November 8, 2023 update: Zwift’s 1.52 release changed the rolling resistance of dirt for all bike types, and also brought the performance of Zwift’s gravel wheels in line with name-brand wheels. They did what we asked below!
Zwift has several types of bike frames in game:
- Road bikes (the most popular, by far)
- TT bikes (very aero and can only draft in special TTT events)
- Mountain Bikes: the slowest and heaviest, but they look pretty sweet on dirt
- Gravel Bikes: dropbar bikes with wider tires, just like IRL
I wouldn’t blame you for being a bit confused about which bike setup to use on a particular course, when that course involves dirt or gravel sections like Watopia’s Jungle Circuit, Makuri Islands’ Sea to Tree, or Scotland’s City and the Sgurr.
Most of our route detail pages include a recommended bike setup (start by clicking your desired route here). But I see one common mistake when folks choose to ride a gravel bike in game.
Don’t blame yourself: it’s a mistake many have made, because the way Zwift has set things up is confusing. Let’s take a peek behind the curtain…
A Bit of Gravel History
Zwift released its first gravel bikes in their December 2019 game update. The Cervelo Aspero, Canyon Grail, Canyon Inflite (actually a cross bike), and Zwift Gravel were built in game similar to how they’re built outdoors: to perform well on dirt while also zipping along nicely on pavement. Later more frames were added, and there are now 10 gravel frames available.
The frames are fine. It’s nice to have a selection of brands available, and if you want to learn how each frame performs in terms of climbing or aero performance, just read this post.
But things got confusing in February 2022 when Zwift added two new gravel wheelsets to the Drop Shop. Before this, only one gravel wheelset was available – the default Zwift gravel wheelset. But now Zwift was offering three wheelsets. Which one should you choose?
The answer, it turned out, wasn’t so easy to come by. Because the new wheelsets were rated the same as Zwift’s default gravel wheels (3 stars aero, 1 star weight) one might think they would perform the same. But Zwift got sneaky! They assigned a new, custom Crr for the new gravel wheels, but only when rolling on the “dirt” surface.
Crr is rolling resistance, with lower numbers being faster. Read all about Crr on Zwift >
The newer name-brand gravel wheels have a Crr of .016 on dirt, while Zwift’s gravel wheelset has a Crr of .018. How do those different settings affect performance? Name-brand gravel wheels are about 17s faster than Zwift’s gravel wheels on a loop of Watopia’s Jungle Circuit at 4 W/kg, and about 10s faster climbing the Temple KOM in Makuri Islands.
As of today, there are 4 name-brand gravel wheelsets available in Zwift. They all perform identically:
- CADEX AR 35
- ENVE G23
- Reserve 25 GR
- Roval Terra CLX
Go Name-Brand
So what’s the mistake people make with gravel bikes on Zwift? They use the default Zwift gravel wheelset, instead of spending a few drops on a name-brand gravel wheelset.
If you’re going to be racing in dirt, spend a few Drops. The performance gains are well worth it!
Zwift: Please Fix Gravel
The Crr difference between Zwift’s gravel wheelset and all the others seems like a confusing choice on Zwift’s part, and one that penalizes new riders. As much as I like the idea of rewarding people for doing their research and reading Zwift Insider posts, if one wheelset is slower than another that should be made clear in Zwift’s garage/Drop Shop UI.
My recommended fix: just make all the gravel wheelsets have the same Crr on dirt. No other wheelsets in game have custom Crr settings, so let’s consider this an experiment that didn’t pan out, and swap back to simple settings.
Now, if Zwift wants to make certain gravel wheelsets perform better because they’re more aero or lightweight than others – that’s sensible, and inline with what happens with road wheels. Just show the difference in the star ratings so it’s clear.
Lastly: there’s a bug when it comes to setting the gravel wheelset. On my personal account, when I select a gravel frame, it shows the frame with CADEX AR 35 wheels. Problem is… I don’t own those wheels!
Zwift needs to save whatever gravel wheels I last selected, so when I swap to a gravel bike, it has my favorite gravel wheels in place. (This saving needs to work for road bikes, too.)
Questions or Comments?
Share below!
Why not have tyres in the drop shop. Then have the tyres puncture and stop the rider after a set amount of distance
It would give zwifters with 30 million drops something to spend them on
They could always have a set of never ending tyres which are slightly slower for those who can’t be bothered to change
The biggest joy of riding indoors is not having flat tyres :0
Ot would be fun if they had tyres! Just like choosing whels one could choose tyres. Gravel wheels and gravel tyres, road/tt wheels with road tires. Something to further spend on and further optimize speed on gravel or road. Also mtb tyres and wheels newd to be available
Stopping the rider after a set distance would get a huge push back from riders.
Imagine doing one of the bigger routes, or being 100m from smashing your AdZ PR and the game stops you dead. This is essentially a piece of training equipment with a small amount of gamification for fun/motivation. Inhibiting riders from training in anyway isn’t a good idea.
