack for you.
Pizza Burner, or Gravel Burner?
Because I want to upgrade my gravel bike quickly, I’ve had the ever-helpful James Bailey set up my Thursday 100km Pizza Burner ride to force participants onto the Canyon Aeroad 2024 frame with Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560 White wheels starting this week.
I’ll be entering the event with my Cannondale SuperX Lab71 gravel bike selected, so the fast 100km of riding will go towards upgrading that bike.
Join me on Thursdays at 5:05am Pacific and upgrade whatever bike you’d like! >
Questions or Comments
Have you used this hack? Know of any forced frame events apart from those linked above? Got any questions or comments about it? Share below!
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