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Zwift Camp: Baseline “Red Zone Repeats” Sprint Test Walkthrough

Eric Schlange

-

September 18, 2025

Zwift Camp: Baseline “Red Zone Repeats” Sprint Test Walkthrough

Zwift Camp: Baseline is now underway, with several thousand Zwifters participating so far in this assessment-oriented training program.

I’m one of those Zwifters, and plan to share my experience in four posts – one for each workout in the program:

5-second power (Zone 6+)
1-minute power (Zone 6)
5-minute power (Zone 5)
20-minute power (Zone 4)

Red Zone Repeats

The first workout of Zwift Camp: Baseline is all about sprinting. It’s 40 minutes long and consists of a warmup punctuated by 5x 10-second primer efforts, followed by 3x maximal 10-second sprints, followed by a cooldown. In between the important bits you’ve got zone 1 and free riding blocks to keep your legs moving and give you time to ramp up your effort into a maximal sprint.

I did this first workout as a group ride, just to see what that experience was like and how Zwift had set up the events. (You can also do the workouts as an on-demand activity on your own, whenever you’d like.)

53 riders were in the event, and I was on my Cadex TT bike because I’m still working on upgrading it to its max level. I was surprised to see that the event didn’t have rubberbanding enabled like you typically see in group workouts, so the group sort of split apart, although people were still blobbed together for the most part thanks to the magic of drafting:

Since most of the ride is in ERG mode, you can’t really push harder to change your position in the group or bridge up to the next pack. Being on a TT right, my avatar didn’t draft, so for most of the ride I found myself on the front of a small group, pulling them along as we worked our way through the various intervals.

Overall, I found the workout to be pretty easy – which was a good thing, since my legs were tired from two hard rides the day before. (I can do a few maximal 10-second efforts on tired legs, but I definitely don’t want to do the 5 or 20-minute efforts later in this program unless my legs are fresh!)

One callout worth mentioning is that Zwift has put a 30-second free-ride block before each of the 10-second sprint blocks. This allows you to ramp up your speed and gearing so you can hit your sprint section in a high gear, ready to put out maximum power. (This is especially important for anyone using Zwift’s virtual shifting, since it reverts to gear 8 at the start of a free ride section, and you wouldn’t want to be working your way to the right gear during a short, 10-second sprint effort.)

For me, that meant shifting into gear 18 when doing out-of-the-saddle sprints, while gear 16 felt good for my one seated sprint attempt. Gearing is extremely important when sprinting, as you need to find just the right mix of torque and cadence to achieve maximum power!

Watch My Video

Results

I completed the Red Zone Repeats route during the cooldown portion of the workout, but it wasn’t until I clicked to end the ride that I was greeted with a few achievement banners:

I received an email from Zwift, subject line “Power Check Complete ✅”, as soon as the workout was finished. It included a link to my Zwift Camp Dashboard, which now looked like this:

The dashboard compares your power numbers in the Zwift Camp workouts to your 90-day best numbers. Zwift computed my best 5-second power in the workout as 1032W, which I’m happy with even though their critical power curve for the workout showed 1040W:

In fact, I set new power bests for 1-10 seconds for 2025 in this workout, according to my Strava power curve. I’ll take it!

Wrapping It Up

If you’re looking for a sprint workout, this really isn’t it. Sure, you get a few sprints in, but this is more of a sprint test. The training will come in future Zwift Camps, but for Baseline the goal is for riders to test and establish their power bests. To set baselines.

Overall, my experience with this first workout was fine, and I appreciate having quick access to my dashboard via the email link and Zwift Companion. There are a few things that would have made the workout itself a bit better, though. Here’s my list:

Show me my 5-second power after each sprint effort. Tell me how I’m doing, and give me something to shoot for.
Have my result match the critical power curve in the Ride Report screen.
Don’t drop me down to virtual gear 8 every. Single. Time. Just return me to whatever my last virtual gear was.
The power required at the start of the cooldown ramp should match the power I’m already doing. It always feels like a low blow when I’m spinning easy near the end of a workout, then the cooldown ramp kicks in and asks me to go harder. (For whatever reason, this is a common thing you see on Zwift workouts.)

Your Thoughts

Have you done this workout yet? How did it go for you? Share your experience below!

