Editor’s note (May 10, 2023): Coffee Stop is now live on Zwift. Read all about it >
One feature from yesterday’s Zwift announcement arriving soon is the “Coffee Stop” – a way to stay with a pack of riders on screen while you take a quick break.
How exactly does it work? Here’s what I know!
How Coffee Stops Will Work
We’ve all been there. I remember riding the Vegan Century one Saturday when I had to pee so bad I used my own bidon on a short descent so I wouldn’t get dropped from my fast-moving pack.
The idea behind Zwift’s Coffee Stop feature is simple: click a button in the Companion app or action bar and your rider will continue moving at the speed of your group for a specified amount of time. Your avatar keeps pace with the group while you hop off the bike to take care of something quickly.
Here’s a video showing how it works:
In some ways it’s not a coffee stop at all, since your rider keeps moving and the break isn’t long enough to enjoy a coffee anyway. But think of it as a Zwifty version of a quick cafe stop: it lets you hit the loo, grab a snack, shed a few pieces of clothing, etc, without losing your virtual packmates.
Coffee Stop Rules
- In the first 5 minutes of your ride, you can only take one 30-second coffee stop.
- You can take one 3-minute Coffee Stop every 30 minutes during the rest of your ride.
- Coffee Stop is disabled in the last 5 kilometers of distance-based events and the last 15 minutes of time-based events.
- Coffee Stops are not available in any competitive events or workouts.
- Finally, to use it, you have to have at least 1 other Zwifter near you going in the same direction.
XP and Distance
Zwift says riders will continue accumulating distance and XP during a Coffee Stop. While this may seem odd at first glance, consider the alternatives:
- If you didn’t keep accumulating distance, your Strava activity wouldn’t match your Zwift activity, and perhaps you wouldn’t get credit for finishing the route/segment in Strava or Zwift.
- If XP accumulation was paused during your break, you would return to the ride and probably begin accumulating XP at weird increments (portions of km or miles), which would be confusing.
In the end, I don’t see a 3-minute break’s worth of “free” distance or XP being a big deal, considering the rules Zwift has put in place.
Note: since you’re not putting out any watts, you won’t accumulate Drops while on break.
About the Visuals
As shown in Zwift’s image below, riders taking a Coffee Stop will display the icon over their avatars so other riders know who is on break.
Presumably there’s also a timer somewhere on screen which lets you know how much time you’ve got left before you need to start pedaling again!
Launch Date
Zwift says the Coffee Stop feature is arriving this May.
Wrapping It Up
We’ve all forgot our sweat towel, or been left with empty bidons 2 hours into a long ride. The Coffee Stop provides a nice quality-of-life upgrade that eliminates those bumps in our virtual road.
Will it be abused? Sure. Some riders will use it just to take a break, even in more competitive group rides like the recent Tour of Watopia. But in the end, those riders are only affecting their own fitness, plus they must weigh the luxury of taking a break with the bitter pill of public humiliation for “Coffee Stop Doping” on Zwift.
Questions or Comments?
Let’s be honest: this is really a pee break. Zwift just didn’t want to call it as such.
But what do you think? Will it be handy? Got questions or other comments? Share below!
A good point mentioned on my Reddit post – if you’re in a group of 5 and EVERYONE uses the coffee break, would it use the average of everyone around you to keep you paced together, or would you stop since that average would be zero? I guess it works like the pedal assist for joining a pace partner? (I’m not calling them RoboPacers 😛 )
It would be really awesome if you could swap bikes or wheels in the garage while on a coffee stop break. I know that new update is supposed to autoswap you to the basic zwift bike if you join a robopacer on a TT bike, but I’m as likely to join a robopacer on a gravel bike (or be in a Tour of Watopia ride or whatever, not look closely to see my bike in the pen when everyone looks the same and I’m jammed in with hundreds of riders, and then notice I’m on a gravel bike a couple km down the rode). Would love to be able to swap bikes without losing my group/pace partner in those situations.
I can definitely foresee some rides in the future where I’m debating whether I can safely run upstairs in my cycling shoes to get a water bottle and be back in 30s or if it’s better to wait until the 5 minutes are up so I can safely get up there and back without risking slipping and falling.
