If you’re racing time trials on Zwift, upgrading your frame and wheels will cut some significant time off your efforts. And in the “race of truth” where there is no hiding in the draft, every bit of savings counts!
But figuring out where to spend your hard-earned Drops can be confusing, so we’ve put together these tables listing the fastest TT frame and wheelset available at each Zwift level.
Keep in mind this list applies only to flat and rolling routes. The list below is essentially a simplified, flat-race-focused version of our complete Zwift Shopping Guide. If the climbs in your time trial race are steep and/or last more than a few minutes, you may want to consider a more climbing-friendly setup.
Fastest TT Frames
| Level | Fastest Frame | Time Savings |
| 1 | Zwift Steel (Free)* | 0s |
| 3 | Zwift Carbon (55,000)* | 5.1s |
| 4 | Zwift TT (60,000) | 137s |
| 7 | BMC Timemachine01 (400,000) | 158s |
| 10 | Cube Aerium (251,700) | 158.2s |
| 16 | Felt IA 2.0 (750,000) | 174.8s |
| 19 | Scott Plasma RC Ultimate (600,000) | 175.2s |
| 31 | Canyon Speedmax CF SLX Disc (1,200,000) | 178.8s |
| 40 | Canyon Speedmax CFR (1,250,000) | 184.1s |
* the Zwift Steel and Carbon frames aren’t TT frames, but they are the fastest frames available at their respective unlock levels, so they’re listed here as a baseline reference.
Fastest Wheelsets
| Level | Fastest Wheelset | Time Savings |
| 1 | Zwift Classic (Free) | 0s |
| 3 | Zwift 32mm Carbon (100,000) | 7.2s |
| 12 | Shimano C60 (325,000) | 35.4s |
| 15 | Roval Rapide CLX (500,000) | 37.8s |
| 16 | Roval CLX64 (525,000) | 45.4s |
| 25 | Zipp 808 (425,000) | 47.3s |
| 28 | Swiss Side HADRON Ultimate 650 (550,000) | 60s |
| 34 | Zipp 808/Super9 (650,000) | 69.1s |
| 37 | Zipp 858/Super9 (750,000) | 73.4s |
| 39 | Swiss Side HADRON Ultimate 850/Disc (900,000) | 75.8s |
Total time savings of fastest TT frame and wheelset over stock Zwift setup (Zwift Steel frame and Zwift Classic wheels): 188.1+78.9=259.9 seconds
Times above based on our flat speed tests, done with a solo 75kg, 183cm rider at 300 watts on Watopia’s very flat Tempus Fugit route.
Strategic Shopping
It may seem simplest to just purchase each TT frame or wheelset on the list as soon as you level up, but you won’t have the Drops to do so. Plus, if you want to maximize performance, you also need to take Zwift’s Bike Upgrade functionality into account, since it rewards riders who stay on the same frame long enough to fully upgrade it.
Speaking of upgrades: all the time data in this post is from un-upgraded versions of the frames. Upgraded frames will be even faster. Get detailed charts here >
Don’t have enough Drops? Keep riding – you’ll get them soon enough! (Learn how to earn more Drops here.) And if you’re wanting to level up faster, check out How to Earn More XP and Level Up Faster on Zwift.
What About the Pinarello Espada?
The Pinarello Espada is currently the only TT Halo Bike in Zwift, but it wasn’t included in the list above for two reasons:
- It takes a lot of work to unlock. You’ll need to fully upgrade three Pinarello frames before you can purchase the Espada, and even then you’ll need 10 million Drops to add it to your garage!
- It’s not the fastest TT setup on Zwift. Not even close, actually. It’s 90.9 seconds faster than the base TT setup on flat roads, but the top TT frame (Canyon Speedmax CFR) coupled with the top wheelset (Swiss Side HADRON Ultimate 850/Disc) is 115.7 seconds faster. And let’s not even talk about how slow the Espada is on climbs!
The Espada is a status symbol on Zwift, for sure, but it performs like what it is: a TT bike that’s over 30 years old.
