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Why was Zwift at the Specialized Win Tunnel?

Eric Schlange
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69
Why was Zwift at the Specialized Win Tunnel?

Why was Zwift at the Specialized Win Tunnel?

Update (March 18, 2025): Zwift’s v1.86 release includes frame and wheel performance tweaks, as well as Bike Upgrade functionality, all based on the results of the wind tunnel tests discussed below.

On August 27, I received a message from Zwift co-founder and original developer Jon Mayfield:

This got my attention. As you may know, I’ve published a lot of in-game performance data over the years, including the popular Tron vs Top Performers chart showing how Zwift’s Tron bike performs against other fast frame+wheelset combos in game.

“Disruptive changes re: bike performance”? What was Jon thinking of doing?

We chatted that day, and Jon shared a few key points:

  • The fastest and slowest “standard” frames in Zwift are currently only separated by ~22 seconds in our standard ~50-minute test (see performance charts). Jon’s hunch was that this gap was too small and didn’t reflect real-world physics.
  • With garage upgrades coming soon to Zwift, the team saw a need to increase this separation between frames in order to avoid weird situations like an upgraded slow frame (think Zwift Steel or similar) outperforming a fast frame like the Specialized Venge S-Works.
  • If Zwift was going to change the performance of in-game frames, they wanted those changes to be backed by science. (While Zwift isn’t trying to be a simulator, in-game speeds have always been based on real-world physics whenever possible.)

With that in mind, Jon and his team were planning a visit to the Win Tunnel at Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA. Would I be interested in joining them?

Of course I would.

And that’s how I arrived here in late October:

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

The Team

It was dark o’clock when I left my house in Kelseyville, CA to drive three hours south to Specialized HQ in Morgan Hill. I grabbed a quality espresso, then met up with Zwift’s team to get security badges so we could access the Win Tunnel. Zwift employees in attendance were:

  • Jon Mayfield: VP Head of Game (and Co-Founder of Zwift)
  • Mark Cote: VP Head of Product
  • Scott Campbell: Senior Director of Game Design
  • Mike Bhatt: Senior Technical Game Designer
  • Nick Kalkounis: Director, Product Management
  • Joseph Battisti: Global Product Marketing – Game & Content

Also with us was Lionello Bardina, R&D Engineer Aerodynamics from Specialized. His job was to run the tests while answering lots of questions and generally overseeing the tunnel’s usage.

Left to right: Lio, Mark Cote, and big Joe Battisti, working on setting up bikes

At first this seemed like a lot of cooks to have in the kitchen, but I soon learned that when it comes to robust wind tunnel testing, you need a small army! We had the tunnel booked for two days, and we were scrambling throughout both days to set up and complete all the planned tests.

Some of the guys were working on setting up actual bikes – swapping out pedals, adjusting geometry, swapping out wheels, and properly attaching it to the tunnel’s apparatus.

Others were taking notes, so data could be properly analyzed in the days to come. And of course Lio was manning the helm, sitting behind the computer to control the tunnel, run the actual tests, and gather the data for later analysis.

A Note About Mark Cote

Mark explains drafting fluid dynamics while Scott Campbell spins in the saddle (the wind was blowing at 50kph at this time)

Within a few minutes of hanging out in the Win Tunnel, I came to the realization that there was a lot I didn’t know about Mark Cote.

Mark came to Zwift in early 2021 as the Senior Director of Content Programming after 12+ years at Specialized. We sat down for a nice Zoom chat just a few weeks after he arrived at Zwift, and he struck me as a likable, smart dude who could lead teams well and also wrap his head around data and make it actionable.

He was also a longtime Zwifter, having joined the platform in the early beta days of Jarvis Island. And he earned extra points when he saw my Venge ViAS in the office and shared that it was still the most aero bike frame they’d tested at Specialized at speeds over 30mph!

Mark has been at Zwift for almost 4 years now, and he’s currently leading the product teams at Zwift.

When we arrived at the Win Tunnel, Mark took charge. He stated the goals of the testing and explained the methodology we’d be using. Then as we got the first bike in the tunnel and the tests began, Mark started telling stories.

Talking tunnels with Mark

It turns out, he graduated from MIT in 2007 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. And he wasn’t just anyone at Specialized: he led the development of the aero program and the design and build of the Win Tunnel with a few other key leaders at the company.

While he worked his way to leadership positions at Specialized and now Zwift, he’s also a brilliant engineer and aerodynamicist. And it was downright fascinating to hear him explain exactly how the Win Tunnel works while sharing memories of a scrappy team of employees and interns building and launching the audacious tunnel on a shoestring budget.

The Tests

Jon on his S-Works Shiv

The team’s main goal for these tests was to establish a realistic delta between the slowest and fastest frames in Zwift.

(There were secondary goals of testing various wheelsets and different rider positions to gut-check the game’s wheel and rider physics as well. But I’m going to save that discussion for another post.)

So we tested a pile of frames, including:

  • Stinner Steel (which the Zwift Steel frame is modeled from)
  • Specialized Allez Sprint
  • Specialized Tarmac SL6
  • Jon Mayfield’s S-Works Shiv
  • My Pinarello Dogma F
  • Specialized Tarmac SL8
  • My Specialized Roubaix SL4
  • Specialized 2020 Venge
  • Buffalo Bike

Bikes were tested with a basic alloy wheelset, as well as more advanced carbon hoops and even (in some cases) a disc wheel. The Win Tunnel is super precise, and it was amazing to look at the data and see how it could detect the difference between various setups at various yaw angles.

Jon had asked me to bring my Roubaix, because he had a hunch that some of the “slower” carbon frames would actually perform worse in the Win Tunnel than the steel frame. And you know what? He was right. My Roubaix was slower than the Stinner. Mark chalks this up to the cable routing and larger tubes.

My faithful steed, the Specialized Roubaix SL4

(But I still love that bike. I realized as it was sitting in the Win Tunnel that I’ve ridden over 50,000 miles on Zwift on that bike. It may not be the fastest frame outdoors, but it’s certainly been a great bike.)