Zwift Racing League Points Race Explainer: How FAL, FTS, FIN, and PBP Are Calculated

Eric Schlange

-

September 17, 2025

6

Zwift Racing League Points Race Explainer: How FAL, FTS, FIN, and PBP Are Calculated

Zwift Racing League (ZRL) is the most popular race series on Zwift, with over 30,000 riders participating in each of the past two seasons! Many new riders join each round. Maybe that’s you?

If so, you may be confused by how Points Races work in ZRL. (Don’t feel bad, we all were when we started!) Here’s a complete answer.

Intermediate Segment Points (FAL and FTS)

Certain sprint and KOM sections on the course are designated as “intermediate” segments in ZRL points races. There are two ways to earn points on these intermediates: First-Across-the-Line (FAL) and Fastest-Through-Segment (FTS).

First-Across-the-Line (FAL)

FAL points are given to everyone who crosses the segment’s finish line each time that segment is attempted, with points based on the number of riders in the race and your position across the line. The first rider across the line gets points equal to the number of riders (eg, 60 riders=60 points) in the race. Using that 60-rider race example, 2nd would get 59 points, 3rd 58 points, etc.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	…	Last
FAL (per lap)	N	N-1	N-2	N-3	N-4	N-5	N-6	N-7	N-8	…	1

N=number of riders in the race

Fastest-Through Segment (FTS)

FTS points are given to the top 5 fastest times through a segment over the course of the entire race. If a segment is designated multiple times in a race, a single rider could potentially have multiple top-5 FTS times. For example (see table below) a rider who got 1st in FTS on the first lap and 4th on the next lap would earn 10 + 4 = 14 FTS points for the race. In a 5-lap race, a strong rider could (theoretically) grab all 5 FTS spots!

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
FTS (whole race)	10	8	6	4	2

Simply put, the highest FAL points go to whoever is at the front of the race on designated segments. FTS points, on the other hand, are given to the fastest times on given segments, and your overall position across the segment finish line is of no consequence.

Finish Line Points (FIN and PBP)

Along with intermediate segment points, riders earn points based on their position across the finish line. Known as FIN points in the world of ZRL, these are computed just like FAL points above:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	…	Last
FIN	N	N-1	N-2	N-3	N-4	N-5	N-6	N-7	N-8	…	1

Along with FIN points, additional Podium Bonus Points (PBP) are given to the top 5 finishers:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
PBP	10	8	6	4	2

Race Example

This week, A/B riders in ZRL are racing four laps of Makuri Islands’ Fine and Sandy route. This route has two intermediate segments which will be awarding both FTS and FAL points:

On the first Boardwalk Sprint, every rider earns FAL points. The first rider across the line earns points equal to the total number of riders in the race (60 riders means 1st place earns 60 points), 2nd rider across the line earns 59, all the way down to the last-placed rider earning just 1 point. Everyone earns FAL points each time they pass through the arch.

Additionally, on the first Boardwalk Sprint, the top 5 segment times are slotted into the leaderboard for FTS. If the race was to end right now, those 5 riders would each FTS points of 10 for 1st place, 8 for 2nd, down to 2 for 5th.

But the race isn’t over yet. We’ll be going through the Boardwalk Sprint three more times!

Riders will hit the Tidepool Sprint next, and it works just like the Boardwalk Sprint. (Intermediate segments are never related in any way, so whether there is just one intermediate or several, they all act independently, awarding FAL points each time through, and building a top-5 leaderboard across the duration of the event.)

On the next lap, FAL points work just like they did on the first lap. First rider across the line earns points equal to the total number of riders in the race, 2nd rider earns one point less, etc.

But FTS points are awarded to the 5 fastest times through the segment across the duration of the race. Think of it as a leaderboard, why whenever a rider sets a segment time faster than one currently on the leaderboard, that rider’s time gets added to the leaderboard, and the slowest time gets bumped so only the top 5 are ever listed.

On the second lap, a strong rider who set the fastest FTS time on the first lap might better their time and end up with the 1st and 2nd place listings on the invisible FTS leaderboard.

And so it continues, with each lap handing out a pile of FAL points, and new fast FTS times replacing slower ones on the top-5 leaderboard.

Eventually, riders will have finished all the intermediate segments, and only the finish line will be up the road. Riders will jostle for position, go all-in on the final sprint, and when the dust clears, FIN and PBP will be given to riders based on their position across the finish line.

