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Four Temporary Zwift Hacks for Fast Bikes and Wheels

Eric Schlange
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92
Four Temporary Zwift Hacks for Fast Bikes and Wheels

Four Temporary Zwift Hacks for Fast Bikes and Wheels

Due to a rare combination of Zwift events and bugs/misconfigurations, there are currently four very time-limited “hacks” available to all Zwifters.

There’s something here for everyone, but these should be particularly appealing to lower-level Zwifters looking to procure faster in-game setups. Read on for details

#1: Cervelo Aspero 5 (Faster Upgrading)

The new Cervelo Aspero 5 is the most aero gravel bike on Zwift, beating the next-fastest bikes by just over 3 seconds across an hour of riding. It’s a bit heavy, so maybe not the best choice for races that involve steeper, longer climbs. But it’s still one of the top 4 gravel bikes on Zwift.

Currently, the Aspero 5 is set up as a mid-level bike in terms of upgrades. This means it can be upgraded to top performance with much less work than the other top gravel bikes, which are all set as high-level upgrade bikes.

  • A mid-range bike requires you to ride 160+200+240+280=880km and spend 50k+100k+150k+200k=500,000 Drops to reach stage 4 and top speed.
  • A high-end bike requires you to ride 200+260+320+380+440=1600km and spend 100k+200k+350k+500k+750k=1,900,000 Drops to reach stage 5 and top speed.

A couple of caveats to note:

  • The Aspero 5 is currently misconfigured in terms of weight, meaning it’s a bit heavier than it should be. Zwift tells me this will be fixed in the next update, scheduled to roll out April 21. All the info above about its performance, as well as the data on today’s gravel performance post, are based on this revised weight.
  • I’m assuming Zwift will adjust this frame to use the high-end upgrade scheme in the April 21 update as well. When that happens, any upgrade stages you have reached (and paid Drops to unlock) will remain in place, but any new stages will be shifted to the high-end requirements. It’s a rather odd state of affairs, because you may have reached stage 4 and maximum performance, but once it is shifted to a high-end scheme, you’ll need to upgrade to stage 5 for maximum performance.

#2: Pinarello Dogma 2024 (No Level Lock)

The Dogma 2024 is one of the top-performing road frames on Zwift, and my personal favorite due to a very limited-availability paint scheme I unlocked back in 2024 so my in-game Dogma matches my IRL bike.

Zwift didn’t announce this, but a rider tipped me off that the Pinarello Dogma 2024, typically locked so only level 40+ riders can buy it, has had its level lock completely removed. Zwift did this because Zwift Camp: Breakthrough includes a “Starry Red” colorway unlock for the Dogma 2024, but you have to purchase the frame to use the unlock. I guess Zwift decided it would be a bummer to be below level 40 and unlock the colorway with no way to use it.

I’m sure the Dogma 2024 will return to a level 40+ lock once Zwift Camp: Breakthrough ends, so if you’re below level 40 and want this frame, buy it while you can! (It’s not cheap: 1,750,000 Drops.)

#3: Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560 Lava (Free Unlock)

I saved the best for last.

Zwift originally said riders would unlock a “Lava” colorway for the new Princeton Wake 6560 wheels as part of Zwift Camp: Breakthrough. But it turns out, you unlock the actual wheelset. That’s right: complete any two stages of Zwift Camp: Breakthrough, and you’ll get these wheels (a 685,000 Drops value!) free of charge.

This isn’t just any wheelset, either. As explained here, the Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560 White is the new top all-arounder in the game. Super strong climbers.

One minor caveat: the “Lava” version of these wheels is currently misconfigured and a bit slower than the “white” version. Zwift knows about it, and I bet this will be fixed to match the White wheels in the next release.

#4: Mystery Spinner Drops Farming

Lots of riders have been “Drops Farming” the Stoneway Sprint Reverse segment on Watopia’s southern coast, because every time you complete the segment you get a spin on the mystery spinner. If the spinner lands on a prize you already own, you’ll get a healthy 10k Drops bonus instead.

I was able to do a full “rep” in 1 minute, 40 seconds, without a lot of effort. 10k Drops every 100 seconds=360k per hour (and 72 U-turns)! Here’s a YouTuber showing how it’s done…

Tip: Several routes will get you to the Stoneway Sprint Reverse quickly. The Mayan 8 is one of them.

Note: this is a very limited-time opportunity. I believe the Mystery Spinners will end with the Big Spin 2026 ends, on April 20th.