After Hours

Of course, no Zwift outing would be complete without a ride. So after the first day we went for a spin. Here’s the crew lined out, with Jon in the wind:

Over the course of two days and a few meals, Mark Cote shared a lot of insider info about Specialized and the Win Tunnel that I’m not allowed to share here. We even got a sort of after-hours tour of some key rooms on campus, most of which were labeled “no photography.” Fascinating.

Specialized is turning 50 this year, and after looking at everything they do and how they do it, you begin to understand why. (And no, it’s not just because they have “Donut Thursdays” in the cafeteria each week. Although it was an epic selection of donuts + espresso.)

The Results

After two days of tests, Zwift’s team took all the data back to the office so they could crunch numbers and compare Zwift’s current frame performance to the wind tunnel data.

It turns out Jon’s initial hunch was correct: the difference in performance between Zwift’s slower and faster frames is smaller than it should be. Therefore, Jon and his team are planning to stretch that ~22-second difference into 65-70 seconds over an hour on a flat course, so in-game frame performance deltas more closely match what cyclists experience in the real world.

Scott Campbell (foreground) chatting while Mike Bhatt enters data

They plan to keep the fastest frames at their current CdA settings, while progressively slowing all other frames to effectively “spread out” the performance spectrum of in-game bikes. It’s worth noting that the overall aero performance “ranking” of frames in game lined up nicely with the test – that is, the fastest stuff in game is the fastest stuff in the tunnel. It’s really just the ranges (how much faster) that will be modified.

This change will be rolled out sometime in early winter, potentially soon after the new year. The tweaked frame performance will roll out along with the Garage Upgrades/Halo Bikes feature, so some of the performance lost in the slower frames can be reclaimed via upgrades if riders desire.

Concluding Thoughts, and What’s Next

Getting into the Win Tunnel is every road cyclist’s dream, so it was a huge privilege to be a part of Zwift’s visit to Morgan Hill. As I spun the pedals in the drops into a 50kph wind, I thought, “Zwift has taken me a lot of places, but I never thought it would take me here!”

I like that Zwift has chosen to take another look at bike performance. I’m impressed that they approached the task rigorously, with two long days of testing at the Win Tunnel. And I’m stoked that the result of all this work will be in-game bike performance that more closely matches the real world.

The upcoming changes are based on accurate, repeatable tests of real-world performance, so as much as I like to poke holes in things, there’s just not much here to complain about.

Looking at the live wind tunnel data with Jon

I’ve got a couple more articles planned on topics related to the Win Tunnel visit. First, we’ll be talking about the rider CdA testing that was done, and the results. (The goal is to make the CdA of our avatars as accurate as possible, which is sort of an impossible task when you consider the various body shapes, riding positions, and clothing of riders. That said, there’s probably room for improvement in Zwift’s current model.)

There will also, undoubtedly, be follow-up articles sharing updated performance numbers for frames. My bots are already complaining about all the miles they’ll have to put in!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of Zwift’s plans to modify frame performance, and what do you think of their approach to the problem? Share below!

Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: Turf N Surf Points Race

Eric Schlange
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12
Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: Turf N Surf Points Race

The second race of Zwift Racing League 2024/25 Round 2 happens Tuesday, November 19, and we’ll be in the Makuri Islands for our first-ever ZRL event on the Turf N Surf route.

There’s much to discuss, including the route’s key sections, strategic options, bike choice, and a reminder of recent ZRL scoring changes for points races.

Hop on, tighten those toe straps, and let’s go!

Looking at the Route: Turf N Surf

The Makuri Islands Turf N Surf route has never been raced in ZRL. It’s essentially one big loop with two key climbs. Along the way, you’ll encounter two sprint segments, which is important to note since this is a points race.

All riders will be racing a single lap of the route for a total of 24.7km with 198m of climbing.

Let’s discuss the key parts of this route, beginning just after we blast out of the start pen:

Alley Sprint @ 0.7km: this is a flat and longish (480m) sprint, and you can see the finishing arch up the road for almost the entire effort. The tough part here is that it comes just after the race starts! First you’ve got the untimed lead-in from the pens (30-40 seconds depending on pace), then another 700 meters (~60 seconds) before you hit the sprint start line. Who will go long, and who will sit in and hope the pack catches the early jumpers? Powerup at arch: aero boost (helmet)

Don’t expect any action from the Alley Sprint banner (1.1km) to the base of the Festival Harbor climb (14.6km), as it’s just a stretch of flat Neokyo roads, the Slot Canyon descent, and more flats.

Festival Harbor Climb @ 14.6km (2.6% for 2km): this isn’t an official KOM segment, but make no mistake: the first major selection of the race happens here! This is a draggy, draftable climb (remember, it looks like you’re on dirt, but that’s just sand that rolls like tarmac).

Shisa Sprint @ 16.3km: while this sprint is shorter than the Alley Sprint (290 meters), you’ll have just finished a full gas VO2 effort up the Festival Harbor climb, so sprint efforts will be blunted, to say the least! Powerup at arch: aero boost (helmet)

Again, don’t expect any action from the Shisa Sprint banner (16.6km) to the start of the Pain Cavern (21.6km). This section is a twisty descent followed by flat or slightly rolling roads.

Pain Cavern @ 21.6km (3% for 2.1km): this isn’t an official KOM segment, but it’s the longest climb of the route, and it’s where the second major selection of the race will happen. This is a draggy, draftable climb, and the big moves tend to happen as you enter the figure 8 section.

Finish at Virtual arch: once you’re out of Pain Cavern, you’ve got 1km to go, and it’s quite flat. Did you save your aero powerup? Time it right so it runs out just before you hit that virtual arch shimmering in the distance, and you may just find yourself on the podium.

Read more about the Turf N Surf route >

Reminder: Points Race Changes

Remember: FAL and FTS segment points as well as finishing points changed last round for ZRL racers. Those changes are still in effect for round 2.

