In this episode:
Dave, Shane, and Eric begin by diving into “Making Zwift Racing Great Again”. What could Zwift do to make the experience more engaging, more “indoor-only”, while keeping it all dead simple? From real-time points racing to elimination races without elimination to “Tantopia”, we dig into the possibilities.
Then it’s onto Zwift Clubs. Cycling, particularly road cycling, has always revolved around local clubs. Zwift’s Clubs feature tries to bring some of this to the platform. But how useful is the Clubs feature today, when it’s really just a container for events? Could Zwift build it out to enable better interaction and stronger communities, all within the Zwift ecosystem?
Related: My Top 10 Zwift Clubs Feature Requests >
Next up: Rocket Espresso’s recent announcement of a limited-edition collaboration with Zwift. Feedback from the community was generally negative, with comments focusing on the machine’s price tag. Shane weighs in on how Starbucks drinkers aren’t interested, Eric confesses his espresso obsession, and we all gain a bit of perspective on the world of high-end collabs and influencer marketing.
Lastly, we hit on a fresh piece of news: Zwift is launching a North American junior team in 2027, with partners Canyon and Pedal Mafia. And this is no short-term project, with long-term funding secured and a 10-year goal of putting a rider on the Tour de France podium. What are the motivations here? Will Zwift need to change how it deals with junior accounts? And could this affect Zwift Academy?
Thanks for listening! Leave a review if the show is landing for you, and share us with your cycling friends. Word of mouth is how independent podcasts grow.
Listen On:
Meet the Team
- Dave Towle: The voice of American cycling, having called some of the biggest races in the country for decades. Now bringing that same sharp eye to the indoor cycling world.
- Shane Miller (GPLama): Based in Australia, Shane is one of the most followed and trusted cycling tech reviewers in the world. If it connects to a trainer or measures a watt, Shane has tested it.
- Eric Schlange: Founder of Zwift Insider, the internet’s most comprehensive and reliable resource for Zwift routes, updates, and platform intelligence. The guy who actually reads every release note.
Share Your Thoughts!
This is just an early episode of what we hope is a long-running and useful community Zwift podcast. Share your thoughts below. We’re listening!
Brilliant as always, thanks!
I hope Zwift takes note and finally diversifies the range of racing experiences 🙏
I shake my head at dopes who criticize Zwift for spending money on things like the junior program. The vast majority of companies would give that money to management as bonuses, rather than put it back in the sport.
I would love the Random Tandem option …. join, be matched for a ride together where both benefit
Zwift really has to up their game in racing. Racing is so damn dead on zwift. The only ppl who still race are cheaters or at least shady incognito guys. Its really a shame. During and post Covid racing on zwift was really at its peak. Yes there were cheaters too but way less and the whole racing community was much much bigger! And there were more races. Zwift fully killed this by kicking out all the great community races!
Talk about overexaggerating that “only ppl who still race are cheaters…”. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve rarely seen cheaters in my races. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.
One-off races are generally well populated, the big one being z series. Races like Epic Races do suffer from low attendance but there aren’t that many racers who want or can race for 1:30+
There are also plenty of great community races and I’m not sure what you mean by Zwift kicked the community races out… DIRT Series just finished up it’s second season this year, both of which were probably the best experience of racing I’ve had on Zwift. So close and competitive, using vElo for categorisation, and not even a whiff of cheating (from my experience). Sisu Tour is coming up in two weeks time which will be pretty big in terms of attendance. TNP are also hosting a short stage race towards the end of July. Club Ladder is very active still even in the “outdoor season”. Then you’ve got ECRO and FRR if you can/want to do stage races that are every day…
If you want to race against only verified racers then Sunday Race Club is right there for you too, albeit on another platform…
Everybody who is faster then me is cheating, its so obvious.