Your chosen bike frame and wheelset both affect speed in Zwift, so you’ve made a good choice by doing a little research to help you choose the best tool for the job. This research especially pays off in time trials, “the race of truth” where every second counts and there’s no chance of hiding in the draft!
TT Frame Tests – Introduction
While Zwift’s 4-star rating system for weight and aero is simple and easy to understand, performance varies even among frames with the same star rating, because the stars are just an approximation.
So we’ve ranked all the TT (road frames are ranked here) against each other based on their actual performance on flat roads (2 laps of Tempus Fugit) and a long, steep climb (Alpe du Zwift).
Some frames perform well on flat roads while others are nimble climbers. Some are all-arounders, performing well on flats and climbs but not quite able to beat the specialized frames on their own turf.
Charts last updated September 23, 2022
TT Frame Timings, Stacked
This chart shows actual timings for flat and climb tests, in seconds. The shorter the bar, the faster the bike.
Notes:
- Flat tests run on 2 laps of Tempus Fugit at 300 watts steady with an isolated 75kg rider 183cm tall, using the Zwift 32mm Carbon wheels. This test data is used for all flat results on this page.
- Climb tests run on Alpe du Zwift at 300 watts steady with an isolated 75kg rider 183cm tall, using the Zwift 32mm Carbon wheels This test data is used for all climbing results on this page.
TT Frame Timings Scatterplot
This scatterplot helps you see how each frame performs on both flats and climbs. The further left the dot, the faster it is on flat ground. The further down the dot, the faster it is on the climbs. So down/left is good, up/right is bad!
TT Frame Percentile Rankings, Stacked
This format lets you easily see how frames perform across both flats and climbs, and compare that performance with other frames. This is useful for planning your race strategy.
For example: assume you had only the Specialized Shiv S-Works and Felt IA to choose from for a TT race in Bologna. You know you want more of an advantage on the decisive and steep climb, so you pick the Specialized Shiv S-Works even though the Felt IA is ranked slightly better overall.
Frame Time Improvement, Stacked
This format lets you easily see how frames perform across both flats and climbs in terms of actual timing, and compare that performance with other frames. This is useful for selecting the best bike frame for your race course, and may be an improvement over the percentile chart above since it is based on precise timings and not percentiles.
To be precise, this chart shows how many seconds a particular frame improves on the time of the lowest-ranked frame for both the flat and climb tests. So the Felt IA 2.0’s flat improvement of 33 seconds means it is 33 seconds faster than the Zwift TT on our flat test.
Your Feedback
We’d love to know what you think of these charts, including suggestions for improvements. Share your comments below.
I would love to see how the tronbike compares to the TT frames. It could act as a control. Any chance you could add this data in the future?
This is now more relevant than ever!
I think it’s a confusing comparison, since the Tron includes frame+wheels, while the TT data is just frames.
We could do a “Tron vs Top TT Performers” chart like what we have here (https://zwiftinsider.com/tron-vs-top-performers/) but using TT frames… that would make sense. But doing it with just frame data isn’t really useful.
I am a lvl 16 zwifter. I can buy a Cervelo P5 now or wait a couple of weeks and get the Specialized Shiv Disc at level 18. Which one would you recommend. I feel that I would use the TT bike on flat mostly.
Shiv is faster on flats. P5 better on climbs.
How can you tell which frames don’t draft (TT don’t draft). Is that just dedicated TT frames, with TT in the frame description? Reason is just want to get XP on the power ups.
It’s just the TT frames.
@Eric Schlange Bologna needs a little clarification for a time trial (no draft) event, should I choose a time trial bike or something like the Felt Ar or the Tarmac Pro? As a non-race effort (PR), would I gain enough to switch frames at the base of the climb? It’s a bit similar to Watopia Mountain route and Innsbruck UCI route.I’m a bit confused on what to choose.
@Zee Kryder try this post: https://zwiftinsider.com/bologna-setup/
Would the tron bike be quicker than tt bikes
Yes, if you just add flat and climb times you see quiet a big gap between the fastest TT and the Tron bike
No. TT bikes are much faster on flats than the Tron bike, if you’re talking about solo racing with no draft.
Here’s a more thorough answer for you: https://zwiftinsider.com/tron-vs-top-tt-performers/
I just picked up the Cervelo P5 and added Zipp 808 wheels (all as soon as I hit level 15). I’ll likely be riding this set up in the flats for quite some time. It looks like this set up would also do quite well on climbing TT courses, swapping in the Enve SES 3.4s for wheels.
Can this list be updated? I miss the BMC TT
It’s there. If you’re looking at it on mobile the label may be hidden – rotate your phone to see it.
thanks! That helped indeed!
In a TT race on Innsbrucking, I’d just go with the most aero frame and wheels available. https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-tt-bikes/
So that would be the Cervelo P5x or Felt IA, with the 858/Super9 wheels.
Great! I have those in my garage.
So, TT bikes clearly faster than tron 2% about, and with better wheels maybe more. Wondering aboit nailing a segment during a stage (then finishing so it counts) and looking at redoing the champs course. Soft pedal the run in, then go all out for a lap. The way most races slaughter you then shake out I’ll likely be dropped by 8 km from front group, BUT maybe bail one lap 6ish km oh a p5 w 808s. Legal? Thoughts?
Yes. Post coming out tomorrow about it.
When you say fixed – Is this the one star for aero issue?
3 days ago and Speedmax I did 188W in 27:59
Today New Speedmax I did 233W in 27:43
That can’t be right?
I hope these questions aren’t redundant. I’m only asking because I can’t find direct answers. From what I understand, in all scenarios the best road bike beats the times of the best TT bike. The scenarios measured are a pure climb (Alpe) or a flat (tempus). Is that true? Are the best TT bikes really slower than the best road bikes on flats? That just seems like strange design. If that’s the case, then in what circumstance would it be a good idea to ride a TT bike? The only one I can think of is an actual race TT,… Read more »
I looked at the excel data for the TT and road tests. Answers are there. TT bikes faster on flats.
I’ll leave this up incase anyone is silly and couldn’t figure it out like me.
Is Tron faster than any of TT on a moderately hilly route (e. g. Hilly route reverse) for a team time trial race?
No. It would have to be a very hilly race for the Tron to outpace a TT frame. Like…more time on climbs than on decent or flats. See https://zwiftinsider.com/tron-vs-top-tt-performers/ for details.
Curious about one thing : as slower frames produce more drag, do they also provide better shelter to the riders drafting it ?
We’ve tried to measure this, but haven’t been able to spot a difference. It’s hard to measure it super-accurately within Zwift, though, so it’s possible there’s a slight difference.
So which frame, wheels to choose if you regularly drive mixed roads with climbs and flat? I find it hard to see with this data. I never Zwift only flat, but always mixed (New York I go up, London, Watopia), etc.
If you’re talking TT, that simplifies things somewhat, at least in my mind.
It’s about trading off climbing performance for flat/descent performance. Figure out what % of your time is spent on climbs vs everything else, then pick the frame that balances it best.
For example, on Bologna, basically 50% of your time is on the flats, 50% on the climbs. So your best frame would be one with equal and high values in the “Frame Time Improvement, Stacked” chart.
I’d love to see a comparison over gravel (Road to Ruins is every now and then a WTRL TTT route).
I’d love to see a comparison over gravel (Road to Ruins is every now and then a WTRL TTT route).