The first rider across will earn FIN points equal to the number of riders in the race plus 10 PBP, the second rider will earn 1 less FIN point and 8 PBP, all the way down to the last-placed rider earning a single FIN point.

Best-Case Scenario

If you understand the explanation above, then you can understand how we get our Points Distribution charts, like this one for this week’s race:

Points Distributions, Fine and Sandy (4 Laps)

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in the race with 60 participants. No team will ever do this well, of course, but it lets you see, at a glance, the importance of segment points vs finishing points for a particular race. Here’s how we calculated the values for this particular chart:

If a team of 6 crossed the Boardwalk Sprint finish line in front of everyone else every lap, they would grab 60+59+58+57+56+55=345 points each lap, for a total of 4×345=1380 Sprint FAL points
If a team of 6 crossed the Tidepool Sprint finish line in front of everyone else every lap, they would grab 60+59+58+57+56+55=345 points each lap, for 4×345=1380 additional Sprint FAL points
If the team set all 5 top FTS times for the Boardwalk Sprint, they would earn 10+8+6+4+2=30 FTS points
If the team set all 5 top FTS times for the Tidepool Sprint, they would earn 10+8+6+4+2=30 additional FTS points
If that same team of 6 were the first across the finish line, they would earn 70+67+64+61+58+55=375 FIN+PBP points

That gives us these maximum points for a team of 6:

Sprint FAL Points: 2760
Sprint FTS Points: 60
KOM FAL Points: 0
KOM FTS Points: 0
FIN and PBP Points: 375

Segment Points Minutiae

Which Segments?

With the way WTRL sets up ZRL race routes, they don’t have to give segment points on every sprint or KOM segment on a route. They could designate certain segments as FAL only, FTS only, or as not giving points at all! That said, WTRL normally gives FAL and FTS points on all segments on the route, probably for simplicity’s sake.

Tracking FTS On Leaderboards

The leaderboards on the left side of your screen are a great way to see who grabbed FTS points, but that only works if your race has you going through a particular segment only one time. Because leaderboards only display each rider’s fastest time on the segment, in multi-lap races they probably won’t reflect the actual top 5 fastest times, since a single rider may have multiple top 5 fastest times.

I sure would love to see Zwift modify leaderboard functionality for points races, so we could see our team points totals in real time!

Seeing FTS and FAL Results on ZwiftPower

If you want to see who grabbed segment points after your race, head over to ZwiftPower, pull up your event, and then click on “Primes” at the top. Here you can toggle “First over line” and “Fastest time” to see FAL and FTS times, respectively.

Pro tip: you can actually look at these times mid-race. But you may want to leave that job to your DS!

Annulled Results and FAL

If a rider’s result is annulled (perhaps they don’t finish the race, or they get a DQ), any intermediate points they earned are effectively removed from the race. The annulled rider “keeps” those points – they are not passed on to the next-best rider. But they are also not included in the team total.

Your Thoughts

Watch for a followup post discussing strategic tips for maximizing your segment points.

Until then, if you have questions or segment point tips, share below!

Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: Fine and Sandy (Points Race)

Eric Schlange

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September 17, 2025

9

Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: Fine and Sandy (Points Race)

Table of Contents

The second race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 Round 1 happens Tuesday, September 23, and we’re in Makuri Islands for multiple laps of the Fine and Sandy route.

We’ve never raced this route in ZRL, and as a points race, it presents a strategic challenge. Do you go hard on the Mech Isle Climb and try to drop riders to improve your chance at points up the road? Or do you save your legs for the sprint segments? And what part will powerups play in your decisions?

Don’t understand how ZRL points races work? Read our explainer >

There’s much to discuss, including the route’s key sections, powerup details, strategic options, and bike choice. Let’s go!

Looking at the Route

Makuri Islands’ Fine and Sandy route is 10.6km long with 77m of elevation gain and 2 flat intermediate sprint segments per lap. We’ve never raced this route in ZRL, and A/B categories will be completing 4 laps (42.5km) while C/D categories will be racing 3 (32.9km).

