It’s been roughly 7 years since Zwift increased their subscription price. Since then, countless features have been added and the industry has had its ups and downs. This week’s highlight video informs Zwifters about the recent price increase.
We’ve also selected videos about how weight affects Zwift speed, cheating on Zwift, using Zwift to train for triathlons, and a Zwifter’s attempt to hold a world-record pace.
Zwift Subscription Price Rise May 2024 // What You Need to Know
Zwift recently announced new price changes for the first time since 2017. Shane Miller, GPLama, updates Zwifters with everything they need to know about the change.
Time Savings From Weight And Why Losing Weight Is A Marginal Gain
How much faster does losing weight really make you? David from the Zwift Analysis Network runs several tests to determine how big/small the gains are. (You may also be interested in reading “How Rider Weight Affects Speed On Zwift” for more data on this topic.)
I have lost patience with Zwift, and WTRL
Ever since Zwift racing first became a thing, cheating on Zwift has been a problem. Titanium Ben shares his frustration with Zwift and WTRL’s lack of action to address cheating.
Daniela Ryf’s Training Secrets | How The 10x World Champ Uses Zwift To Reach Her Best
Global Triathlon Network takes an inside look into how Daniela Ryf, 10-time IRONMAN World Champion, uses Zwift as a key platform to train for her races.
Can a Zwifter Survive the Tour de France Pace?
Adam joins the Espada Challenge on Zwift – an event where riders aim to hold the one-hour record pace of Miguel “Big Mig” atop the Pinarello Espada.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Learn About Upcoming SISU Racing Events: Tour, Crit, Reissu
The team at SISU Racing, now one of the most prominent teams racing on Zwift, announced on last week’s The Wrap that they are hosting a bumper four months of races!
Let’s take a look at what’s under the hood of that SISU Boogie van…
It’s back bigger and better with 7 stages during the Men’s TDF. For now the headlines are to register, download the Tour Poster (below), and take a look at the promotional clip – it really is bigger and better!
Route details (click to enlarge)Sprinter and Mountain Goat jersey details (click to enlarge)
Three classifications: GC, sprinters, and mountain goats!
For the race schedule and further information visit sisu.racing/tour
Dynamic, tactical, and high energy, that’s the spirit of SISU CRIT!
Season 1 is a 12-race series (best six count towards the overall championship) held on some of Zwift’s fastest roads. It’s every Tuesday (into Wednesday if you’re in Oceania or Asia) with pauses for SISU’s other two series.
Each race will be held in four time slots and all races are points races. They will be awarded in each grade as follows:
FAL (first across the line) to the first 20 riders in each grade will be awarded 40, 38, 36, 34, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 points. See event details for which laps.
The first 20 riders in each grade across the line at the end of the race will be awarded 250, 240, 230, 220, 200, 180, 160, 140, 130, 110, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10.
For the race schedule and further information visit sisu.racing/crit
The Finnish word Reissu roughly translates as a journey or trip, embodying the concept of travel, adventure, or excursion. SISU Reissu is a 3 or 5-Stage GC series held over the course of a week. (The shorter journey is for those Zwifters who can’t commit to five days of racing in a week.)
Note: SISU wrapped up their first Giro-inspired Reissu last week and over 1,000 Zwifters from 60 countries raced in the series!
All SISU events are mass starts, aligning with the Finnish social construct of SISU: determination, courage, and resilience. With SISU we are stronger than we think.
All three series have a GC with winners awarded the Johtaja (Leader) Jersey (symbolically at this stage).
They are a sassy bunch with ten popping jerseys and a kit collection that is impressive – the collection will be available to order during the SISU Tour.
Flamme Rouge Racing (FRR) has built a reputation for incredible and unique Zwift race events over the past three years, but this Saturday they’re doing something totally different: a 24-hour Charity Club Challenge!
The basic idea is simple: join one or more of the FRR events in order to climb France’s epic Ventoux climb to raise funds for good causes. Read below for details!
