Zwift has rolled out a new cycling mission for the month of May, and it all revolves around CeramicSpeed’s ultra-efficient oversized pulley wheel (OSPW) system. The most exciting part of this mission, for many Zwifters, is the fact that the virtual OSPW now available in game makes our bikes faster! But only for the month of May. Read on for details…
Signing Up
Signup is easy – click “Let’s Do This” in the CeramicSpeed Mission box at the top-left of the Zwift startup screen. Agree to the terms, then start riding!
OSPW Is Live
Once you’ve signed up for the mission, your bike will automatically be equipped with the OSPW system. You’ll keep the OSPW system for the month of May. Why does this matter? Because it makes you faster! (Read on for details!)
Finishing the Mission
To finish the mission, you have to ride a certain distance on three different types of bike by the end of May. Here are the distances:
- 40 km // 25 mi on a Mountain bike: the Jungle Circuit is the best place to ride a MTB
- 80 km // 50mi on a Time Trial bike: Tempus Fugit is the best TT route on Zwift, but of course you can ride a TT frame anywhere!
- 120 km // 75mi on a Road bike
All riding in Zwift counts toward this mission: free rides, events, workouts, etc.
The mission box will show your progress each time you sign onto Zwift.
Unlocks
Completing the mission will unlock the CeramicSpeed kit, and qualify you for one entry into the prize drawing.
Prize Drawing
One man and one woman will be drawn from the list of Zwifters who completed this mission. These two winners will receive a CeramicSpeed OSPW System. Approximate retail value $499USD each.
How Fast Is It?
According to one CeramicSpeed product page, “The overall power savings of the OSPW System for Shimano 9100/9150 /8000 reach 30%-60%, or more in some cases, over a stock setup.” Elsewhere they say “With all other factors equal, a sportive rider equipped with CeramicSpeed OSPW System will ride their 100km event 24 seconds faster than a standard setup.” (This is based on a tested watt savings of 2.4 watts compared to a stock Dura-Ace 9000 system.)
Zwift has tweaked their algorithms so riders with the in-game OSPW get a speed boost as well. How much of a boost? It’s actually close to CeramicSpeed’s 24 seconds over 100 km figure. We tested it:
- Flat test (34.6 km, 2 laps of Tempus Fugit): OSPW rider’s time was 11 seconds faster over ~50 minutes.
- Our test rider would travel 150 meters further in an hour on flat ground using the OSPW (all other things being equal).
- This was at 300 watts with a 75kg, 183cm rider on the most aerodynamic draftable bike setup currently available: a Specialized S-Works Venge with Zipp 858/Super9 wheels.
- Climb test (up Alpe du Zwift): the OSPW rider’s time was 23 seconds faster over ~48 minutes.
- Our test rider would travel 120 meters further in an hour up the Alpe using the OSPW (all other things being equal).
- This was at 300 watts with a 75kg, 183cm rider on the fastest climbing setup currently available: a Specialized Tarmac Pro with Meilenstein Lightweight wheels.
Because the OSPW saves watts, the speed percentage improvement on climbs is greater than flats. And those are significant time gaps when compared with the improvements we see from upgrading our virtual frames and wheelsets.
Racers: you’ll want to be sure to sign up for this mission so you aren’t at a disadvantage compared to riders who are using the OSPW system during the month of May!
What about the Tron Bike?
To answer the question before it’s asked: the Tron bike doesn’t have a rear derailleur in game, but you’ll get the speed advantage of the OSPW anyway while using the Tron bike and participating in the CeramicSpeed mission.
Learn more about this mission on Zwift’s CeramicSpeed Mission homepage >
Does this mission conflict with the Everest Challenge, aka my quest for the Tron Bike. Can I do both?
You can do both. Ones a Challenge, the other is a (Monthly) Mission
Thanks.
Is a gravel considered a road bike ?
Wouldn’t use a gravel, they’re not better than any of the other bikes for any of the routes
Well, if you only go for the distance, riding Tempus Fugit would reach the goal faster than riding the Jungle as the average speed is higher on Tempus than in the Jungle. And on Tempus Fugit the gravel bike is faster than the MTB. So in fact this is a very good question.
You’re possibly absolutely right on this. I did not think about the Gravel vs MTB on a paved course, was only thinking of the Jungle Loop.
I would go out on a limb and guess that the gravel bikes are not considered “mtb” and would not count towards the MTB portion.