I love the idea behind this though. Something that sounds wonderful but that I haven’t heard people asking for like they have for that also announced ability to change pace partners mid-ride, which sounds like it might be even awesomer (if that was a real word).
To be clear, I don’t expect to be able to swap bikes with the coffee break because your bike is still moving, but just that I think it would be awesome if it did work that way.
I’ve been asking for a way to take a pee break on group rides for over a year. I love it and an here for 100%.
Coffee stop doping? Carlos Sainz would say “stop inventing” 😁
I can’t fathom this being an issue. I had no problem stopping and refilling during ToW for example but for those who do long group rides this must be a huge QoL upgrade.
This is a damn good idea! There have been numerous instance where I need to get of the bike for one reason or another during a ride and had to solo freeride afterwards.
I am not sure, but when doing a club-ride with “Event Results” turned ON, is it possible to use this coffee-stop feature?
Not sure how Zwift will determine if an event is “competitive” or not. Maybe that’s just events that are defined as races?
It’s a great feature for its intended purpose. Will be very useful when 20 seconds into the ride I realise I’ve forgotten my towel, or my fan blades are static and its remote is out of reach…
I also see it being useful during group interval rides – someone who is stretching themselves in a harder group can effectively take a time out during one interval, or skip the hardest section of a climb, and then carry on with the group after their short recovery. No harm done to anyone else in that situation and better than them getting dropped (and needing a sweep) and coasting home for the rest of the ride.
cool
That’s very good news. But why 3 min and not 5. Doing a pit stop to pee for instance can take up to 5 min if you have your trainer in the cave and have to rush upstairs.
Again it’s all related to our own fitness, so we impact our own Calories / TSS (no watts produced), etc.
Put a bucket next to the trainer 😉
I get the down votes here but I’d actually prefer 5 minutes once per hour rather than 3 mins per 30 minutes. Totally specific to my unusual circumstances but reason being I ride in a garden room with no toilet facilities/running water for top ups down the end of a 100 foot garden. No biggie, I still very much welcome the change and If nothing else it should improve my (in cleat) running or result in more regular watering of the plants…
I’m sure 2 x 3 minutes per hour will suit some others better.
I’d also prefer five minutes once per hour. Takes longer to pee for us old folks 🥺
Finally something usefull, instead of those dino suits or 3wheel bikes. Three minutes is still quite short time for nature break, atleast for those who are riding in garage..
Although I think that this is a nifty feature, I also agree that 3 minutes may be a short time for any needed break for whatever valid reason, either a bathroom run, push the button and wait for the espresso machine, or to handle a dropped chain or other odd mechanical issues. Overall, the simulation of a sudden need to stop like in IRL to the virtual is a welcomed feature.
Well since you’re mentioning real life, how would go about continuing your ride for a dropped chain or making an espresso IRL? It’s just a quick timeout to allow a basic quick stop to sort something. 3 mins should be fine for most people.
I bet 3 minutes is 10 percent of a workout for a whole bunch of people.
If you need more than that, you need to change your approach.
If you have to take a pee break during a 30 minute workout, then the length of the pee break is probably not the approach that needs the attention.
I wonder what will happen when you are in a small group and the others see you taking the coffeebreak and they suddenly increase the speed. Will you continue the average speed when entering the coffeebreak or will it adjust to the speed of those around you ?
And 2nd, will the coffeebreak stop when the group falls apart and there are only 3 around you ?
Yeah, I like the question of What in all of this. What happens to the other riders? What happens if everyone breaks? What happens if it wasn’t a group….it was just 5 people who all happened to be close to one another and 3 minutes later they’re spread all over the road…
Basically what is the algorithm logic? Should be easy enough to share that detail without IP concerns.
I’d love to see a 5 minute stop at 2 hours for us folks that enjoy 4-5 hour rides… like the BMTR Centuries or Zwift Fondos. Still, wonderful addition!
But on such long rides, what are the chances that you’ll be in a group of 5 or more? The only time I’ve ever done a ride of that length (the Uber Pretzel) I was riding solo and so I could stop at any time I wanted!