The remaining 30% will be shared between three cubs (for their charities) whose riders complete the most ascents during the challenge
How To Donate
FRR is asking riders to donate at least a minimum amount through the FRR JustGiving page:
For riders completing multiple ascents, £5 for each ascent completed
For riders completing a single ascent, just £10
FRR asks that you share your VenTop effort with friends and family so they have the opportunity to reward your efforts and perhaps twist your arm to do another ascent for a few pounds more!
Additionally, all riders will be able to purchase an FRR T-shirt at the lowest cost possible, and each shirt sold will generate a £1 donation.
Event Schedule
Events are scheduled every 30 minutes for 24 hours beginning 7am BST May 18th (2am EDT, 11pm PDT). Events are on one lap of France’s Ven-Top route, so if you want to do multiple separate ascents you can finish the route then join the next event, which will be at most 30 minutes away.
Anyone can simply join an event, ride up Ven-Top, and make a donation via JustGiving. But if you want your efforts to count toward your Club’s totals and/or the additional carrots below, you’ll need to register with FRR (click “Register Your Participation Here” on the FRR homepage.)
If you are attempting multiple ascents as part of a continuous challenge like vEveresting, FRR says to “start one of the FRR events and just keep going, once you complete your journey send Race Control the Strava activity and we will do the rest.”
More Carrots!
As if a good hard ride for a great cause isn’t enough, FRR has extra carrots on offer for exceptional participation:
All riders who complete at least 3 ascents will be:
Awarded the exclusive in-game FRR Jersey
Entered into a drawing where 2 lucky riders will receive £100 for use within the FRR Club Shop
The leading man and woman who complete the most ascending meters within the duration of the event (cut off time 0700 BST May 19th), thus setting the first World Record (applications will be made to Guinness World Records) for virtual biking ascent within 24hrs, will receive £200 for use within the FRR Club Shop
Questions or Comments?
Be sure to visit FlammeRougeRacing.com for complete details about this event. Got questions or comments? Share below!
Zwift version 1.65 begins its phased rollout today. This is a very minor update, with a few bug fixes and quality of life tweaks. See details below…
Release Notes
There’s not much to dig into in this update, but we’ve added a few notes in italics after Zwift’s notes below:
Restored the count of paired devices displayed next to the Pairing button on the Home Screen. The updated Home Screen released two weeks ago had removed the count of paired devices from the pairing icon – this has been restored.
Corrected the name of the Queen’s Highway After Party route badge. This badge was released two weeks ago, and was incorrectly named “Queens Highway Reverse”.
Fixed an issue where meetup invite messages did not display properly when in-game.
Fixed a visual issue where the Alpe du Zwift “Sector Stats” pane could overlap with Personal Records.
Fixed an issue where the Intersection Controls setting could be missing for Zwifters with steering devices connected.
Fixed an issue that could cause some steering devices to feel less responsive. Recently we’ve experienced some sluggish steering, sometimes only in one direction, and only in events. Our contacts at Zwift say this update this fix the issue.
Wahoo’s KICKR is the most popular direct-drive smart trainer in the world, and for good reason. The latest versions are quiet, super solid, WiFi connected, and provide accurate power readings within +-1%. The KICKR’s little brother, the KICKR CORE, is hugely popular as well, especially now that it’s available as the KICKR CORE Zwift One.
KICKR MOVEKICKRKICKR CORE Zwift OneKICKR Snap
While Wahoo trainers are well-built and popular, they do require calibration in order to deliver accurate power readings. There are actually three kinds of calibrations supported by Wahoo trainers, so let’s make sure we understand those first:
Spindown Calibration: this is the typical manual calibration that has been done for years on Wahoo and most other smart trainers. You can do it from within the Zwift game, but we recommend using Wahoo’s software for calibration.
Auto Spindown Calibration: KICKR v5 and v6, KICKR MOVE, and KICKR CORE now support automatic calibration. Basically, the trainer’s firmware automatically does the spindown calibration (#1 above) whenever you stop pedaling for several seconds.
Factory Spindown: this calibration method “will read and re-register the precise drag values of your unit, allowing the algorithm to accurately calculate your power output during use.” A factory spindown is used to determine brake strength, and according to Wahoo “is only required if a significant error exists in power after performing a regular spindown.”
