Zwift’s recent update to version 1.0.36387 included a modification to the aero helmet powerUp which reduces its length from 30 seconds to 15 seconds.

Learn more about Zwift PowerUps here >

This is big news for racers who choose events which include powerUps, as the duration of this powerful powerUp greatly determines when you trigger it in a final sprint.

Zwift’s Jordan Rapp shared this on the Zwift Racers Facebook group:

Hi all, so nestled in with the *BIG* update of the new Giro course was a small change that we made in response to a lot of collected feedback about what I heard to referred to by at least one user as “The Tyranny of the Aero Power-Up.”

I heard directly from many of the riders in the KISS Super League that they felt, “if you don’t have an Aero, you can’t win…” And that really didn’t seem right. So, along with the prior change of making it so you can’t carry power ups into the paddock (to prevent people feeling like they NEEDED to “farm” an Aero power up), in this latest release, we also have shortened the duration of the Aero power-up from 30sec down to 15sec (same as the Feather).

This is just a trial. We’re hoping it makes the racing more fun and that not getting an aero power-up will be less critical. Power-ups are an area where we’re putting a lot of focus in the next couple months, so look for more stuff coming down the power-up pipeline… But for now, hopefully those of you that may have turned power-ups off for this reason might turn them back on. And those that have kept them on will hopefully feel they are a bit more balanced…

Feedback, as always, is welcome. Thanks!

I welcome the change, as the aero helmet was too powerful, essentially deciding who would win or lose in a group sprint. So it’s good to see Zwift modifying the powerUp setup, including creating an event setting (used in stage 2 of the Tour of Watopia) which only awards certain powerUps at arches.

Hopefully, we’ll see even more improvements to the powerUp setup, and perhaps even some new powerUps?

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the change? Do you wish all powerUps would go away? Did you like them just how they were? Or do you think this is a nice change?