Will give one a shot today on Tempus and see where my KMs/Miles get applied to (hopefully one of them, and not neither).
So do we keep the unlock after the end of May?
I had this doubt too
We keep the kit. But not the OSPW. #sad
Unless you are 1 of 2 Lucky winners!
Not really worth the effort if we don’t get to keep it after May. Another kit I will never wear.
so what’s the point if i only have cs speed in less 1month?
This would make for a great next long-term challenge. Have people do a lot of miles to unlock this set-up.
Totally agree!
I’m sure people would ride a bunch of miles/km’s to unlock it,or climb or even something like this mission is (do a lot of miles/km’s on a few different bikes) to be able to unlock this for good.
There hasn’t be a new challenge for several years and most people who have been around since 2016 have finished all three (Everest, California and Italy) unless they haven’t ridden much. So maybe?
that’s what I’m saying. Make it the new challenge. I’ll hammer away the miles and elevation for the opportunity to get the full setup
This now means zwift is the only place where a ceramic speed OSPW will actually make a difference
It increases your w/kg by lightening your wallet hahahaha
I don’t think this system will be added to Tron bike as you said on your post. On the mission page it’s stated that ;
Sign up for the mission and the watt-saving pulley system will be added to your bike (except Concept Z1 & single speed frames)
All I know is I tested it and the speed advantage was there. It’s not visually there, but the speed difference is applied. Maybe that’s all the terms are saying?
I’ve logged 30km on the Tron bike and it counted for Road Bike miles in the OSPW challenge.
I signed up for the challenge and haven’t been riding the Tron bike but don’t have the OSPW wheels and they aren’t in my garage. Did you need to complete the miles to get the wheels? My app is up to date too.
OSPW is your rear derailleur, not the wheels on your bike. If you’ve signed up for the mission, then your bike has the OSPW installed.
Awesome info, thanks Eric! Gotta say I’m a bit miffed they offer the virtual OSPW then take it away. That doesn’t sit right with me. They must know Zwifters love playing around with wheels/frames to optimize speed setups, that’s so much fun of the game. Then you give us something that makes a concrete speed difference… then it’s gone? Odd. Kinda makes me NOT want to be an OSPW in real life. Just my 2 cents
I kinda told HQ the same thing. People will want to keep it! Maybe make it available in the Drop Shop after the Mission?
I’m sure they have their reasons…
They want you to go out and buy a real one to put on zwift bike 🙂
So am I cheating if I actually buy one and have 2 on at the same time this month? LOL 😉
If they put the CeramicSpeeds in the dropshop, imagine the other manufacturers coming to them with a bunch of little parts that can be added too. Would be a nightmare to manage, and overwhelming for most users (I think).
Heck, it’s complicated enough buying bikes/wheels as is (for different scenarios).
I don’t think they want Zwift to become a Forza
Actually it makes perfect sense that they would take it away at the end of May. If you join Zwift as a new user on 1st June, you are put at a permanent and unbridgable disadvantage against other riders of the same ability and riding the exact same equipment.
$499 for two jockey wheels and a strip of aluminium. And people say roadies are mugs.
Wouldn’t put on a bike that costs less than $5000 or even $10000…
By the way anyone hear of a 🚴 bicycle 🚴 stimulus plan?
So the unlock is just another shirt that I don’t need. Not much of an incentive. Now, if I got to keep the derailleur in my garage that would be different!
you do get a badge for the achievement so there’s that
If you collect enough shirts…years later you can send them off to have a quilt made…(just look in the back of any cycle or triathlon magazine)
I did 22km on the MTB last night on the jungle circuit but it hasn’t registered. Anyone else had this issue?
I love Zwift, but these missions are excessively buggy. Last month on Parlee mission some rides registered, some didn´t. Now a totally new bug. Did a 32km ride today on a road bike, and the mission registered only 2km.
BTW, fantastic work as always Eric! Congrats!!!
I have also carried out 2 rides, 1st on MTB fro 40km and 2nd 60km on TT bike neither of these have registered in my progress bar, the bikes even had the OSPW on them so really frustrated they have not registered.
I had the same issue but my road bike rides were counted after changing nothing. Im wondering if you need to do it in order, road then TT then mtb. It says remember to switch frames when you’ve hit the goal, so maybe they intend for it to be one at a time. Would be stupid but that’s my theory right now. Going to test it by doing a short tt ride and seeing if it’s counted.