In the ideal scenario, users of KICKR v1-4 trainers should be able to perform a spindown calibration and see power numbers that are accurate within +-2%. Additionally, users of the newer KICKR v5, KICKR v6, KICKR MOVE, or KICKR CORE trainers shouldn’t need to worry at all about calibrating their trainers, as they’re automatically calibrated (assuming you’ve updated your trainer’s firmware to support auto-calibration, a step many KICKR CORE owners have missed).
But those are ideal scenarios. In the real world, I’ve seen perfectly functional KICKR trainers that refused to manually calibrate or auto-calibrate accurately. They would, instead, consistently read too high or too low. This includes a KICKR v4, a KICKR MOVE shipped directly to me as a test unit when it was first released, and a KICKR v6 that performed flawlessly for over a year before starting to read too high. In fact, the majority of the KICKR trainers I’ve used have needed a factory spindown performed at least once!
I’m not sure what causes a KICKR to go “out” and need a factory spindown, but based on my experience and others I’ve heard sometimes moving the trainer (picking it up, setting it down, etc) can throw things off, requiring a factory spindown before the trainer is accurate again.
KICKR v6 Example
When racing on Zwift I often dual-record my power data, so I can compare my trainer readings to my Assioma Duo pedals. Recently, I started noticing that my trusty KICKR v6 had started to read, on average, closer to 2% higher than the Assiomas, where in the past they had consistently been within 1% of each other.
I didn’t think much of it until the day I hopped on to ride and noticed that the KICKR was reading much higher than my Assiomas – in the neighborhood of 20 extra watts, even when I was only putting out 140W!
I let the trainer spin down without me pedaling, to trigger an auto spindown calibration, but the power readings didn’t get any more accurate even though I repeated the process several times.
Here’s what that dual recording looked like (click chart to see live data on ZwiftPower):
A mismatched dual recording, with the KICKR v6 reading 17.09% higher than the Assioma pedals
So I disconnected the trainer from Zwift, opened up the Wahoo app, and performed a factory spindown. Closed the Wahoo app, paired the trainer up to Zwift, and starting riding. Viola! The power was accurate once again! Here’s what that dual recording looked like (again, click for live data):
A nicely-matched dual recording, with the KICKR v6 reading 0.44% higher than the Assioma pedals
(The disconcerting thing here is that if I didn’t have a trusted secondary power source, I might have thought my KICKR’s power numbers were accurate since I was trusting it to auto-calibrate properly.)
Warnings from Wahoo
On Wahoo’s Factory Spindown page, they say “This process is performed during production to account for very small differences in the manufacturing process and should not be done unless absolutely necessary.” They also state that “Performing a factory spindown improperly may cause harm to your device as the calibration test produces heavy drag on the unit.”
Despite these rather serious-sounding warnings, I’ve never heard of anyone damaging their Wahoo trainer via a Factory Spindown. I have, however, heard of many people fixing inaccurate power readings via a Factory Spindown!
Performing a Factory Spindown
Wahoo has hidden the factory spindown utility in its mobile app, presumably to avoid users accidentally running it. They also don’t make the support page easy to find.
So here are precise instructions for accessing and completing a KICKR factory spindown. These instructions apply to all Wahoo KICKR trainers.
Before You Begin
You will need at least 5 minutes to complete a Factory Spindown on your KICKR, assuming you’ve already got the Wahoo app installed.
Make sure your KICKR isn’t connected to any other devices such as Zwift or your bike computer. (If another program is controlling your KICKR’s brake the spindown may not complete properly.)
Step 1: Connect to Your KICKR
This is done via the Wahoo app on iOS or Android (screenshots in this post are from iOS, Android may differ). Make sure your KICKR is powered on and Bluetooth is enabled on your phone, then from within the app tap Devices.
If your KICKR isn’t listed, tap the + to add it to your list of devices.
Step 2: Begin Factory Spindown Routine
Tap your KICKR trainer in the device list, then tap the image of your trainer at the top of the screen 10x (or until the spindown dialogue pops up). Tap “Factory Spindown”, and start pedaling. You must do a 3-minute warmup before letting the unit spin down.