Here are the key sections of the route from a points race perspective:

Mech Isle Climb (700 meters, 2.9%): This is the key feature on the route. It’s the only climb of any length, plus it’s dirt, plus you’ll hit it twice per lap! The first ~250 meters of this segment are quite flat, and it’s the final ~450 meters, averaging 4%, where the big efforts must happen.

One tip: push over the top to get yourself up to speed on the dirt descent, because gaps will open up and you can lose contact easily.

Boardwalk Sprint (240 meters @ 0%) FAL+FTS: this short sprint is pan flat and arrow-straight, so there aren’t many tips to offer apart from standard sprinting tips. Riders will be chasing FAL here, and if you want to compete, you’ll need to use your aero powerup just before crossing the start line. I recommend sitting in the draft for at least the first half, then using the draft to slingshot through the pack and across the line before anyone else.

Tidepool Sprint (310 meters @ 0%) FAL+FTS: another pan flat sprint, but this one is a bit longer and curvier than the Boardwalk. The same tips apply as above, although I would wait perhaps 5 seconds before popping my aero powerup.

The Finish: thanks to the twisty final kilometers, the finish line isn’t visible until ~140 meters to go, so you’ll want to watch your distance countdown and mind your pack position. Riders will begin sprinting well before the finish line is available, but it’s the rider with the perfect sense of timing (and perhaps a saved aero powerup) who will win on the day.

PowerUp Notes

Riders will receive one of two powerups at each arch, and there are two arches per lap, giving us a total of eight powerup possibilities (six for C/D categories). Here are details of the powerups, including the probability that you’ll receive each at an arch:

Aero Boost (75%): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.) If you’re chasing sprint points, this is the powerup for you.

Steamroller (25%): reduces Crr for 30 seconds so you roll as fast as a road tire on pavement regardless of wheels or road surface.
This is most effective when used on dirt, which means it will be helpful on the Mech Isle dirt corkscrew climb where the key selections will happen in most races.

You’ll want an aero powerup when contesting the intermediates, as well as for your final sprint to the finish line. The steamroller powerup will prove very helpful on the Mech Isle corkscrew climb, but it’s basically useless anywhere else.

Bike Recommendations

Riders will consider a handful of factors when selecting a bike frame and wheels for this race:

All of the race’s available points are on flat intermediate sprints or the flat finish. No KOM points.
The short Mech Isle climb will be a key selection point, and if you get dropped from the front, you’ve lost your chance to earn big intermediate points.
Which frame have you upgraded? (read more)

Some may ask: Do I need to pick a wheelset that performs well on the Mech Isle Climb, or a more aero wheelset to optimize for the sprints and finish?

Fortunately, the physics make it easy. We tested multiple top wheelsets, and even the Tron bike, on the Mech Isle Climb:

S-Works Tarmac SL8 with DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 85/Disc
S-Works Tarmac SL8 with DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 65
S-Works Tarmac SL8 with ENVE SES 4.5 PRO
S-Works Tarmac SL8 with ENVE SES 8.9
Zwift Concept Z1 (Tron)

At 5 W/kg, all these setups turned in the same time on the Strava segment: 1:25. Strava doesn’t do fractional seconds in times, but the consistency of those times tells us one thing: you can optimize your setup for the flat sprints without fear of losing time on the key climb!

So we’re recommending pairing the DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 85/Disc wheels – the most aero wheels in game – with any of the following frames:

S-Works Tarmac SL8
Pinarello Dogma F 2024
Canyon Aeroad 2024
Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
Zwift Concept Z1

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance, and check out Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level to determine the fastest setup available to you.

More Route Recons

Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.

(Coming soon)

Strategic Options

Points Distributions, Fine and Sandy

4 Laps (A/B)

3 Laps (C/D)

These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.

With FAL constituting the vast majority of each race’s total points, the message is clear: the winning team will be the one that puts the most riders near the front of the charging peloton at each sprint arch.

That means you’ll need to keep as many riders in the front group as possible, and those riders will need to contest the sprint segments as much as possible!