FAL points now go to the first 20 riders over the line (20-19-18…1 points, respectively). FTS points only go to the fastest 5 riders through the segment (10-8-6-4-2 points, respectively).

Finish points are now based on how many riders finish, but there are also new podium bonus points for the first 5 riders across the line. Example: if 60 riders finish, 1st place gets 60 points, 2nd place gets 59, etc. But podium bonus points are also awarded to the top 5 riders (10-8-6-4-2, respectively) so that 1st place rider would actually get 60+10=70 points for their finishing position.

See the ZRL scoring page for more details >

PowerUp Notes

Riders will receive aero powerups at each arch, and there are just two arches on this route.

A simple white helmet with a visor, shown in profile with three lines behind it to indicate speed, centered on a turquoise circle with a gray and white border.

Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.)

Sometimes you need to use a powerup to chase back on or avoid getting dropped. But for most riders, the ideal place to use your first aero powerup would be the Shisa Sprint, since it’s a points segment. And your second aero powerup would be best used in the finishing sprint.

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

This route features two flat sprint segments, lots of flats and descents, two key draftable climbs, and a flat finish.

An aero bike will maximize your sprint speeds and let you sit in most easily on the flats, rollers, and descents that make up the vast majority of your overall mileage. The climbs aren’t very steep, meaning they are fast and draftable, so a pure climbing bike won’t give you any advantage.

Given the strong performance of the new Pinarello Dogma F 2024, it’s hard not to recommend it as the best pick here, coupled with the DT Swiss disc wheel. This setup loses very little (2 seconds in our ~50-minute test) to the traditional Venge+Disc combo, while gaining 11 seconds in our ~50-minute climb test.

That said, there are several options that will all perform well on this route. The Venge+Disc is the most aero setup available. The Tron bike is still a strong all-arounder. Will you pick a setup that helps you in your weakness, or one that emphasizes your strength?

Pinarello Dogma F 2024 + DT Swiss Disc
Tron bike
Venge + Disc

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers (Scatter Plot) for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance.

More Route Recons

Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.

Zwifty Zwifter

John Rice

J Dirom

The Syco-List

Strategic Options

Points Distribution, Turf N Surf (1 Lap)

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants.

With FAL and finish points making up over 90% of the race’s total points, the message is clear: you want to do everything you can to stay in the front group, and there are three places (the two sprint segments and the finish) where a well-timed sprint can mean big points.

Here are some predictions of strategies we’ll see on Tuesday:

  • TTT On the First Sprint: riders will try to go long on the first sprint, but if an entire team can jump off the front and stay away through the Alley Sprint arch they’ll mop up 105 points and have plenty of recovery time immediately following.
  • Going Long On the First Sprint: barring a full team attack, some riders will try going long to take the first FAL points. It will require burning a match or two, though, if you want to avoid getting swallowed up before the arch!
  • Big Attacks On the Climbs: puncheurs with high 3-4 minute power will be well-suited to put in hard digs on the Festival Harbor and Pain Cavern climbs, snapping the elastic for some riders and thinning the pack for that final sprint.
  • Pain Cavern Breakaway: jumping off the front near the top of the Pain Cavern climb could be a winning move, especially if you can do it with a teammate who will share the work in that final 1km to the finish.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!

Tiny Race Series – November 16 Routes and Last Week’s Results

Eric Schlange
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0
Tiny Race Series – November 16 Routes and Last Week’s Results

Tiny Race Series – November 16 Routes and Last Week’s Results

See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.

All About Zwift’s Watopia Jarvis Expansion

Eric Schlange
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42
All About Zwift’s Watopia Jarvis Expansion

All About Zwift’s Watopia Jarvis Expansion

Yesterday Zwift rolled out a much-anticipated addition to Watopia, the game’s largest and most popular map.

With only 5km of fresh pavement, the addition may seem rather small. But it’s a very significant stretch of 5km, because it’s the return of Jarvis Island, the first road ever ridden on Zwift.

So it’s a throwback to Zwift’s 2014 roots, which feels quite fitting and nostalgic as Zwift celebrates its 10-year anniversary this season. Read on to learn more about the Jarvis expansion.

New Routes

This expansion adds a 4.8km loop connected to the Volcano Circuit via a short spur (see white road above). Six new routes have been added to the game, each using the new loop in different ways.

The new routes are free-ridable and earn achievement badges the first time they’re completed. These routes are also available for event scheduling via Clubs if you have the latest version of Zwift’s Companion app.

Deca Dash

52.4km distance
500m elevation

Start in downtown Watopia, then head over to Jarvis Island for 10 clockwise laps. Ends at the sprint banner.

Read more >

Waisted 8

30.7km distance
144m elevation

It’s Watopia’s Waistband, but in reverse, and with a clockwise lap of Jarvis Island thrown in.

Read more >

Triple Twist

24.4km distance
200m elevation

Takes in the Volcano Circuit and Jarvis Island clockwise before returning to a Hilly Route reverse loop with a finish at the Jarvis Sprint.

Read more >

Coast to Coast

24.1km distance
164m elevation

A point-to-point route beginning at the coastal start pens and finishing with a CCW lap of Jarvis Island.

Read more >

Loopin Lava

18.3km distance
212m elevation

A CCW loop of Jarvis Island followed by the Volcano Climb before descending and finishing at the Jarvis Island lap banner.

Read more >

The Classic

8.8km distance
64m elevation

Simple and sweet. This is literally the route that started it all! One CCW loop of Jarvis Island, beginning with a lead-in from downtown Watopia and ending at the lap banner.

Read more >

New Route Badges

Each new route also has a route badge, so you’ll earn a chunk of XP and the achievement badge the first time you complete the route!

There’s also a badge for “The Classic Run”, just for the runners.

A Grand Entrance

The first time you enter Jarvis, be sure to have your sound turned on! Zwift has put together an epic unveiling sequence, and it will only happen the first time you enter Jarvis. We recorded it for posterity:

Sightseeing Tour

The new road can be broken down into three areas. Here’s a quick photo tour progressing around the loop counterclockwise.