Tap your KICKR trainer in the listTap the image of your KICKR quickly 10x, until the dialogue pops upTap “Factory Spindown”Pedal for 3 minutes to begin your factory spindown
Step 3: Complete the Factory Spindown
The factory spindown consists of three simple steps:
A 3-minute warmup, riding at a “comfortable speed”.
Accelerate to 20 mph, then stop pedaling and let the KICKR coast down until the spindown completes.
Repeat step 2
Once completed, the screen will display “Spindown Complete”, along with some stats. All done!
Spining down from 20mph for the first timeGetting up to speed for spindown #2All done!
Questions or Comments?
Have you performed a factory spindown on your KICKR? What was the result? Anything else useful you can share? Post below!
With summer on the horizon, Zwift has released a new “This Season on Zwift” press release outlining the features that will be coming to Zwift throughout the summer. Learn all about the new features that were announced in this week’s top video from the one and only GPLama.
In addition, we’ve got some exciting videos about an incredible Alpe du Zwift PR, an exciting first Zwift race win, a tour of a Zwifter’s new setup, and initial impressions of virtual shifting.
New Zwift Updates May 2024 // What’s Coming Soon // Schedule Events/Workouts
Zwift recently released a press release detailing the latest updates that will be arriving over the coming few months. Shane Miller, GPLama, shares all the details about everything that is coming soon!
Ed Laverack vs Alpe du Zwift PR // Time to beat = 34:20
Ed Laverack is back with another PR attempt up the Alpe. Can he beat his old personal best of 34:20?
Zwift Chicken Dinner, Baby!
After months and months of racing, Ryan Condon has finally achieved one of his big goals: a win! Watch it all unfold in his latest video.
My New Zwift Setup for 2024
After recently moving to the UK, J Mower has revamped his setup for 2024. In his latest video, he gives viewers a tour of his new setup.
Zwift Click First Impressions and Installation
Erik Lee recently got his Zwift Click, which unlocks virtual shifting on his Wahoo KICKR trainer. Hear everything he has to say about the Zwift Click.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
This week, Hollie and Dustin talk with Rich Vale and Allan “Parky” about the Flamme Rouge Racing 24 Hours Atop VenTop on Saturday, May 18, 2024 from 7AM YST (Yorkshire Standard Time) to 7AM the next day YST!!
This is a great charity event that will raise money for Cyclists Fighting Cancer (CFC) and Bodie Hodges Foundation (BHF). This is FRR’s first-ever charity event. Come, join, and be part of history! There are even some prizes for the most ascents! You could basecamp, you could Everest, you could do one ascent, you could donate, or you can do it all!
Rich and Parky talk about how they came up with this idea, how they chose these charities, and how all of us can get involved. Hollie and Dustin will definitely be out on course. Please make sure you say hello while riding! The ascent is only about 90-100 minutes so perfect time to listen to this episode or catch up on any episodes you may have missed. Thank you all for listening!
Each week Dustin and the Queen of Yorkshire, Hollie, get together to talk about Zwift, life, and everything else. Watopian Weekly is available on Spotify and Google Podcasts.
When asked about competitive women’s-only racing on Zwift, most people would immediately think of the Zwift Racing League (ZRL). This popular series offers women fast, electrifying racing against other women of a similar ability, while also working closely with up to five teammates to maximize the team result. For many racers, ZRL is the only women’s specific series they participate in during the year. But it only runs between the months of September and March.
Fortunately, there are a growing number of women’s only race series that could engender as much competitive spirit within the women’s community on Zwift. The recently-held Iceni Racing Series is one example. It offers women another opportunity to compete in the “off-season” in a fun, supportive environment.
So, what can you expect from a women’s race series like Iceni?
Varied, strong fields. Shorter, smaller series like Iceni offer an opportunity to race against larger fields, challenge you with a variety of different race formats, and require strategic planning for multi-day stage events. In March of 2024, the Iceni series had over 250 participants over the 4 weeks of racing. Races occur in the cross-over season, where those in the southern hemisphere start to move indoors and riders in the northern hemisphere are not yet transitioning to outdoor riding.