Here are some predictions of strategies we’ll see on Tuesday:

Sprint, Rest, Survive, Repeat: This will be the most common strategy. Rest between timed segments, sprint on the segments, and do the minimum required to stay in the front group over the Mech Isle climb. It’s the smartest approach, unless you have the legs to attack in a meaningful way. You’ll just need to decide which sprints you’re going all-in for, and which ones you’re conserving on.
Mech Isle Corkscrew Launch to Boardwalk Sprint: The Mech Isle climb ends ~1.4km before the Boardwalk Sprint arch. Could rider(s) attack on the climb and stay away to grab FAL points on the Boardwalk Sprint? We think so… especially if 2-3 riders work together.
Big Attacks On the Mech Isle Corkscrew: This punchy dirt climb will stretch out the pack and drop some riders, especially on the first and last attempts of the race. Be ready for near-max ~45-second efforts each lap!
Bigger Final Mech Isle Corkscrew Attack: Riders will save some juice for a final max effort up the key climb. Some who don’t trust their sprint may even try to go long, using the climb as a springboard… but these attempts are usually fatal.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!

Tiny Race Series – September 20 Routes – “The Grade” Expansion

Eric Schlange

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September 16, 2025

0

Tiny Race Series – September 20 Routes – “The Grade” Expansion

See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.

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Got a Great Zwift Video?

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All About Virtual Shifting in Zwift

Eric Schlange

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September 15, 2025

36

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All About Virtual Shifting in Zwift

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Virtual shifting is arguably the biggest innovation Zwift has brought to the indoor cycling scene in recent years.

What’s so great about it, how does it work, and what hardware is required? Let’s dive in…

Virtual Shifting Basics

Unless you ride a single-speed bike, you’re using physical gears to make your riding more enjoyable. You’ll typically shift to an easier (lower) gear when riding uphill so you aren’t grinding away, and you may shift to a higher gear on a descent so you don’t spin out.

With virtual shifting, your chain doesn’t move between different front chainrings or rear cassette cogs when you shift. Instead, when you make a virtual shift, the resistance of your smart trainer changes so it feels like you’ve changed gears.

Virtual Shifting Benefits

Why do Zwifters like virtual shifting? Because it beats mechanical shifting in many ways:

Smooth and quiet: with no chains skipping between cogs, your shifts are completely silent, perfectly smooth, and fast.
Reduced drivetrain wear: your chain won’t wear out as quickly, and neither will your chainrings or cassette, since you’re reducing the damaging stresses of shifting.
Shift under full load: no need to ease off the pedals when shifting under big power, as your chain isn’t going to “skip” with virtual shifting like it can with mechanical shifting.
Shift under zero load: have you ever stopped riding, especially on a climb, then found it really hard to get going again because you’re in the wrong gear? With virtual shifting, you can shift to an easier gear without pedaling.
Compatible across many bikes: no more spinning out on your low-geared mountain bike, or wanting to swap trainer cassettes when you swap bikes. Virtual shifting works with almost any 8-12 speed bike and auto-calibrates to your physical gearing (more on this below).
Expanded gear range: Zwift’s virtual shifting currently supports a virtual 24-speed setup, which is more gears than most riders have on their outdoor setups. Additionally, the gear ratio range is very wide (from .75 to 5.49), meaning virtual shifting offers more high and low gears than your mechanical setup.
In-game visualization: with Zwift’s virtual shifting, you can always see what gear you’re in on screen.
No more fine-tuning: many riders have to adjust their physical shifting when moving between outdoor and indoor riding, since the cassette on their trainer isn’t positioned exactly like the cassette on their rear wheel. If you’re using the Zwift Cog (see below) you don’t need to do any such fine-tuning… just shift to a physical gear that has your chain lined up straight on the Cog and you’re ready to ride.

In-Game Usage and Settings

Watch a quick video showing how Zwift’s virtual shifting works in game using the Play or Click controllers:

This video is a bit outdated here in 2025, but it gives you a basic idea of how virtual shifting works in game, so we’ve included it here…

Virtual Shifting Hardware: Smart Trainers

Thanks to the popularity of Zwift’s virtual shifting, basically all new trainer models since 2024 have supported it, and some companies have updated firmware for older trainers to roll out virtual shifting support.

Currently, the following smart trainer models support virtual shifting:

Note: you must connect your trainer via Bluetooth, WiFi, or a direct ethernet connection in order to use Zwift’s virtual shifting. It is not supported over ANT+.