Zwift could make cash from tyre supplyers paying for a small advantage from their tyres
Those who don’t want to use them could just stick to standard tyres that never run out
The trouble is you’re mixing trying to be realistic (CdA changes for different bike types) with unrealistic factors, like infinite tyres that are slower than others, that wear out but are somehow faster. This article is suggesting it’s confusing enough for users with the current star system, adding your idea would just confuse things further.
I hate that idea. Yeah tyres overall is a good thing, but tyres that run out would be awfull. I like it when we can choose tyres like we can choose wheels. They never break or run out. And gravel wheels only with gravel tyres and road wheels only with road tyres. Like a continental gp5000 would be fun.
And like in races it could be fun to have tyres puncture if you corner to fast. Or something like that. But then again, anything that stops you dead is a bad idea
No I see that. What would be fun would be tyred in game, but then again, tyres that never puncture would be best. Just different ones to optimize setup like in real life. Also your indolr bike never punctures so why do thst in game….
Maybe not puncture, but wear out and get slow?
I like that idea a lot! Could be fun, however I would just wnat infinite lasting tires anyways. For raves it’s fun to buy better gear
Just have virtual tubulars and we can spend Drops on places to stash old rims for stretching them, or earn Drops for mounting the damn things.
if you want that in zwift, just think of the dreaded drop out as a flat/mechanical.
When I used to race NASCAR Online one of the things we had to watch was our tire wear. If you tried to stretch your tires too far, you’d run the risk of a blowout. If you didn’t have a blowout, you would find your car getting squirrely in the corners. You always had to monitor your tires. The same could be done in Zwift. If you’re entering a big race and you see your tires have over a thousand miles on them, you might be smart to invest in some new rubber. Especially if you’ve worn your tires completely smooth and it starts to rain.We could keep the random tire puntures out of the game, but then again, I’m sure Primoz Roglic would love to not have any randon punctures, either.
Lo que tienen que hacer es crear una escala de puntuación fiable (de 1 a 10) y con más campos para que la elección sea más fácil, porque tela…
Peso, aerodinámica, rendimiento en otras superficies, etc.
Thank you for the update on this Eric. These are part of the reason I come back here all the time. Very, very useful info for us serious (really did I say that?) Zwifters!
There’s no shame in being a serious Zwifter! 😀
I like the idea of making a trip to the drops-shop for gear change a bit like a cyclo-cross bike change. Various pit stops around the worlds. You have the option of assigning kit in advance, and I’m sure Zwift could gamify it too, for example making your transit time linked to FTP effort…
Ref the gravel wheel bug (and it’s actually on the other bike too – If I swap between gravel and TT bikes, both show with wheels I don’t own (Cadex and Bontrager respectively) – presumably they’re just the first wheels alphabetically in the lists. Is it just graphical though or is performance based on what is shown? Anyone got any tests to show either way?
But I still find annoying is that research is showing that wider tires are actually faster than narrower tires but and there’s swift speed tests you show the zwift Buffalo bike is still faster than the fastest gravel setup,,,which this is a game and I understand but that would never be the case outdoors
You mention these name brand wheelsets have lower crr on dirt, but I will be racing ‘City and the Sgurr’ which is half gravel, half pavement. Do the name brand gravel wheels roll faster than the stock Zwift wheels on gravel as well?
No, they’re all the same on gravel. Except don’t use the ENVE G23 right now, since they have a bug and need to be updated (learn more on the section about the updated Gravel Crr here: https://zwiftinsider.com/update-1-51-0-122036/)
Really this all crazy. Just put everyone on the same bike in any particular race. Why should a new rider have to ride a slower bike? I’m saying this as someone who’s Level 46 and has all the fastest stuff.
It’s called gamification. Many like myself keep riding to earn enough to buy more stuff in game. If it has no effect, many may lose motivation to zwift more.
It’s called gamification. Many like myself keep riding to earn enough to buy more stuff in game. If it has no effect, many may lose motivation to zwift more.
Do you have to buy the gravel bike before the gravel wheels show up? I wanted to see how many drops are needed for the wheels before buying a gravel bike but none of them are in my shop.
You have to have a gravel bike equipped before gravel wheels will show as an option.
OK, thanks for the quick reply!
Since you said the name brand gravel wheels all perform the same, I bought the cheapest wheels (Enve) to go with the Crux frame. Thanks again for all the work you do for us!
Hi Eric, I’m planning to ride Outer Scotland in the TdZ 2025. Just wondering which is the best frame and wheelset to use. Sounds like the Crux is probably the best frame, but it’s not clear to me which wheels to use. There are now three Roval options. Which wheelset do you think is best for Outer Scotland?
You definitely don’t want the Crux, because this isn’t a dirt route! I’d go with a nice aero setup on Outer Scotland. https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-bikes-at-each-level/
Thanks, Eric!
I think I’ll go with my Specialized Venge S-Works and Swiss DT disc wheelset.
There’s a big difference in price (drops) between the 4 wheelsets. So you can go cheap (Reserve) and get the same performance as the Rovals?
Yes. See note at the very top of this post!