Same here, 40k on MTB and 95k road bike both not showing
Yes! I had to uninstall my latest apple TV and iPhone companion updates and reinstall before this mornings ride to start getting credit.
I find the impact of these changes rather unclear (from Zwift’ side that is, you’re doing great in providing insights in how this affects Zwifting). I was already concerned that this change would affect racing, which in my opinion is undesirable. I’d rather see this bonus disabled in racing events and limited to free riding and group events. I’m not interested in enabling this mission as I won’t be doing the TT and MTB kms to complete it anyhow – it just feels silly to me to accept it just for a bonus or to have some sort of fair chance in racing.
– Can you work out if you’re getting free speed from the same Watts, or gaining a Watts bonus? The second option could get you disqualified and/or upgraded in Zwiftpower.
– Is the bonus effect comparable between light to heavy riders and A to D-cat riders or is the balance thrown off for the month of May even when the mission is enabled?
Zwift isn’t recording extra watts when you have the OSPW, so I wouldn’t call it a watts bonus. I’m not sure how Zwift tweaked their physics to make it work, but it really seems to behave as the OSPW does – by increasing drivetrain efficiency.
I haven’t tested it yet, but I remember HQ telling me the benefit was a “consistent” one, which I took to mean a certain # of watts saved, regardless of the rider. In that case, it’s a bigger bonus (in terms of % boost) for weaker riders than stronger ones. But again–haven’t tested this.
Thanks. I suppose the mission statement ‘throwing more watts your way’ set me on the wrong foot.
To the non-technical person it’s a watts bonus in that the cyclist puts “more” watts to the road in order to move faster, but the OSPW reduces the power loss in the virtual drivetrain just like aero frames reduce the power loss to aerodynamic drag.
I did my 40km of MTB riding in the desert. Averaged 35km/h for 190W at 61kg. My best Jungle Circuit lap on a MTB was 36.6km/h for 273W (during the Mitchelton-Scott ride).
If you have to go to the Jungle, go on a MTB, but I think if you have to be on a MTB, go to the desert (and I think the ZwiftInsider speed tests confirm that).
https://zwiftinsider.com/mountain-bike-results/
Using your data and verified Strava segments, I got these numbers for my Scott Spark RC.
2 laps of Tempus Fugit: 3,335 seconds to cover 34,580 meters = 37.327736131934km/h
1 lap of Jungle Circuit: 832 seconds to cover 7,880 meters = 34.0961538461538km/h
Jumanji was right. Nothing good comes from going into the Jungle.
Jungle does have some climbing if you are still working on Tron bike though, that’s the only positive there
I enjoyed the Jumanji reference!
Apparently, the Buffalo bike doesn’t count toward any of the categories in this mission. Did 50km this morning, no progress. Thought it might count as a road bike.
If you are on apple TV (or any platform really) make sure your game client is up to date.
Why are the speed test always done at 300watts? Most riders aren’t capable of averaging 4w/kg for an hour.
Two reasons:
1) it makes the tests faster and
2) racers seem most concerned with the tests, and many racers can do 4w/kg
It would be cool to run a test with e.g. 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 just to have a baseline of multipliers that folks can refer to for their own level—or to establish that the watts don’t line up as expected.
That’s a heck of a lot of time spent testing. And with all of the different bike/wheel combinations, flat and hilly courses.
Already done plenty of those tests, eeppansson. Which is why we don’t do them anymore… because we decided they aren’t worth doing. You can see numbers here though: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_dvNbBEKAztJwjX-2CDdWmVSR4jP92o-eiNCB7hl5IY/edit#gid=0
“Cool” ? it’s totally unecessary and not a good use of Eric’s time (I’m sure he agrees. The 300W number sits in the middle of the range between the fastest racers and the slowest casual cyclists. You can extrapolate the results. If you are slower/under 300 watts, the differences will be less. if you are fast/above watts, your differences will be greater.
However, if you still think it would be ‘cool’ to do that must testing at such a variety of watts, please feel free to do that work and send it to Eric. I believe he has a link over on the right side of this page where people can contribute articles. I’m sure he (and the rest of us) would think that is really ‘cool’.
how did you switch bikes to ride the different legs?