Italian Villas and Lap Arch

Entering Jarvis Island
Jarvis town center
Lap arch
The Queen Mary

Take a right as you enter Jarvis Island, waving hello to the bear sculpture (is that Jarvis the bear… with Scotty Squirrel on his back?) and you’ll find yourself passing some familar-looking buildings. These were the inspiration for Watopia’s Italian Villas.

After riding through the lap arch, look right to spot the Queen Mary, a nod to Zwift’s Long Beach headquarters.

The KOM and Forest

KOM start line
Passing the Banjo Cafe
Climbing the second bridge
Finish in the ride-thru tree

After passing the Queen Mary, you’ll feel the road tilt upward as you enter the forest and pass the Jarvis KOM start line right where the big trees begin. With its tall sequoias this area feels a lot like Watopia’s Titans Grove. Hear some down-home pickin’ as you pass the Banjo Cafe, then you’ll cross not one but two bridges before finishing the KOM. (That second bridge is a steep one!)

The KOM finishes in a ride-through tree like you’ve seen in Watopia’s Sequoia Circle, then you can descend back to flat ground for a sprint. (Note: if you travel in the other direction, there’s a KOM going the other way, too. They both share the same finishing arch in the ride-thru tree.)

The Sprint

Return to flat ground and it’s time for a sprint to finish off your Jarvis Island lap. You’ll pass the start of the KOM (in the other lane, going the other way), then the sprint start line is upon you:

Sprint start line
Sprint arch
A nod to the blue bots of old…

It’s a short and flat sprint, and like the KOM there’s a segment in both directions.

New Leaderboard Segments

Jarvis Island has three arches, and each arch is an endpoint for segments in both directions. That means six new leaderboard segments:

Your Thoughts

Got questions or comments about Zwift’s newest (and oldest) road? Share below!

Zwift Update Version 1.78 (136426) Released

Eric Schlange
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79
Zwift Update Version 1.78 (136426) Released

Zwift version 1.78 begins its phased rollout today. It includes the much-awaited Watopia expansion, plus a refresh to the HUD’s minimap, two more Training API partners, and more…

Watopia Expansion: Jarvis Returns!

The big news in today’s update is the opening of a loop of fresh tarmac in Watopia! But it’s not just any loop… it’s the loop that started it all. Here’s an intro from Jon Mayfield:

The expansion is basically 5km of new tarmac. It’ll make a great race circuit with its KOM and sprint segments each lap. There are six new routes available which make use of the new pavement:

Note: you can free ride any of these routes once you’ve updated to version 1.78. But also, Tour of Watopia stage 5 begins today, and it features three of the new routes: Deca Dash, Looping Lava, and Waisted 8.

The first time you enter Jarvis, be sure to have your sound turned on! Zwift has put together a super cool unveiling sequence, and it will only happen the first time you enter Jarvis. We recorded it for posterity:

We’ll be publishing more info on this expansion in the coming days, as well as creating official Strava segments for the new routes and leaderboard segments. (Strava limits us to 5 new segments per day, so… it takes a little while.)

Until then, you might want to check out Zwift’s homepage for this expansion.

New Minimap Route Profile

This update also includes the first phase of a promised minimap refresh. In Watopia only (for now), you will see a new route overview profile at the bottom of the minimap.

The profile clearly shows your full route, your progress, any leaderboard segment banners, and how far you have left to go to finish the route. It also shows a lap counter in events.

Two notable things from Zwift on this feature. First, they’re saying, “This feature will be rolling out to additional Zwift worlds over time.” Secondly, if you venture off your route or make a u-turn, the profile view will return to the legacy view instead of showing your route (since you are no longer on your route). Zwift says, “This is something that will be addressed in a future release.”

For more, see today’s video from GPLama:

CoachCat and JOIN.cc Integration

Two more partners have gone live with Zwift’s Training API. From Zwift’s update notes:

Workouts will now seamlessly sync from CoachCat (FasCat Coaching) and JOIN.cc. CoachCat is the industry’s most advanced AI-powered coach, which analyzes your data the moment you finish a ride and instantly provides coaching feedback. Use AI to optimize your training preparation, execution, and recovery. JOIN.cc is a highly adaptive AI-driven training platform designed to fit seamlessly into your busy life. With intuitive guidance, pro-level workouts, and a supportive community, you’ll have everything you need to reach your full potential.

We’ll talk about JOIN and CoachCat more in an upcoming post.

New Routes and Badges

Interestingly, not included in the release notes are four new route badges added to the achievement list:

None of these routes are available yet to ride in game, but them showing up in the achievement list means they’ll be arriving very soon.

Refreshed In-Game Emotes Experience

A late addition to the release notes, Zwift has refreshed the emotes experience in game, giving them a new look and having them show above riders’ avatars when triggered:

The Ride On emote now triggers a Ride On bomb as well, just like if you triggered it via the Companion app or Play controllers.

The rollout of this refreshed experience is limited, currently, but our guess is if all goes well, it’ll roll out to everyone in the next two weeks:

Email Opt-In Unlock

This is a fun one. Zwift has a “a fun email coming to everyone’s inbox” next month. (We aren’t allowed to say what it is, but trust us – you’ll want to see it. Because it’s all about you!) They want to make sure Zwifters have opted in to receive emails from Zwift, so you can receive this email.

To do so, visit zwift.com/settings/emails and enable the toggle.

As a thank you, you will receive the new Watopia Postal Service hat, inspired by Sinbad’s classic holiday character. (If you are already opted-in, you will get the hat automatically in your garage.)