Questions or comments?

Will you be taking advantage of any of these hacks? Share below!

Zwift Speed Tests: Gravel Frame and Wheel Ranking Charts

Eric Schlange
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41
Zwift Speed Tests: Gravel Frame and Wheel Ranking Charts

Your chosen bike frame and wheelset both affect speed in Zwift, so it makes sense for racers to do a little research and choose the best tool for the job. This is especially true for courses that include significant amounts of dirt road, because Zwift’s gravel bikes perform much better than road bikes on dirt!

On top of that, while Zwift’s 4-star rating system for weight and aero is simple and easy to understand, performance can vary even among frames with the same star ratings, because the stars are just an approximation. Plus, Zwift’s addition of bike upgrades means racers need to consider how a frame will perform when fully upgraded, not only when it’s first purchased.

Below, you’ll find charts ranking all the gravel bike frames and wheels based on their performance on flat roads and climbs. We also dig into how they perform in the dirt, including a chart comparing gravel bike performance to top road, TT, and MTB setups.

Charts last updated April 10, 2026

Gravel Frame Tarmac Performance

We begin with a simple chart showing how much time each gravel frame with the basic Zwift Gravel wheels will cost you compared to the stock Zwift Carbon frame with 32mm Carbon wheels across 1 hour of riding at 300W (4 W/kg) on tarmac.

A few helpful notes:

  • These are “stage 0” frames, meaning no performance upgrades have been applied.
  • Relative performance on tarmac is the same as relative performance on dirt. That is, if a gravel frame is faster than another gravel frame in these tarmac tests, it will be faster on dirt as well.
  • The times below are all negative because all gravel frame+wheel combos are much slower on tarmac than even the most basic road bikes. The faster your gravel frame, the less time you’ll lose.
  • Mouse over the bars for specific data. These numbers show how many seconds each particular gravel frame loses compared to the basic road setup. They also let you compare one gravel frame to another. For example, in our flat test, the Cannondale SuperX LAB71 loses 112.4 seconds, while the Lauf True Grit loses 148.7 seconds. That means the Cannondale is 36.3 seconds faster than the Lauf across an hour of flat tarmac.
  • The chart is sorted from the best-performing frames to the worst, and you can sort based on flat performance or climb performance.

Sort Chart By:

Flat Performance
Climb Performance

Takeaways

The most obvious takeaway is that gravel setups are much slower on tarmac than road setups. Even the most aero gravel bike still loses 109.1 seconds to a basic road bike, and the best climbing gravel bike loses 118.7 seconds across an hour of climbing.

Comparing gravel frames to gravel frames, you can see that the latest additions to Zwift’s Drop Shop are the clear top performers in the flat test, taking the top 4 spots. The climb test is a bit mixed, with the super light Specialized Crux in second place and the Canyon Grail essentially tied with the new Grail SLX. But apart from those two frames, the other top 4 spots go to the new gravel frames.

Gravel Frame Performance, Stacked

This chart uses the same data as above, but combines the flat and climb times, sorting by their sum, so frames are ranked based on total time cost across both tests. This chart lets you easily see the best all-around performers, and whether their performance leans to the aero or climbing side.

Takeaways

Nothing too earth-shattering here… four of the top five slots go to the newest bunch of gravel frames, with the Cannondale SuperX LAB71 delivering the best all-around performance.

Gravel Wheels Tarmac Performance

Like the frame chart above, this simple chart shows how much time a particular gravel wheelset (paired with the Zwift Gravel frame) will cost you across 1 hour of riding at 300W (4 W/kg) on tarmac compared to the stock Zwift Carbon road setup.

On Zwift, all gravel wheels are much slower on tarmac than even the most basic road wheels. So the numbers below are all negative, meaning you’re losing time to the stock road setup. The faster your wheels, the less time you’ll lose.

The chart is sorted from the best-performing wheels to the worst, and you can sort based on flat performance or climb performance.

Show Chart For:

Flat Performance
Climb Performance

Takeaways

On the flats, the two newest gravel wheelsets are tied at the top of the podium, while all the other wheelsets are ~13 seconds slower.

In terms of climb performance, you can see there isn’t much variation from the fastest to slowest wheels. Still, the two newest wheelsets sit atop the chart, while all the older wheelsets turn in essentially the same time, apart from the Zwift Gravel being just a touch slower.

The simple takeaway here is: use the Roval Terra Aero CLX or Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheels.