I often do long rides in a group. Last Saturday with ZZRC over 50 of us did more than 6 hours together. Sunday I rode with Valhalla for 3 hours. Both group rides we had to agree a stop but this feature will make it easier 👍
Being on Zwift doesn’t mean you can’t get off the bike until the ride finishes. Just stop if you need to. If in a group on a long ride and want a 5+min break etc just use the chat function to see if anyone else wants to stop for a short break.
Talk to your leaders and make it happen
I’d go as far as 5 minutes every 90 minutes. Some of us are not in our 20s any more but would really like to stay in for the long rides. Not complaining, the current implementation is better than nothing. Hopefully there will be adjustments in the future.
The zwift FAQ now says you only need to be with 1 other rider. Maybe they realized it would get complicated if a bigger group split apart? I’m still wondering what happens if the other rider goes a different direction or quits entirely?
https://support.zwift.com/en_us/this-season-on-zwift-faq-rJXEpTz1j
I have a feeling that this feature will be abused by those who wish to get free miles, I mean, its not that hard to run Zwift on another device and click a key every 3 minutes, especially considering the amount of XP that could be gained in just a few hours. It could even be done during work meetings, etc
You can only use it once every half hour, for that very reason.
Ahhh, that’s good!!!
I Think this will be a nice addition. sometimes you just have to go. or need more water!
I love this! I would use a coffee stop simply when I forgot to set up my fan or dropped my sweat towel…and, of course, for the pee stop too!
I love the coffee stop! Some of my rides I can hold my pee for over an hour but some rides I have to go pee after 30 mins? What I don’t like is that it’s advertised over your avatar? The coffee stop timer is great for the rider but why does the whole group need to know? Just a thought!
Why can’t this also be a feature for workouts? Especially custom workouts i am doing by myself.
My guess is it’s because workouts already have a “Pause” button. Doesn’t make sense to make you (basically) skip 3 minutes of your workout, when you could just pause then resume it anytime you need to take a break.
Love this. On century rides I love to swap out bibs halfway through. It will also mean I can stop having to apply more chamois cream while riding.
not to be graphic but 3 min doesn’t take into account when gals have to wee (and reapply butt’r). 5 min would be more realistic. We’d still make the effort to get back sooner, but with less pressure?? Why make the effort to set up a coffee break and then not give the range of riders with potentially more challenges an extra minute or two. Wondering what acommodations would be done for riders with physical challenges too. This is a good start for sure.
this is great. Sometimes seniors need to pee suddenly. Now, does peeing take less than 3 minutes?
somehow, maybe can get my crew in here. You know, stop so the crew can fix my flat, or give me a new bike or … maybe Zwift needs a new item: you’re team’s crew for helping out when the bike or the connections have problems – I guess this could include electronic connections in Zwift, in our electronic world. Can my computer re-boot in 3 minutes and re-connect me to my prior Zwift screen? Maybe those with better support crews can get more time to fix problems?
This is an awesome idea, although I could done with it on last nights ride. 😂
What exactly happens if you don’t get pedaling again before your 3-minute timer expires?
Does your avatar simply glide to a stop, putting you out of the group anyway?
If so, and you’re actually off the bike for 5 minutes, using the Coffee Break would mean you’re just 2 minutes behind. Right?
That would be my guess, yes.
great idea love it for all the reasons mentioned – forgot towel, fan not turned on etc… nice work Zwift just one suggestion do you think if you need a bit longer they could have a 💩 button 😉😂
that coffee stop will be great on the final hill before the end of a competetive group ride…
Will this also work with pace partners?
Yes.
This is great news if the post man knocks with a package😅
Great option, may be able to finally do a single continuous century ride with a pace partner to make it easier.
it would be so good if you could let this be used on workouts as well. Some of them are very long and we do not want to lose the group. In the end, the person who needs to work harder to get back in the workout is the rider him/herself who used the Coffee Stop. I would love that option for workouts as well.
I use zwift on my iphone, and haven’t seen the coffee stop icon show up when riding in group rides. 6/3/23