More Release Notes

Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:

  • Recently added routes are now shown with a “new” tag in the Route screen.
  • After selecting an activity within a Challenge (like Cardio Crusher or Route Chaser: The Grade), you can now see the activity’s details before starting.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Play controllers to not automatically reconnect when starting Zwift.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause your Strava connection to be unlinked from your Zwift account if Strava’s servers were unavailable.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause the Pinarello Dogma F paint job icons in the Garage to be blurry.
  • Fixed issues that could potentially occur with virtual shifting when using the Wattbike Atom.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause the intersection selector to appear earlier than intended when descending the Radio Tower KOM.
  • Windows
    • The Ultra graphics profile is now enabled for the following graphics cards: Radeon RX 7900 GRE, RX 7800 XT, RX 7700 XT, RX 7600 XT.
    • The High graphics profile is now enabled for the following graphics card: Radeon RX 7600.
  • iOS, tvOS
    • New Zwifters will see a refreshed welcome experience when starting Zwift for the first time.
  • Android
    • New Zwifters will see a refreshed welcome experience when starting Zwift for the first time.
    • Fixed an issue that could potentially cause Play, Ride, or Click controllers to not connect after completing one Zwift session and then starting a new session.

Discuss this update in Zwift’s forum >

Questions or Comments?

If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!

My 9-Year Zwiftversary

Eric Schlange
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14
My 9-Year Zwiftversary

Nine years ago today I went for my first ride on Zwift.

The winter of 2015 was my first “indoor season” as a serious cyclist, and I was already dreading the roller sessions. At the time, none of my local riding buddies were on Zwift. None of them had even heard of it. But I saw it somewhere on Facebook, downloaded the game, ran it in “just watch” mode, and immediately knew I had to give it a try.

First Zwift session: November 12, 2015

I found a website in Germany selling Tacx Vortex Smart trainers for ~$290 to my door, so I pulled the trigger. The night it arrived I put it together, hooked my bike in, and went for my first Zwift ride from the middle of my living room. The trainer wasn’t calibrated, and I wasn’t dressed for a real ride… so that effort didn’t last long.

But two days later I went for my first “real” Zwift ride – two laps of Watopia’s Hilly Route (the only route on Watopia at the time). Uploading it to Strava certainly confused local friends. “Are you in the Solomon Islands right now?”

That’s how it all began for me. And I jumped in with both feet! Less than a month later I launched ZwiftBlog.com, which became Zwift Insider two years later.

I wish I had been on Zwift from the beginning, but when Zwift beta launched in 2014 I was just rediscovering cycling after an 18-year hiatus. So I never got to ride Jarvis, the first Zwift map, until today (November 12, 2024) when Zwift released it as a Watopia expansion.

It has become my habit each November 12th to post a refreshed Zwiftversary article. So here I am, once again looking back at my journey and delivering my perspective as a Zwifter and the editor of the web’s biggest Zwift fansite.

Growth Trends

The all-time Peak Zwift of 49,114 came in January 2021. Remember that time? It was actually illegal to ride your bike outdoors in some European countries! Covid lockdowns sent Zwift numbers off the chart.

A year later traffic numbers were much lower than their mid-Covid peak, and really, since that time, if you remove seasonality, numbers have basically held steady as far as I can tell. We certainly aren’t seeing the massive year-over-year growth we saw each winter pre-Covid.

That said, I’m seeing a lot of brand-new riders on the platform these days. Zwift’s moves in the hardware space certainly have something to do with this.

Hardware: Simpler, More Affordable

The Zwift Ride was released in June 2024, and it immediately disrupted the smart bike market. Priced at just $1299USD, it was half the price of the cheapest competitor (Wattbike) and a third the price of the premium options (KICKR Bike, NEO Bike).

But was it a smart bike? Or just a simple frame attached to a standard trainer? What exactly is a smart bike?

Turns out, the answer to those questions isn’t all that important. Because the truth is, the Zwift Ride became the overnight default smart bike recommendation for most Zwifters. It’s just really difficult to justify spending 2-3x more.

Have some shipping/packing issues resulted in scratched or bent frames and cranks? Sure. Are you effectively locked into Zwift with the Zwift Ride? Yes. Does the idea of being stuck with 170mm cranks really irk some riders? Absolutely. And yet, so many people are buying it, and the positive reviews keep coming.

The Zwift Ride’s price point has driven down the cost of standalone direct drive trainers as well. The Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One now sells for $499USD, with a set of Play Controllers. JetBlack’s Victory trainer is just $399USD (when it’s in stock!) and boasts cutting-edge features like WiFi and race-mode that we’ve only seen in premium trainers prior to this year.

I don’t think prices can drop much more. But Zwift has done an amazing job of strategically lowering the bar when it comes to price, and that is opening up Zwift to a new audience.

A Virtual Shift

Speaking of hardware, we’re seeing more and more trainers coming online with support for Zwift’s virtual shifting. It seems crazy, but a year ago, only the Zwift Hub had virtual shifting support! Today, that list has expanded to the following:

Yes, Wahoo KICKR v5 owners are understandably miffed that Wahoo is not going to release virtual shifting support for the v5. And we could argue back and forth about whether Zwift should have created a more “open” standard for virtual shifting that could be used on any trainer without a firmware upgrade.

But at the end of the day, the truth is this: Zwift’s virtual shifting is an innovation they brought to the market that helps enable a quality experience on the platform, and chances are good that any Zwifter shopping for a new trainer will consider virtual shifting capabilities in their decision.

Community Re-Focus

In January of 2024, I got to hang out with Zwift CEO Eric Min at his home in Santa Monica for a few days. We enjoyed some good rides in the Malibu hills, but also spent hours talking about where Zwift is going.

Riding with Eric Min and Eddie Paletti

During that time, it was clear to me that Eric wasn’t fully satisfied with Zwift’s focus as a company. He wanted to see more of a focus on the community. So we talked… a lot… about what that might look like.

A month later, Zwift announced a major workforce reduction, including the exit of co-CEO Kurt Beidler. Other key leaders exited as well, and new ones came on board. Zwift’s board was making strategic changes.

Then in April, Zwift hosted its first Zwift Week since before Covid. The whole company came together at their Long Beach HQ for several days of meetings, talks, hangouts, and rides to help unify everyone behind a fresh vision. I was there, too – along with Shane Miller and Nathan Guerra.