Virtual Shifting Hardware: Play vs Ride vs Click

Interested in getting virtual shifting, but aren’t sure if you should buy the affordable Click v2, get a whole Zwift Ride Smart Bike, or something else? Here’s a rundown of features and specs for all the virtual shifting hardware Zwift has ever made:

	Play	Ride	Click	Click v2
Virtual Shifting	✅	✅	✅	✅
Steering	✅	✅	❌	✅
Braking	✅	✅	❌	❌
Powerup Trigger	✅	✅	❌	✅
Ride On Bomb button	✅	✅	❌	✅
Game Navigation buttons	✅	✅	❌	✅
Drop bar compatible	✅	✅	✅	✅
Flat bar compatible	❌	n/a	✅	✅
TT bar compatible	❌	n/a	✅	✅
Sequential Shifting	✅	✅	✅	✅
SRAM-Style Shifting	✅	✅	✅	✅
Shimano-Style Shifting	❌	✅	❌	❌
Cog Included	❌	✅	✅	✅
Power Source	USB Rechargeable	USB Rechargeable	Coin cell (CR2032)	Coin cell (CR2032)
Battery Life	~20 hours	~20 hours	>100 hours	>100 hours
BLE Connections*	2	1	1	1
Price	Discontinued	$1300 (frame + trainer) or $800 (frame only)	Discontinued	$50US

*If you’re an Apple TV user, it’s worth noting that the Click and Ride controllers use just one Bluetooth connection, while Play requires two. Apple TV limits users to two Bluetooth connections, which means Play users on Apple TV must pair all devices through the Companion app (since you must also connect your smart trainer, which would make three connections if you add Play into the mix). The only way around this is via a smart trainer that can connect using WiFi (read more).

But if you use Click or Ride, you may still be able to pair directly through Apple TV, as long as you aren’t pairing a heart rate monitor as a separate device.

Virtual Shifting Hardware: Zwift Cog

First released in October 2023, the Zwift Cog is a single-cog replacement for a standard rear cassette. It was initially sold with the Zwift Hub One smart trainer, and the latest version is now sold with various trainers, the Zwift Ride, and as a package with the Click v2.

While you’ll need virtual shifting to use the Cog, you definitely do not need to have the Cog in order to use virtual shifting! Virtual shifting works just fine on a standard bike drivetrain with multiple front chainrings and a standard rear cassette.

The Cog was created by Zwift to simplify setups, as it eliminates the need to adjust your trainer’s cassette or fine-tune your bike’s shifting when placing your bike on the trainer. Just shift to a gear where your chain is lined up nicely on the Cog, and you’re ready to go!

If you have a trainer that supports virtual shifting, you can buy the Zwift Cog + Click Upgrade Kit ($49.99 US) and get the easy compatibility of the Cog with the simple shifting of the Click.

Gearing Details

By default, Zwift gives you 24 virtual gears ranging from a gear ratio of 0.75 to 5.49:

Gear	Ratio
1	0.75
2	0.87
3	0.99
4	1.11
5	1.23
6	1.38
7	1.53
8	1.68
9	1.86
10	2.04
11	2.22
12	2.40

Gear	Ratio
13	2.61
14	2.82
15	3.03
16	3.24
17	3.49
18	3.74
19	3.99
20	4.24
21	4.54
22	4.84
23	5.14
24	5.49

This is more than enough gears for any rider. By comparison, typical mid-compact road bike gearing with an 11-28 cassette offers a much narrower range of gear ratios (1.29 to 4.73), and some of those gears will overlap. In fact, using bike gear calculators, we can see that you’d have to run 30t and 60t chainrings paired with an 11-40 cassette to match the gear ratio range of Zwift’s virtual shifting!

Because Zwift’s virtual gears don’t overlap, the gear ratios can be spaced so the resistance change between each gear is never very large. For us, it feels just right.

Customizing Your Shifting

If you’d like your shifting to better mimic mechanical shifting on your IRL bike, there are shift style options available:

Under Settings>Hardware, there are two settings to modify your virtual shifting experience:

Shift Style: choose how your shifting buttons behave. Options are Sequential, Shimano Style A, Shimano Style B, and SRAM Style. (Shimano styles are only available for Zwift Ride users, since you need two shift buttons on each controller.)
Gear Range: change the gearing range of your virtual shifting. Options are Mixed Terrain (1×24), Flat (53/39, 10-28), All-Arounder (43-35, 10-33), and Climbing (43/30, 10-36).