Go to Menu>Garage
If I switch bicycle types ‘in game’ (road to MTB, for example), does Zwift apply the respective mileage accumulated on each bicycle type toward the CeramicSpeed Mission? I’ve done this twice (road to MTB), and I’m not convinced I’m seeing MTB miles accumulated toward the mission goal. Is there a delay for Zwift to sort this out and apply miles? Thanks.
Reading all the other comments I see I am not alone on being disappointed on not being able to keep the jockey wheels… Not sure if I am going to do the challenge or not quite yet.
The mileage credit only works in free rides or CeramicSpeed events–as Shane Miller points out in the details of the mission. I did a meetup yesterday and got no mileage credit for this mission.
Worked for me in workout mode.
Did a meetup today on the Safety bike,distance went into the mission allright (meetup allows collecting and safety bike counts towards road distance)
I got miles during a race and a free ride today
Yeah apparently Lama man made some assumptions without testing since I got credit for doing the AsC group ride yesterday afternoon…
Does the trim bike count towards the road bike miles?
Mileage credit works for all event types. I’ve gotten credit for free rides, workouts, races, events… it’s all good.
FWIW, while the terms state that the Tron bike is excluded from the challenge, my ride on it counted towards the 120km road bike requirements.
I think the terms mean that the CeramicSpeeds aren’t added to the Tron/Concept bike (as there’s no where to put it on that bike).
Still counts towards mileage though
Hmm, I’m wondering if I could compete this during my vEveresting on May 7th. Looks to be do-able with the distance required?
I’ve just done the maths and if I do 10,000m then it can be done! Sounds like fun 🙂
How about for grand prize winner , a man and woman from each country. I’m sure you guys can afford this. Come on, 1 set for how riders participating in this mission 5000 +
Way to look a gift horse in the mouth.
There would then be a spike in users from Antarctica!
So if I’m not interpreting all the data incorrectly, (and I looked at everything I could find) completing the challenge doesn’t do anything to effect having the virtual OSPW on your chosen rig for the Month, but just gets you the kit and enters you in the contest to win a real one. Am I right?
I’m actually not sure, since I haven’t completed the Mission yet! It’s possible the OSPW gets removed once you complete the Mission. But that would be bummer. Hopefully you keep it for the month regardless of completion progress.
can I switch bikes in one ride to complete the mission?
Yes. You just have to keep track of the number of km yourself since you can’t see the mission screen from within the game once you click “Ride”
Can you please clarify where the kms/miles count? ie group workouts, free rides etc. I did a group ride yesterday and it didn’t seem to count?
I did two free rides today and my miles didn’t get applied to the mission. I’m signed up, and my in-game bike had the OSPW when I signed on today (and a square cassette lol, another bug?), but no miles. Seems like there’s a bug w/the mission.
I think so!
As noted above, I had to reinstall app on apple TV and iPhone companion.
I also haven’t received any credit for my rides so far.
My ride today counted towards the mission, so the issue seems to have fixed itself in my case. Luckily the routes that didn’t get counted on Sunday were short, so I think I’ll make up for them in 4 weeks.
Hi. I might be a bit stupid here but how do you “add their Oversize Pulley Wheel (OSPW) system to your bike” ??
I cannot see it in my garage or in the Drop Shop.
Does it add it automatically after you have signed up for the mission ?
P.S. Thanks for the great work and the fantastic website
Once accepted, for the month of May you automatically have a “Magic” OSPW added to your bike (no need to go to drop shop…It won’t be there…at least not unless Zwift makes an update to include in the future)
Will need it to win any races for the month of May!
Thanks Joel
Save 24 seconds over a 100km course. Can’t say that I would notice or care either in Zwift or IRL.
You may not. But many do! Different strokes for different folks.
Is the Jungle loop really the best route for a MTB (not to be confused with a MTB is the best bike for Jungle Loop)?
Would I not cover more ground quicker, if I rode the MTB on Tempus instead?
Yes!
When I ride mtb elsewhere other than jungle loop, I could not get the Mtb miles to increment
Signed up for the mission on saturday and rode the mtb yesterday and the TT today, none have been considered under the challenge numbers. Happened to anyone else?
It doesn’t seem like all rides count towards this. I did some races and nothing counted until I did a free ride.
Has this been everyones experience?
Yes. Happened to me – rode time trial bike today and miles are not reflected. Seems that there is some sort of bug.
Ride miles got reset, is this a Zwift software issue or what?