There was a palpable feeling of Zwift leadership wanting to turn the page during Zwift Week. With Zwift just on the edge of profitability, with with Zwift Ride almost released, with the UCI Worlds being awarded to a competitor… Zwift needed to focus more than ever on keeping its community strong and growing.

So Zwift helped bring back the Zwiftcast (word is, another episode is on the way). And they organized the Community Racing Festival. Then just last week, Zwift Community Live was announced for April 2025 in Mallorca. A “Zwiftcon” is something Eric Min has been pushing for (again, we talked about in back in January) and he’s got some big dreams about what it could turn into.

Training Partner Expansion

Zwift has had its own library of structured workouts since early day, and they work great for a lot of people. But some Zwifters want more or different workouts, which is why Zwift created the ability to sync scheduled workouts with TrainingPeaks several years ago.

Starting in August 2024, though, Zwift began expanding the list of partners integrating their workouts/calendars into the platform via Zwift’s new Training API. First TriDot was announced, then XERT. This week we’re seeing JOIN and FastCat added to the list, and there are more on the way. Including TrainerRoad, which is a big one many Zwifters are looking for!

It’s wild (but not inaccurate) to think how these new Training API integrations are infinitely expanding the library of workouts automatically available on Zwift while also customizing that library to your specific needs. It may sound cliche, but we really are seeing training tools today that are exponentially more powerful than what we’ve had in the past. It’s fun to watch!

Competition and Rising Prices

Last year when I wrote this post, I listed Zwift’s three competitors. That list hasn’t changed:

  • IndieVelo (now TrainingPeaks Virtual): perhaps the most compelling entry on the list, due to the intriguing combination of a popular training platform (TrainingPeaks) and a fast-moving, race-focused game developer (George Gilbert, creator of IndieVelo). Really curious how this will evolve.
  • MyWhoosh: just finished hosting the UCI Esports Worlds, and did a decent job by all accounts. Still, it feels like people don’t use the platform because it’s good. They use it because it’s free and awards some big prize money to top racers.
  • Rouvy: a popular platform for riders who want to ride “real” roads. They’ve been doing a fair amount of expensive marketing in recent months.

Zwift raised their price in May 2024, which made some Zwifters look at the alternatives. But Zwift can’t spend much time looking at the competition. To remain the market leader they have to stay in business (hence the price increase), continue to innovate, and make the big moves that grow the overall market – not just market share.

Racing Developments

While elite racing is still happening on Zwift, mostly in the form of the new Zwift World Series, it feels like Zwift has shifted the weight of its racing focus off of the elite side and onto the community side in the past 6 months. This is especially interesting to see in light of MyWhoosh getting the nod to host UCI Worlds for three years, and IndieVelo rolling out a lot of race-focused innovation.

The big development this year in Zwift Racing is the release of Zwift Racing Score as the method of ranking and grouping riders. And while Zwift is still working on perfecting ZRS, surveys we (and others) have conducted seem to say that the clear majority of racers are seeing ZRS as an improvement over the old method of categorization.

I’m quite sure we’ll see ZRS continue to evolve, including significant changes in the coming weeks. Zwift needs to get this right, and they know it.

So Many Rides, So Little Time

There was no in-game event calendar nine years ago, and today (I just checked) there are literally 350+ events per day on Zwift’s calendar. Amazing!

Maintaining the perfect event calendar is no easy task, though. There is an uneasy tension that exists between Zwift-organized events like Tour of Watopia and community-organized events.

The big Zwift events get lots of participation, but they also reduce numbers for community-organized events. There’s often a Zwift-owned event happening each hour, as well as the always-on Robopacers. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, but the simple fact is that Zwift’s stronger presence on their calendar makes it harder for community members to launch new group rides or even maintain existing ones.

Working with the community to develop a properly-dense event calendar is no easy job, and I’m glad I don’t have to do it. James Bailey: I salute you!

What I am responsible for is a small number of Zwift Insider events, most notably the Tiny Race Series. Based on my experience with those events, I would love to see Zwift invest in better backend tools for event organizers. Improving these systems would reduce event configuration errors and streamline the creation and editing of events, logically leading to higher-quality event experiences for end users.

Clubs: What Now?

Things haven’t changed much with Clubs in the past few years, apart from Zwift raising limits so Clubs can get bigger and Zwifters can join more of them.

Here’s what irks me, though: even with one of the largest Clubs on Zwift (35.9k members, click here to join) I still struggle to put it to good use. The Club chat tool is very limited (no tagging members, no clickable URLs) which means most members just turn off notifications and never check the chat. And apart from chat, the club really just becomes a container for Club events.

Which is fine, I suppose. But having built and interacted with online communities for 20+ years, I can’t help but believe Zwift Clubs could be so much more. I’d love to see:

  • Club kit designs
  • Voice chat in game with Club members
  • Team racing where Club members are automatically linked together
  • More powerful Club chat/discussion tools
  • Club leaderboards, to promote competition between Clubs
  • and more!

The Future Is Bright

It’s not hyperbole to say my involvement with the Zwift community has been life-changing. It’s changed my fitness, it’s changed my work life – it’s even changed my vacation plans (Mallorca 2025)! And I’ve loved every minute of it.

I’ve made so many good connections with good people through Zwift, and every day I’m reminded that I am truly blessed to serve the community through my work here at Zwift Insider. It’s something I hope to do for many years to come.

Ride on!

What about You?

How long have you been on Zwift? Do you feel the platform is moving in a good direction? What features are at the top of your wishlist? Share below!

Top 5 Zwift Videos: Weight on Zwift, Zwift RIDE, and AI on Zwift

Oli Chi
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2
Top 5 Zwift Videos: Weight on Zwift, Zwift RIDE, and AI on Zwift

How does weight affect performance on Zwift? In this week’s top video, one Zwifter runs a set of tests to answer this question.

Also included in this week’s top videos are videos about the Zwift Ride, using XERT with Zwift, an interview with Eric Min, and Wahoo KICKR updates.

Does Your Weight Hold You Back on Zwift?