You can also completely disable virtual shifting from this same settings screen.

Virtual Gearing Meets Physical Bikes

One of the beautiful things about virtual shifting is that it works with whatever physical gearing your bike has. Are you on a road bike with a wide range of gears? A mountain bike with a lower gear range? A city bike with a limited gear range? No matter. If you have virtual shifting enabled, Zwift automatically detects your physical gearing in the first few seconds of pedaling after you enter the game. It then sets up your virtual gearing to match the table above, using whatever physical gear you are currently in.

Because of this, you’ll want to be in the right physical gear before you start riding in game. Which gear should you be in? Zwift recommends the small ring in front, and a lower gear on your cassette (perhaps 3rd or 4th) which gives you a decently straight chain line.

(Of course, if you have the single-cog Zwift Cog, you don’t need to worry about which gear you’re in on the back.)

Personally, we prefer the inertial feel of the big ring in front, and 4th gear or thereabouts on the cassette. This feels more like riding on flat ground – where you don’t have to push across the top and bottom of the pedal stroke – vs climbing in the small ring. And it puts less of a strain on your trainer.

Try different physical gears and see which feels best to you. If you want to force Zwift to re-detect your physical gearing and thus recompute the feel of virtual shifting, you’ll need to do one of the following:

Disconnect and reconnect your trainer
Power cycle your trainer
Restart the Zwift game

Questions or Comments?

Are you using Zwift’s virtual shifting? What do you think of it? Got questions? Share below!

New Zwift Click v2 Controllers // All The Details!

Shane Miller, GPLama, shares everything you need to know about the updated Zwift Cog and Click. (Also, check out his video covering everything announced in the TSOZ press release.)

Zwift Fall 2025 Update: AI, New Maps, and New Zwift Click Controllers

Tariq from Smart Bike Trainers shares the details on everything coming to Zwift this fall.

What’s New in Zwift Racing League 2025/26? Complete Guide + Updates

As part of the press release, Zwift shared a schedule of notable upcoming events which included their flagship Zwift Racing League. Chad Rides shares all the details on the new season of ZRL.

Zwift Click V2 In-Depth Review: How Is This Just $49?

Hear from Ray, aka, DCRainmaker, as he shares an in-depth review of the new Zwift Click.

The best cycling investment for the winter? Zwift Ride Review

While not directly related to the This Season on Zwift press release, I thought it would be good to feature this review of the Zwift Ride. As many of you are gearing up for the upcoming Zwift season, you may be considering upgrading your Zwift setup. Hear from Ryan Condon as he shares his thoughts on the Zwift Ride (which just this week received a trainer upgrade!)

Got a Great Zwift Video?

Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!

Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of September 13-14

Events

Eric Schlange

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September 12, 2025

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Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of September 13-14

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This weekend’s big event is the Rapha Women’s 100, and there are lots of events from Zwift, as well as community members, to help riders reach that 100km mark to celebrate women’s cycling. See below for more on these rides, plus other special events this weekend!

🤝 Rapha Women’s 100

✅ Ladies Only 　✅ Popular 　✅ Kit Unlock

The Rapha Women’s 100 challenges riders around the world to come together, share the road, and ride 100 kilometers to celebrate women’s cycling. And it’s happening this weekend!

Zwift is holding a series of ladies-only events, rotating between The Big Ring and Volcano Circuit, scheduled every two hours. Finishers will unlock the limited edition Rapha Women’s 100 + Kelly Anna jersey in your Zwift garage. (Note: Zwift’s events description says, “Anyone who completes the W100—whether indoors on Zwift or out on the road—will unlock the jersey in-game.” I assume you’ll need to have your Garmin, Wahoo, or Hammerhead account linked to Zwift for this to happen…)

Timeslots every 2 hours this weekend
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/raphawomens100

🥇 Zwift Racing League Recon Rides – Southern Coast Cruise TTT

✅ Race Recon 　✅ New Route

The first race of ZRL Round 1 happens this Tuesday, and lots of riders are jumping into recon rides this weekend since we’re racing a TTT on a brand-new route! Southern Coast Cruise is 26.3km long with 147m of elevation gain, covering a significant chunk of Watopia’s Southern Coast road in both directions.

A particular racing team hosts each recon event, and you’ll get some racing tips along with a tour of the route.