Another ride today not appearing in the mission miles.
Does riding a race conflict with this mission? I rode the Tour for All in a TT bike today and the miles did not count towards the mission.
Same happened to my yesterday on my road bike
I started this mission today. Road 12 miles on the Zwift Aero on the TickTock route. The miles did not count for the road section….any reason why?
Are you sure about the credit of all kinds of events? Yesterday I made the TFA long race and didn’t get any of those km in the mission. I did get my km for the warm up and cool down
Yes. Make sure you’re running the latest version of Zwift. That’s all I can tell ya!
I did the 3 activities on the same device. First the warm up, then the race and finally the cool down, only the first and last (17km in total) was taken in the mission 🙁 Anyways there’s plenty of time to get those km’s yet. So I just wanted to be sure.
First of i love your reviews makes for good info and a good read.
Now to my mini bitch, this is the second mission in a row where miles are not counting for me, it is just annoying. It doesn’t really change my riding other then maybe making me go an extra mile at the end of rides just to get numbers up.
Do i have to uninstall and then reinstall every time i ride if i want them to count. Using an ipad not apple TV.
Make sure you’re running the latest version of Zwift – that’s the only advice I can give ya, other than emailing [email protected]!
Yeah, opened up a support ticket for the same problem a few days ago. I’ve gotten the standard “we got your request email,” along with “Unfortunately, due to high volume our response may be delayed.” I expect them to get back to me in July probably. There are another dozen or twenty folks expressing the same issue on the Zwift Forums. And like the poster above, this ain’t the first time it’s happened for me. smh
I think I’ll need to just go ride it out.
I don’t get the ceramic speed icon on start-up, what am i missing ?
The latest version of Zwift. 🙂 Update your install!
Hi, quick information if I can ask … this morning I unlocked the ceramic speed kit. Is it automatically mounted on every bike I use or do I have to select it somewhere? Because in “Garage” I can’t find it and I wouldn’t know where to look for it elsewhere. Thanks for the help and good day!
If you have unlocked the kit the ‘mission’ has been completed and all three bike types/distances on each done.*
Nothing else to do.
*by joining the mission at the home page, the jockey wheel is auto added to whatever bike you are riding. If you looked closely you may be able to see a red colour where the rear mech would be. (although for me it was visible for TT and MTB, not really when i switched to a regular roadbike)
I noticed an interesting hack for this challenge for those who don’t want to ride the TT or MTB. If you start a ride on the TT or MTB, but then join an event that changes your bike (like a sponsored event), the miles during the event still count to the TT or MTB. Just make sure to wait on ending the ride until after the event is over and you are back on the TT or MTB.
You can switch bikes in the middle of a free ride and it reflects your mileage on each. I rode Überpretzel this morning and did 80 km of it on a road bike and 50 on a TT bike for the flat bits in the middle.
Do you get extra XP when you complete the mission? THX
Wouldn’t completing an FTP test while outfitted with the OSPW give the rider a “false” FTP going forward?
Anyone? Anyone at all?
I don’t think so, I guess it depends. I completed an FTP test recently using my Garmin V3 pedals for power and cadence, synced up to Zwift and my Edge 530 computer. I got the same FTP score on Zwift as I did on the Edge 530.
It will not. The virtual OSPW doesn’t change your wattage.
Thanks Eric!
Does the shiv count as a tt bike???
Yes.
My TT rides are not going towards this months challenge? Why.
Hi, I’ve completed the challenge but how can I claim the kit? Thanks 😊
Same thing here, I’ve done it and can’t find that stuff. How does that works?
My last 2 rides did not register
I have tried to complete this mission. I tried with TT once (40km)and tried with MTB once (45km) but there was no record, only Road Bike was recorded. I don’t know if I’ve done sometging wrong. If you know pls tell me.
I think it’s Zwift’s problem. Lots of folks are having it. Maybe try restarting your device?
I have completed the MTB and road bike challenges but my TT progress bar is stuck on 48km and TT rides are no longer being added on?
Yesterday i did a 33km free ride with the Zwift TT bike – but there is no progress in the Ceramicspeed Mission – still only 25km TT . What’s wrong?.
I didn’t get credit for 2 rides in the Ceramic Challenge. I rode the TT bike both times – one for a free ride and the other a Training Peaks workout – but they did not add to my mileage total for the TT bike portion. How do I get my credit for them?