Does weight really affect your Zwift performance? Adam from Road to A goes through a series of tests to answer this question. (Related: here’s our post on the topic.)

Upgrading The Zwift Ride With the Ultimate Handlebar Setup / Redshift Kitchen Sink

Mike from RunBikeMike sets up his Zwift Ride and gives a tutorial on how to replace the handlebars to increase the comfort of the smart frame.

Zwift CEO Talks AI, Big Tech Outlook

Zwift CEO Eric Min discusses AI, business, and more with Bloomberg. Take a listen!

Zwift Meets Xert: Adaptive Training Just Got Better!

Tariq from Smart Bike Trainers dives into the new XERT and Zwift integration. In this video, he discusses how the integration works and the benefits that this provides for Zwift and XERT users.

Wahoo KICKR Firmware Updates: V6 | MOVE | CORE | BIKE V2 | SHIFT // Zwift Integration!

Get all the details of the latest Wahoo KICKR firmware update in Shane Miller’s most recent upload.

Got a Great Zwift Video?

Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!

Watopia Expansion Teaser: Eric Min and Jon Mayfield Ride… in Jarvis?

Eric Schlange
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Watopia Expansion Teaser: Eric Min and Jon Mayfield Ride… in Jarvis?

Watopia Expansion Teaser: Eric Min and Jon Mayfield Ride… in Jarvis?

Zwift turns 10 this fall, and over the years, Eric Min and others at the company have leaked activities on Strava to tease new roads and other features.

The last Strava leak of new roads was Eric Min’s ride in Neokyo in November of 2021. But today, Zwift co-founders Eric Min and Jon Mayfield appear to have ridden together on the upcoming Watopia expansion.

See Jon’s ride on Strava, titled “Only time I’ll have the KOM jersey” >
See Eric’s ride on Strava, titled “Zwift Expansion — the early peek!” >
See Jon’s ride on Zwift.com >
See Eric’s ride on Zwift.com >

Some screenshots from Strava:

New roads rising from the ocean…
Nearing the intersection to new roads…
A Banjo Cafe?! Sign me up!
A nod to the blue bots of old?
Descending from the top of the KOM Reverse
More descent from the KOM Revese

I reached out to Jon Mayfield when I saw his ride, and he told me, “Last time I ever had a KOM and a sprint jersey was back on the day we launched the original Jarvis.”

Jon Mayfield with the KOM jersey
…and the sprint jersey

Digging Into the Data

Looking at the Strava map of Eric and Jon’s rides with a little help from ZwiftMap for Strava, we can see the shape of the new roads and that they connect to existing Watopia roads via a spur from the Volcano Circuit:

If that shape looks familiar, you may be an OG Zwifter. It’s the exact shape of Jarvis, the original Zwift island. After months of speculation, we’ve found our answer: Zwift is bringing Jarvis back! A fitting move for the 10-year anniversary.

Jon’s activity shows the loop’s profile as he rides a counterclockwise lap first, then flips a u-turn to ride it clockwise:

Eric’s ride used a route titled “Deca Dash” (you can see the route name at the top-left on the minimap, which is sporting a fresh route profile that I’m sure will be released soon):

The Deca Dash route appears to be 10 laps of the new loop (hence the “Deca” name) for a total of 47km. This indicates that the new loop is 4.7km in length.

Looking at Jon and Eric’s rides in the Companion app confirms that each lap also includes sprint, KOM, and lap leaderboard segments, in both directions. Currently they’re simply titled “Jarvis KOM”, “Jarvis Sprint” and “Jarvis Lap”:

The screenshots give us some metrics for two of the segments:

  • Jarvis KOM Reverse: 1.3km at 3.1%
  • Jarvis Sprint Reverse: 200 meters at 0.2%

Availability

Zwift has said Watopia’s expansion will be available to ride in Tour of Watopia events beginning tomorrow, November 12. So my guess is we’ll all be in Watopia-Jarvis very soon.

Your Thoughts

Excited for some fresh roads, scenery, and leaderboard segments? What are your thoughts on Zwift’s latest expansion? Share below!

Using Bike Choice To Alter Your Zwift Group Ride Efforts: Road vs Gravel vs MTB

Eric Schlange
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Using Bike Choice To Alter Your Zwift Group Ride Efforts: Road vs Gravel vs MTB

Using Bike Choice To Alter Your Zwift Group Ride Efforts: Road vs Gravel vs MTB

Important: this post contains performance data which was invalidated in Zwift’s mid-March 2025 update. Learn about those changes and get updated performance data >

I recently agreed to lead a group ride on Zwift. This was a charity ride, and just one event in a series meant to deliver a consistent, inclusive experience for everyone.

The ride’s stated pace was 1.8 W/kg, which works out to 151 watts for me since I weigh 84kg. But I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of spending 90 minutes on Tempus Fugit at 150 watts, since that effort just felt too low. My easy zone 2 rides are typically closer to 200 watts.

(Side note: Tadej Pogacar recently revealed that his zone 2 efforts on flat roads are in the 290-300W range. And he only weighs 66kg, putting his zone 2 at 4.4-4.5 W/kg. That’s just crazy.)

Anyway, given that I didn’t want to just spin my legs for 90 minutes, I began pondering ways I could put in the effort I was targeting on the day, while still delivering the intended ride experience for everyone else. Or to put it more succinctly: how could I make my effort a bit harder, without actually speeding up the ride and making everyone else work harder to keep up?

Yes, I could change my height in game (read how height affects speed in Zwift) or change my weight (read how weight affects speed in Zwift), or do a combination of the two. That would have gotten me where I wanted to be. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of doing in game what I might do outside in a similar situation. What if I changed to a slower bike in Zwift, forcing me to work a bit harder to hit the speed I would have hit at 1.8 W/kg on a road bike?

I did this outside just a few weeks ago, actually. A friend of mine wanted to go on a road ride, but he hasn’t been riding long. So I met him on my mountain bike, and we rode around for an hour: him on a road bike, me on a mountain bike, both getting the workout we wanted while hanging out together.