Multiple timeslots Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon

🤝 Team CLS Base ‘n’ Banter

✅ Birthdays 　✅ Women’s 100 　✅ Banter

This weekly endurance ride is led by experienced leaders and sweepers who “will keep you entertained throughout, and they will mix things up each week.” This week is extra special, as a few team members are celebrating birthdays, plus they’ve tied the event into the Rapha Women’s 100 by making it 101km long!

2.5-2.7 W/kg pace on the flats, on Watopia’s Tick Tock route.

Saturday, September 13 @ 7:50am UTC/3:50am ET/12:50am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5103277

🥇 CRYO-GEN Sunday Endurance Ride (C or D)

✅ Unique Event 　✅ Structured Workout

This unique event is an endurance ride, but uses an ERG workout so your trainer automatically adjusts resistance so you hit your power targets.

Choose the C group to hit the prescribed power targets, or the D group for a workout where the targets are reduced by 5-10%.

Sunday, September 14 @ 10am UTC/6am ET/3am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5104178

🥇 Tiny Races Return to 5 Categories

✅ 5 Cats 　✅ V02 Workout 　✅ Popular Race

I’ve been running the Tinies as a 3-category race for several weeks, but this Saturday we return to a 5-category setup, since participation numbers are climbing. Hop in and join hundreds of others racing for the most fun and challenging VO2 workout on Zwift!

Read all about Tiny Races >

Saturday in three different timeslots
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces

How We Make Our Picks

We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:

Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
Is it for a good cause?
Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?

In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!

Zwift Insider 2025 Kit Now Available from Verge Sport

Eric Schlange

-

September 11, 2025

12

Zwift Insider 2025 Kit Now Available from Verge Sport

Two years ago, we collaborated with Verge Sport to develop the most advanced indoor cycling kit on the market (read more).

Since that time, numerous Zwift teams have created their own indoor kits with Verge, printing their custom designs on the Pain Cave jersey and bib shorts. With hundreds of riders putting the kit through its paces across countless hard indoor sessions, the original design has proven itself. But perfection is an endless pursuit, so the original Pain Cave kit has become Pain Cave 2.0 due to three modifications:

Jersey switched from bonded to stitched sleeve ends for durability
Bib straps upgraded for better breathability
Bib lycra on front (below belly button) raised a bit for more compression

Today, we’ve re-opened our Team Store, allowing Zwift Insider fans to purchase our custom kit. All orders from our store are custom-made on demand using Verge’s innovative manufacturing methods, which means you’ll receive your kit within 3-4 weeks of ordering, and you can place your order whenever you’d like.

Shop Now >

A quote from Nathan Guerra after testing the original Pain Cave kit: “The first time I rode in this Verge kit, I rode I think for almost 8 hours. And I was like… ok… didn’t even notice it was there. Definitely had no problems. Eight hours of riding indoors can cause problems, I don’t know if anyone’s noticed…”

Here’s a gallery showing images of the original Zwift Insider Pain Cave kit, so you can get an idea how it looks in real life. (To read the full story on the development of the kit, as well as a review, visit Review: Pain Cave Indoor Cycling Kit from Verge Sport.)

The Zwift Insider kit from Verge Sport matches Zwift Insider’s in-game kit, including the “Ride Smarter / Rider Harder” text on the legs:

Our team store includes the indoor “Pain Cave 2.0” version of our kit, as well as an outdoor-friendly “Strike” jersey+bibs and base layers, all in men’s and women’s versions. And new this year, we’ve got Zwift Insider aero socks!

Shop Now >

Questions or Comments?

Share below!

Tiny Race Series – September 13 Routes – Jarvis Returns

Eric Schlange

-

September 11, 2025

0

Tiny Race Series – September 13 Routes – Jarvis Returns

See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.

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🤝 Rapha Women’s 100

🥇 Zwift Racing League Recon Rides – Southern Coast Cruise TTT

🤝 Team CLS Base ‘n’ Banter

🥇 CRYO-GEN Sunday Endurance Ride (C or D)

🥇 Tiny Races Return to 5 Categories

How We Make Our Picks

Zwift Insider 2025 Kit Now Available from Verge Sport

Questions or Comments?

Tiny Race Series – September 13 Routes – Jarvis Returns

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