Jungle Performance – Gravel Frames + Wheels

What about performance in the dirt, where gravel bikes really shine?

Here are two simple charts showing how each gravel frame and wheelset performs in the Jungle. This clearly shows which frames and wheels perform best in the dirt.

Gravel Frames

Time savings vs Zwift Carbon Frame + 32mm Carbon Wheels across 1 hour of Jungle Circuit riding at 300W (4 W/kg). All tests used the Zwift Gravel wheels.

Gravel Wheels

Time savings vs Zwift Carbon Frame + 32mm Carbon Wheels across 1 hour of Jungle Circuit riding at 300W (4 W/kg). All tests used the Zwift Gravel frame.

Takeaways

The first thing to notice is that gravel setups are much faster than road setups on Zwift dirt. More on this below in the “Jungle Top Performer Shootout” chart, but you can broadly estimate that road bikes lose time to gravel bikes in the dirt at twice the rate that gravel bikes lose time to road bikes on tarmac. This is useful information when racing on routes that include both tarmac and dirt surfaces.

The overall ranking of the gravel frames isn’t surprising, with the four newest racing frames taking the top four slots. The same goes for the wheels – while it may look like the two new wheelsets (Roval Terra Aero CLX and Zipp ZIPP 303 XPLR SW) are much faster than the other wheelsets, it’s just a chart scaling trick. Their time gap in the dirt is about the same as on the tarmac.

The simple takeaways here are: buy one of the new gravel frames and new gravel wheelsets if you’re looking to race in the dirt.

Jungle Top Performer Shootout

Our final chart shows Jungle performance for top setups in Gravel, Road, TT, and MTB. People often want to know how one type of setup (eg, TT) performs vs another (eg, Gravel) in dirt, or on a mixed-surface route. There’s no way to quantify this precisely due to race dynamics (drafting) and power fluctuation, but at least the chart below shows how each type of bike broadly performs relative to the other in the Jungle.

Keep in mind the data displayed is seconds saved across an hour of riding, compared to the time of the Zwift Carbon frame paired with the 32mm Carbon wheels.

Use the toggle to see data for stage 0 frames or fully-upgraded stage 5 frames.

Show Chart For:

Stage 0
Stage 5

Takeaways

Gravel setups are the clear winner on dirt courses, beating the next contender (a TT setup) by over 2 minutes across an hour of riding when comparing stage 0 setups. Gravel bikes even come out well ahead when comparing an un-upgraded gravel bike to a fully-upgraded TT rig!

Cervelo Aspero 5 Note

Please note that all speed test data on this page for the Cervelo Aspero 5 reflects an updated (slightly lighter) version of the frame slated for release in Zwift version 1.112 on April 21. Read more about the Aspero 5 here >

Testing Methodology

The data above was generated using our standard bot testing procedures. Our bot rides alone on Zwift, set to 75kg weight, 183cm height. The aero (flat) test route is Tempus Fugit, the flattest course on Zwift, while the weight (climbing) test is done on Alpe du Zwift since it’s a long, steep, and fairly steady climb.

All of the data in these charts (and much more!) can be found in our public Google sheet of test data, and/or our new public Jungle Circuit test data sheet.

Questions or comments?

We’d love to know what you think of these charts, including suggestions for improvements. Share your comments below.

All About the New Specialized Diverge 4 Gravel Frame on Zwift

Eric Schlange
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4
All About the New Specialized Diverge 4 Gravel Frame on Zwift

All About the New Specialized Diverge 4 Gravel Frame on Zwift

Zwift’s latest update includes a new gravel frame from Specialized, the Diverge 4, the latest version of their popular Diverge gravel line. The Diverge 4 is an updated version of the Diverge frame added to Zwift in March 2022, delivering improved aerodynamics and reduced weight.

On Zwift, you’ll need to be updated to game version 1.111+ to see this bike in the Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 12+ with 400,000 Drops to buy it. Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:

“Confident, capable, and ready for the long haul: The Ultimate Getaway Vehicle. The race-tuned, adventure-approved Diverge is made for full-gas race days and off-grid epics. Cashe the horizon – or your rivals – it’s build for both.”

See our master list of all frames in Zwift >

It’s rated 2 stars for aero and 2 stars for weight, while the original Diverge was rated only 1 star for aero. So we knew this bike would be faster than the original Diverge. But how much faster? Since Zwift’s 4-star system isn’t the most granular of performance measurements, we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance at nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!

Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock gravel wheelset on the un-upgraded version of the frame.

Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance

Specialized’s Diverge 4 turns in a much stronger flat test performance than the original Diverge, beating it by 12 seconds over an hour of riding. In fact, the Diverge 4 beats the Specialized Crux that is currently in game (but only because that Crux is over 4 years old – surely if Zwift brings the latest Crux into the game, it will beat the Diverge in both tests.)

The new Diverge is the slowest of the new crop of gravel frames added in Zwift in the last few weeks, though. And that makes sense, because the Diverge isn’t a gravel racing frame like the Canyon Grail SLX, Pinarello Dogma GR, Cannondale SuperX LAB71, and Cervelo Aspero 5.

For comparison, the stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 145.4 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of flat tarmac, while the fastest gravel bike, the Cervelo Aspero 5, loses 111.2 seconds. The Diverge 4 loses 118.4 seconds.

Climb Performance

The Specialized Diverge 4’s climbing performance isn’t on par with its aero performance, even though it does shave several seconds off the original Diverge’s time.

The stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 161.8 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of Alpe du Zwift climbing, while the new Cannondale SuperX LAB71 loses 118.7 seconds. The Diverge 4 loses 148.5 seconds, putting it in the lower third of all gravel frames on Zwift in terms of climbing performance.

Jungle Performance

Of course, nobody really cares about how well a gravel frame performs on pavement, which is where we do our aero and climb testing (above). While those flat and climb tests help us tease out a frame’s aerodynamic capabilities and weight, when it comes to gravel bikes, people really want to know how fast they are on Zwift’s virtual dirt!

In that regard, the Diverge 4 turns in a strong “midpack” performance, losing ~9 seconds across an hour of Jungle Circuit riding to the fastest gravel frames.

Upgrading Your Specialized Diverge 4

Like all frames in Zwift, Specialized’s Diverge 4 can be upgraded in five stages. As a mid-range distance bike, only the first four stages result in a performance improvement. The Specialized Diverge 4 upgrade stages are as follows:

  1. Ride 160km, pay 50,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
  2. Ride 200km, pay 100,000 Drops for a weight reduction
  3. Ride 240km, pay 150,000 Drops for a drivetrain efficiency improvement
  4. Ride 280km, pay 200,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
  5. Ride 320km, pay 250,000 Drops for a 5% Drops boost

You can expect a stage 4 Specialized Diverge 4 to be approximately 28 seconds faster on a flat hour and 36 seconds faster on an hour-long climb vs a “stock” (un-upgraded) Specialized Diverge 4.

Conclusions

Specialized’s new Diverge 4 isn’t an exceptional performer in Zwift, but that’s realistic: it’s not a racing frame like the Specialized Crux. Rather, it’s more of a comfortable all-day adventure bike. Those characteristics, while appealing IRL, aren’t as attractive on Zwift, for obvious reasons.

The new Diverge is, however, available at a low level, and at a bargain price. Beginners may want to grab this bike as a decent gravel performer while they work their way up to higher levels and faster bikes.

We’ll be adding this bike to the following posts soon:

Questions or comments?

What do you think of Specialized’s new Diverge 4 in Zwift? 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.

Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of April 11-12

Eric Schlange
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0
Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of April 11-12

This weekend’s picks include a popular event from bike brand Winspace, a unique community vs community race, a World Parkinson’s Day ride, and Big Spin-focused events with fun prizes! See all the details below…

🤝 First Winspace x Zwift Global Ride Event

✅ Popular 　✅ Prizes 　✅ MX Rider

This is the first Zwift event I’ve seen from Winspace, and it’s always fun to see a new bike brand embracing the platform. This event has lots of signups, so they’re doing something right! It’s a simple ride – just 30 open-paced minutes on Tempus Fugit. Finish the ride to unlock the Winspace jersey (shown above) and win raffle prizes!

This week’s ride is on Watopia’s Southern Coast Cruise, which is also a Big Spin route, so you’ll get a prize spin at the end of each lap.

Saturday, April 11 @ 1:45pm UTC/9:45am ET/6:45am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5529688

🥇 Guild Wars: Fellowship vs. Road to Bonk

✅ Popular 　✅ Unique Race 　✅ YouTubers

YouTubers Adam (Road to A), Liam (LiamShawLevelsUp), and Steven (Bike Bonk Biff) are hosting a community vs. community Zwift Racing event. This is a novel event on several levels, and it already has lots of signups!