Individual style racing. Iceni is also an individual performance race series, which makes tactics very different.
All female broadcasting/commentating. Having an all female broadcasting team adds a special sauce to this series. With only 4 races, more time is spent covering each race in more depth.
Here’s what women had to say about the racing:
“Team eSRT took part of the ICENI race series, we had a blast! Thank you Aeonian race team for a fun well organized series! 🙂 Team eSRT had a great series, our women performed, helped and pushed eachother, fun series, great efforts and results we all can be proud off! 🙂” – Team eSRT
“Thank you Karla for including us Aussie girls this time around.. I truly appreciated it.” – Tammy (AHDRL CherryBombs)
“Just to say the eSRT ladies all enjoyed racing the ICENI series so thank you so much for highlighting and giving an opportunity to celebrate Womens racing – the livestream was exceptional and the commentary was impressive. Congrats to all riders and all involved in bringing an awesome Month of Women’s racing!!!” – Vinnette Powell, eSRT
More praise for the series:
“A Great Series, thank you Karla awesome to have such many ladies to fight with throughout the month!”
“Awesome series, cheers for putting it together! Great challenge and great competitors”
“I really enjoyed it Karla – really appreciate the effort you put in to organising and manage all the races. Great fun watching the YouTube coverage too.”
Get Racing!
If you’re interested in joining a women’s series, please take a look at the coverage from this year, below. Join a series that works for you by clicking on the race calendar from the women’s home page.
Right now, you can find the Zwift Women’s Series, which spans eight weeks and offers multiple opportunities to race per day and a catchup day on Saturday. If you’d like to try out something like the popular weekly Team Time Trials, look into joining a women’s team.
All About Next Week’s “Ride Like King 16” WBR Benefit Events
Celebrate Ride Like King’s 16th year (and 7th year on Zwift) next week with events featuring celebrity leaders, product giveaways, jersey unlocks, and even Buffalo bikes!
Every 500km ridden by the Zwift community means one more Buffalo bike donated to World Bicycle Relief – up to 600 bikes! Read on for details…
What is Ride Like King?
In 2007, at age 73, Giant Group King Liu completed a 15-day, 927km ride around Taiwan. This resulted in a renewed passion for cycling and the benefits it brings to the individual, community, and country. Following this, King traveled to countries and spoke with governments to promote the positive impacts of cycling.
His message resonated within the company as well. ‘Ride Like King’ started in 2009 as a small event within the Giant Group to celebrate their founder’s passion for cycling. But it grew to be an annual event and now is in its 16th edition! Zwift is an active partner and has been hosting the event on its platform since 2018.
The WBR Buffalo Bike IRLAnd in game!
Event Details
“Ride to Raise” warm-up rides are scheduled hourly from 6am UTC Monday, May 13 to 3am UTC Friday, May 17th. These rides rotate every other hour between two formats and have no special unlocks or prize drawings, but rides in these events (and all events in the RLK16 series) count toward our community distance goal to earn Buffalo bikes:
Open Category D will ride Giant Revolt gravel bikes
Women-Only Category E will ride Liv Devote gravel bikes
“Celebration Rides” are scheduled from 4am UTC Friday, May 17th to 6am UTC Monday, May 20th and include in-game kit unlocks and prize drawing entries. The schedule rotates through three blocks of events, with each block hosting 7 event time slots which are 4 hours apart:
The big weekend Celebration Rides will feature pro riders from Giant and Liv’s most notable teams, including Team Jayco AlUla, Liv AlUla, Liv Factory Racing, the Giant Factory Off-Road Team, and Liv Racing Collective. Also, Giant and Liv ambassadors like Ayesha McGowan, Gustav Iden, and others will join in on the fun!
Hint: check the signup list in Zwift Companion to see who is signed up as a ride leader for any events you’re interested in!
Giveaways and Prizes
Participate in the RLK main events from May 17–19, and you’ll unlock the exclusive Ride Like King 16 kit in game.
Also, each main event you complete earns you an entry to win a limited-edition RLK16 jersey along with a signed card by King Liu himself! Three winners will be drawing per main event, meaning 63 winners will be drawn overall.
