Zwift’s Big Spin 2026 kicks off today, and with it the much-loved prize spinner! This year’s big prize is the MX Rider, the first-ever “motocross bike” in game.
Digging around online, I found a pic of the exact bike that inspired what we have in game:
That said, I can’t find more info about who made these bikes and when, apart from comments saying they believe this is the Canadian version of the Yamaha Moto-Bike, and it was made in the 70’s.
The bike is rated just 1 star for aero and weight, meaning it’s not going to perform particularly well on flat or climbs. And you can’t upgrade the wheels, since there is only one wheelset that fits it in game.
While riders will intuitively know that using the MX Rider in races against road bikes isn’t a good idea, we also know it’s fun to pull a “funny bike” out for the occasional Zwift group ride or recovery spin. So we put it through our typical speed tests, to see just how fast (or slow) it is.
See our master list of all frames in Zwift >
Here’s everything you need to know about the performance of the new MX Rider bike in Zwift.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
While the MX Rider isn’t the best aero performer, it’s also faster in game than it would be in real life!
It is actually 16.7 seconds faster than the Zwift Steel (with 32mm carbon wheels) across an hour of riding on our flat test course, and you’ll probably agree is a bit optimistic. This isn’t a bad thing, though: it means people can have fun using it without taking a huge performance hit.
Climb Performance
Unsurprisingly, this bike’s performance on our long climb test was dismal. It came in slower than all the road and gravel bikes, but faster than the mountain bikes.
In fact, it loses almost 4 minutes (232.8 seconds, to be precise) across an hour of riding compared to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame + 32mm wheels.
Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady.
Stuck With the Wheels
It’s hard to give an apples-to-apples comparison of the MX Rider vs other frames, since you can’t modify the wheels on the MX Rider. (Note: There are other bikes in game that behave this way, including the Tron bike, BMX Bandit, Brompton P Line, all mountain bikes, and the handcycle.)
The MX Rider will be beaten by almost any road frame in game, once you upgrade that frame’s wheels to anything faster than the stock 32mm carbon hoops.
Conclusions
The MX Rider performs essentially the same as last year’s Big Spin bike, the BMX Bandit. (In fact, I have a hunch both bikes have the same weight and CdA settings.) It’s not a bike you’d want to race, but if you want something that’s fun to ride on recovery days or in group rides where you don’t mind working a bit harder, it’ll be a welcome addition to your garage.
Oh, and just in case you’re wondering: it does have a color slider!
Questions or Comments?
Share 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 frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
The bike and wheels are cool and I want to have it. But there is no time to use them like the previous 2. Because I need about 2 years to first buy and then upgrade the Halo bike to level 5.
Nice to know how it compares with past year’s bike and the Zwift steel – thank you Eric! How does it compare to the Atomic Cruiser bike…?
Agreed… I nice Novelty Bike to ride every now and then… And since it is hard to come by, Flashing Your Bling if You are fortunate enough to Win One is always Fun! 😂
How does it ride on dirt/gravel? Does it compare to an MTB there?
The MX is the latest addition to my garage. I unlocked it in my first Big Spin event (I was hoping for the cowboy hat”). Could be useful on banded rides not much else, same as the BMX I also have.
Same, and same re cowboy hat.
Got it on my first ride of the official Big Spin. Throwback to my childhood. Had a friend who had something similar.
Come on guys, if you can do this, you could get a recumbent tadpole trike up for us recumbent riders.
What are the effects of each upgrade level? Tassels? In one ride today I scored the MX Rider and my 2nd set of Meilenstein wheels.