Speed Testing Zwift’s Big Wheels

Zwift has two “Big Wheel” bikes/trikes which are not available for purchase or unlock, but can be used in particular events where all riders are placed onto the same bike. We’ll call the first the “standard” Big Wheel, and the second, less-seen model the “Concept” Big Wheel since it’s modeled after the Zwift Concept Z1 (aka the “Tron bike”).

If you’ve never ridden in a Big Wheel event on Zwift, you’ve got to give it a try sometime. It’ll put a smile on your face, and the standing sprint animation is something to behold! Here’s a quick video to show you what the two Big Wheel models look like, including basic rider animations:

Because these Big Wheels don’t appear in the garage, we don’t know the aero or weight star rating for either of them. While experience told us these funny bikes aren’t terribly slow nor super speedy, we wanted to know exactly how they performed up against the universe of Zwift frames.

See our master list of all frames in Zwift >

So we ran them through our standard battery of tests. Here’s everything you need to know about the performance of Zwift’s Big Wheels!

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Standard vs Concept Big Wheel: What’s the Difference?

Zwift’s two Big Wheel models are very different visually, of course. The standard Big Wheel has that classic plastic trike styling, with a jaunty flag and wobbly rear wheels. The Concept Big Wheel is actually a bike (not a trike) and has a more radical, futuristic look, including Tron lights ahead and behind.

But there’s a key performance difference between the two as well: the Concept Big Wheel accepts wheelset upgrades, while the standard Big Wheel does not.

In our tests, upgrading the wheels on the Concept Big Wheel improved its performance in the same way upgraded wheels improve the performance of other road frames. Examples:

• Upgrading from the 32mm Zwift Carbon wheels to the DT Swiss ARC 62 Dicut Disc wheels shaves 1 minute off of our aero test time
• Upgrading from the 32mm Zwift Carbon wheels to Lightweight Meilensteins shaves 14 seconds off the Alpe climb time

Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance

Both Big Wheels performed identically in our aero test, but it should be noted that the Concept Big Wheel has the potential for greatly increased aero performance since its wheels can be upgraded.

Both turned in an aero test time of 51:42 on our test course, which is two laps of Tempus Fugit totaling 34.6km. This puts them 25 seconds behind the “fast four” (Cervelo S5 2020, Felt AR, Specialized Venge S-Works, Uranium Nuclear) and 17 seconds behind our “baseline” Zwift Aero frame.

The standard and Concept Big Wheels are, in fact, slower than almost all the road frames, coming in ahead of only the Zwift Atomic Cruiser and Zwift Buffalo Fahrrad.

Climb Performance

The standard Big Wheel is a bit slower than the Concept Big Wheel on our climb test, which is done up Alpe du Zwift. Of course, with upgraded climbing wheels on the Concept Big Wheel that performance gap could grow even larger.

The standard Big Wheel turns in an Alpe climb time of 50:04, which is 8 seconds slower than the Concept Big Wheel’s time of 49:56. The best climbing road frame in game – the Specialized Aethos – turns in a time of 48:50. So if you’re going for an Alpe PR, the Big Wheels probably aren’t going to be your go-to choice.

They are, in fact, right at the bottom of the road bike list in terms of performance. While the Big Wheels climb better than TT, Gravel, and MTB frames, every other road bike frame available in Zwift outclimbs the Big Wheels.

Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock 32mm carbon wheelset on the Concept Big Wheel.

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The Garage Hack

While testing the Big Wheels, we noticed that when you enter the garage and click to change, say, your rider’s jersey, the bike shown in the jersey preview is the road bike frame your rider was on before the event moved them onto the Big Wheel.

Looking a bit closer, you can see that, while in the garage/Drop Shop screens, the actual in-game avatar is swapped off of the Big Wheel and onto the rider’s original bike. Here’s what it looks like if you’re in an event riding a Big Wheel, and then you enter the garage screen:

This got us thinking: are the in-game bike characteristics changing while we’re in the garage screen? Does our bike frame and wheelset CDA and weight get changed from that of the Big Wheel to whatever road frame and wheels we were formerly on?

So we ran a test. And the results showed that yes, being in the garage screen does in fact revert your bike’s performance back to your previous setup instead of the Big Wheels’.

That means this qualifies as a hack. We’ll call it the “Riding In Your Garage In Your Garage” hack, since we’re indoor cyclists. Or maybe the “Garageception Hack”? It really wouldn’t be practical in a race, or fun in any ride, since your visibility is so poor. But it’s a hack nonetheless.

Conclusions

Zwift’s Big Wheels were created as “funny bikes” for use in occasional events. They certainly weren’t created to be fast rides used in races, and this is perfectly fine. Since you only see Big Wheels used in events where all riders are on the same bike (trike), performance is less of an issue.

Questions or Comments?

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