Read all about the Pinarello Espada >
Improvement by Level
The biggest TT performance gains come early in a Zwifter’s level progression, just as they do with road bikes. Here’s how much time you would be saving across an hour of flat riding if you upgraded to the recommended setups above at each level:
The biggest percentage improvement comes when you upgrade to the Zwift TT frame (your first TT frame) at level 4. This frame alone accounts for 52% of the overall improvements you can receive by upgrading equipment! By level 16, over 84% of your possible improvement has already been achieved. And once you’ve hit level 40, the only way you’ll get faster is by racing smarter and training stronger!
Digging Deeper
Want to dig deeper into the speeds of various frames and wheels? Check out our ranking charts and public test data.
Your Thoughts
Hopefully this helps you select a rig for your next TT effort, no matter your Zwift level. Got questions or comments? Post below!
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the TT frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top TT Performers for current time trial-related performance data.
Espada incoming this weekend 14hrs to go and yes it’s only for the looks and status. Looking forward to ride it though. Drops well let’s say I’ve got more than enough.
Could you possibly add details about how much faster they get at each “upgrade level”? Maybe all of them improve in the same way, but the Halo bike may have a different improvement. So, at upgrade level 0, Cadex is faster than Pinarello Espada, but how about when you compare upgrade level 5 for both of these?
They both receive the same upgrades, so fully upgraded versions of the Espada and CADEX will still have the same performance gap between them.
This page has a chart showing how the Espada’s upgrades impact its performance: https://zwiftinsider.com/halo-bikes/#Pinarello_Espada_Details
Ah, that was new to me, I thought the “upgrade path” was quite different for the Halo bikes.
Do you somewhere have a comparison between the regular bikes and the best TT bike as well? (e.g., S-works Tarmac SL8 level 5 vs. Cadex level 5)
Another question: At what gradient will the Aethos level 5 or the SL8 level 5 become faster than Cadex level 5, with the same wheelset, e.g. at a portal climb?
In the case that the road bikes are always faster above e.g. a 2% gradient; at what average gradient would you select Aethos rather than SL8?
I don’t have a post comparing them, but you can see the numbers in our public data spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1S0pTN_hBMddX0GhCqSOd6fPlIJeWtw0xr6Y1M6PzNJY/edit?gid=173681512#gid=173681512
Are the DT Swiss ARC 62 Dicut Disc wheels still fast? Why are they no longer in the fastest wheelsets list?
They are still fast, just a second or two slower than the 858/Super9 so they don’t make the cut.
This one: https://zwiftinsider.com/charts-wheels/
This is very interesting, Shame the Halo TT bike isn’t very good.
Do you have an error on your Fastest Wheelsets table? You’ve listed the Zipp 808/Super9 (650,000) two different levels.
Look closer. One is 858 👀
Excellent job, but I didn’t understand one thing. The wheels if applied to the chrono bikes have not had the same changes as on the street bikes? Or yes? Which full wheels table should I look at the chrono bikes? Thanks for all the work
This page includes a chart where you can toggle between regular road bike times, and TT bike times: https://zwiftinsider.com/charts-wheels
It’s called “Time Savings at 300W (TT vs Road)”
Aren’t the DT Swiss faster than the Zipps? The other page on wheel speeds says so…
They are not. Which page are you referring to?
This one: https://zwiftinsider.com/charts-wheels/
It looks like as of June the DT Swiss 85 are the fastest disc.
It would be interesting to see more of a dig into rolling course data to see what the difference is going full aero / semi aero / all round etc as it can be hard to qualify when comparing to only flat/climbing data what’s the best option
do DT Swiss ARC 1100 dicut Disc belong here?
No. Because they unlock 2 levels after the 858/Super9 wheels, and are slightly slower.
How about the Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560? How do they compare to DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 65, the Zipp’s and DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 85?
So is my lvl 5 cadex with the dt swiss disc still the fastest combo?
The table above says no.