As I looked into doing this on Zwift, though, I had a question: just how much would switching to a gravel or MTB slow me in game? That is, what sort of bike did I need to choose if I wanted to match the speed I would have traveled at 1.8 W/kg on a road bike while holding closer to my target of 2.4 W/kg?

I put the bots to work. And I ran the tests at various power levels, so the results could be used by ride leaders and participants taking part in rides with various stated paces. Let’s dive into the results!

Lone Rider (No Drafting)

I began by testing a lone rider on the Tempus Fugit course. This is the flattest route in Zwift, and it’s where I would be leading my group ride. The rider was my standard bot: 183cm tall, 75kg in weight. I tested at 1, 2, 3, and 4 W/kg (so 75, 150, 225, and 300 Watts, respectively). And I tested using a representative road bike (Specialized Venge S-Works with DT Swiss Disc), gravel bike (Specialized Crux with Roval gravel wheels), and MTB (Scott Spark RC World Cup).

Here are the results of the lone rider tests:

Nothing surprising here… the road bike is faster than the gravel bike, which is faster than the MTB. (Any self-respecting Zwifter already understands this, as bike performance in Zwift is a product of Crr as well as frame and wheel aero and weight parameters. Like outdoors, albeit a bit simplified.)

What’s more interesting, for the purposes of this discussion, is to look at where the lines meet particular speeds or W/kg. If I look at where the road bike’s line hits approximately 1.8 W/kg, I can see that equates to approximately 31 kilometers per hour. Move horizontally from there to meet the gravel bike’s line and I see that to hold 31kph on the gravel bike I would need to hold ~2.25 W/kg. Move a bit more to the right to the MTB line, and I can see it will take 2.5 W/kg to hold 31kph on the MTB.

This chart can be used for other paces, too. Is the ride supposed to be led at 3 W/kg? That would be around 34.5 kph, which would require ~3.6 W/kg on the gravel bike and ~3.8 W/kg on the MTB.

But wait… we’re not done yet. This test only shows what happens with a single rider, but you’re leading a group ride that (hopefully) has lots of participants! In that situation, what usually happens (especially on lower-paced group rides) is the leader sits in the middle of the group, holding the stated pace, while the group bunches around the leader.

That means you’ll probably be sitting in the draft, holding the target pace. And that changes things. It means you’ll be traveling faster at the target W/kg than you would be yourself.

Time for a second set of tests.

Drafting Rider

For these tests, I used two bots. The drafting bot was simulating me, the ride leader, holding the target W/kg. And the bot ahead, in the wind, was the ride participant, giving the ride leader a helpful draft. I pushed the lead bot’s power as high as it could go without dropping the drafting bot. This ensured our “pack” was moving as fast as possible.

In this scenario, the lines look similar to the first test – they’re mostly just shifted higher, as I’m able to hold a higher speed for a given power output when I’m drafting. (Again, basic cycling physics). If we go again to the 1.8 W/kg mark on the road bike, we can move horizontally to find target power numbers if I choose to ride a gravel or MTB:

And so we arrive at the answer to the question that started this whole experiment. If I’m asked to lead a flat road ride at 1.8 W/kg, what W/kg would I need to hold in order to keep the ride at the stated pace while riding a gravel bike or MTB?

The answer, with some necessary approximation built in, is ~2.4 W/kg on the gravel bike, or ~2.6 W/kg on the MTB. And that works out perfectly for me, since 2.4 W/kg is 202W at my weight.

Nerd note #1: for extra credit, I can look and see that if I happen to poke my nose into the wind, I would need to increase my power to ~2.9 W/kg in order to maintain the pack speed of 33.8kph that is expected at this pace.

Nerd note #2: if you’re wondering why the power numbers for gravel and MTB to match the road bike are higher in the drafting test than the lone rider test, it’s because as speed increases, more power is required to overcome a given rolling resistance. Since both the gravel and MTB have a higher rolling resistance than the road bike on tarmac, they’ll require relatively more power as speeds increase.

Wrapping It Up: Leading Well

So I found my target power number(s) for the ride, and worked to hold them consistently to ensure a good ride experience for everyone.

And since I try to be a good ride leader who leads clearly, I even messaged the group to let them know that I was on a gravel bike, so my W/kg would be higher than expected, but the overall ride speed would not be.

When all was said and done, by riding the gravel bike I got the workout I was looking for, and everyone else got to ride at the stated pace of the ride they joined. A win-win!

Questions or Comments?

Have you ever used this trick in a Zwift group ride? How about outdoors? Share your thoughts below…

Marginal Gains Podcast Featuring Zwift Product VP Mark Cote

Eric Schlange
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8
Marginal Gains Podcast Featuring Zwift Product VP Mark Cote

Marginal Gains Podcast Featuring Zwift Product VP Mark Cote

Zwift’s VP of Product Mark Cote recently sat down with the hosts of Silca’s Marginal Gains podcast to discuss all things Zwift, including why a crew from Zwift recently booked two days in the Specialized Win Tunnel. (Teaser: I was there too! More on this soon…)

A few noteworthy items I caught Mark mentioning as I listened through the episode:

  • Zwift is looking at tweaking the rider CdA that is inferred in game based on height/weight/gender
  • 35% of all Zwifters did one race last year
  • Indoor cycling has revolutionized the training habits of cyclists. One of Zwift’s Training API partners recently shared that they see a 60/40% split of indoor/outdoor workouts among their users.
  • Zwift is currently testing Core sensor integration in game
  • A discussion of “honest marginal gains” you can have in Zwift
  • In the future Zwift will have multiple crank lengths for the Ride, because people have been asking for it
  • AI and Zwift: what are some things Zwift’s developers are looking at and working on regarding AI integration with the platform?
  • TrainerRoad integrating with Zwift’s Training API (spoiler: Mark doesn’t commit to anything… but indicates that work is being done to make it happen.)
  • Velodrome in Zwift: it exists!
  • The possibility of creating a massive single Everesting climb in Zwift
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