Fastest Climbing Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level

If you’re racing on Zwift, upgrading your frame and wheels can cut crucial seconds off your efforts. But figuring out where to spend your hard-earned Drops can be confusing! So we’ve put together this table which lists the best climbing frame and wheelset available at every Zwift level.

(Keep in mind this list applies only to big climbs. The list below is essentially a simplified, climbing-race-focused version of our complete Zwift Shopping Guide. If your race is flat or only has short, rolling climbs you’ll probably want to go with a more aero setup.)

Want to keep it simple? Just purchase each recommended frame or wheelset as soon as you level up. Don’t have enough Drops? Keep riding – you’ll get them soon enough! (And you might want to ride near a RoboPacer so your Drops add up more quickly!)

Fastest Climbing Frames

* the Scott Addict RC (660,200 Drops at level 17) turns in the same climb performance as the Canyon Ultimate CFR, but is much faster on the flats. So while the Ultimate CFR is the best buy on paper, the Addict RC is a better bike all around.

Fastest Climbing Wheelsets

* while the CADEX 36 wheels climb a bit faster than the FFWD RYOT55, they are much slower on flat ground, so we don’t recommend purchasing them for performance reasons.

Total time savings of fastest frame and wheelset over stock Zwift setup (Zwift Steele frame and Zwift classic wheels): 65.5+22=87.5 seconds

Times above based on our climb speed tests, done with a solo 75kg rider at 300 watts up Alpe du Zwift. Our test rider typically completes the route in ~49 minutes.

What About the Lightweight Meilensteins?

The Lightweight Meilenstein wheels are some of the lightest in game, making them the fastest climbers along with the Specialized Roval Alpinist CLX. Both wheelsets shave 14 seconds off the stock wheels on an Alpe climb.

But the only way to get them is via the prize spinner atop the Alpe… so you’d better get climbing!

What About the Tron Bike?

The Zwift Concept Z1 (Tron) bike is 46.5 seconds faster than the stock Zwift Steel+Classic wheels setup in our Alpe climb tests. The fastest setups available (Specialized Aethos with Lightweight Meilenstein or Roval Alpinist CLX wheels) turn in a time 24 seconds faster than the Tron bike over our ~49-minute test.

So the Tron bike is not the way to go in a pure climbing race. But very few Zwift events are pure climbing races! The Tron bike has perhaps the best combination of aero + light weight in game, making it a good choice for routes with short climbs.

We didn’t include the Tron in the chart above since you can’t separate the Tron’s frame from its wheels. But it’s certainly a bike worth unlocking. Here’s how to do that >

Improvement by Level

Even more so than our list of most aero frames and wheels by level, the biggest performance gains for climbing come very early in a Zwifter’s level progression. 70% of total gains are attainable by just level 6!

Your Thoughts

Hopefully this helps you select a bike for your next race, no matter your Zwift level. Got questions or comments? Post below!