Riders choose which team they’re on by changing their in-game name. Then it’s all about earning points for your team based on your finishing position, power numbers, and heart rate. Be sure to read the event description for all the details!

The race is on one lap of Watopia’s Hot Laps route (23.5km, 149m).

Sunday, April 12 @ 3pm UTC/11am ET/8am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5525373

🤝ZWAPril World Parkinson’s Day Awareness Ride 2026

✅ Good Cause　 ✅ Climb Portal

Saturday is International Parkinson’s Day, and the crew at ZWAP (ZWifters Against Parkinson’s) is hosting their 4th annual awareness ride.

This is an open-paced ride on Power to the Portal, which includes the Trollstigen climb (12.4km, 6.3%), a virtual recreation of one of Norway’s most iconic mountain roads.

Saturday, April 11 @ 4pm UTC/12am ET/9am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5473858

🤝LA GRUPETTA DE ZABI

✅ Banded Ride　✅ Big Spin Route

Once again, we’re featuring a popular ride from the newish ZABI squad. It’s a 120-minute banded ride on Watopia’s Flat Out Fast route (21.4km, 46m).

As a bonus, this route Big Spin’s stage 1, so if you’re still trying to unlock that cowboy hat, this may be just the ticket! You’ll get several chances (spins) to win…

Saturday, April 11 @ 7am UTC/3am ET/12am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5540201

🤝 Zwift Big Spin, Stage 4

✅ Popular 　✅ Prizes 　✅ Dino Kit

Zwift’s annual Big Spin series is well underway, with stage 4 on Watopia’s Sand and Sequoias route (22.4km, 179m) happening this week. Join the fun and unlock fun stuff!

Learn all about the Zwift Big Spin >

These are group rides, but you can treat them like a race, a recovery ride, or anything in between.

Hourly events all weekend
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tbs2026ridestage4

How We Make Our Picks

We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:

  • Is the event unique/innovative in some way?

  • Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?

  • Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?

  • Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?

  • Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)

  • Is it for a good cause?

  • Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?

  • Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?

In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!

Tiny Race Series – April 11 Routes – Makuri Tour

Eric Schlange
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0
Tiny Race Series – April 11 Routes – Makuri Tour

Tiny Race Series – April 11 Routes – Makuri Tour

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

All About the New Pinarello Dogma GR Gravel Frame on Zwift

Eric Schlange
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10
All About the New Pinarello Dogma GR Gravel Frame on Zwift

All About the New Pinarello Dogma GR Gravel Frame on Zwift

Zwift’s latest update includes a new gravel frame from Pinarello, the Italian company’s first gravel frame in game. It’s the Pinarello Dogma GR, which is Pinarello’s race-focused gravel bike, sort of a “road bike in disguise” made for shorter, faster, less chunky gravel excursions:

On Zwift, you’ll need to be updated to game version 1.111+ to see this bike in the Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 30+ with 1,100,000 Drops to buy it. Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:

“End of Excuses. The Dogma GR carries that unmistakable Pinarello silhouette into gravel with lightweight carbon and race-tuned stiffness. It responds instantly when you surge and feels laser-precise at pace. Bold lines. Serious intent.”

See our master list of all frames in Zwift >

It’s rated 2 stars for aero 3 stars for weight, so we know it will perform decently well compared to other Zwift gravel bikes. But since Zwift’s 4-star system isn’t the most granular of performance measurements, we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance at nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!

Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock gravel wheelset on the un-upgraded version of the frame.

Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance

Pinarello’s Dogma GR turns in a strong performance on the flats, beating all existing gravel bikes on tarmac apart from the new Cannondale SuperX LAB71 and Cervelo Aspero 5.

For comparison, the stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 145.4 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of flat tarmac, while the (former) fastest gravel bike, the Cervelo Aspero 5, loses 111.2 seconds. The Dogma GR loses 112.8 seconds.

Climb Performance

The Dogma GR is a strong climber as well, essentially tying the Specialized Crux while falling just short of the new Cannondale SuperX LAB71.

The stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 161.8 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of Alpe du Zwift climbing, while the new Cannondale SuperX LAB71 loses 118.7 seconds. The Dogma GR loses 122.1 seconds, putting it in 3rd (or tied for 2nd with the Crux at 122 seconds) among the gravel frames in our climbing test.

Jungle Performance

Of course, nobody really cares about how well a gravel frame performs on pavement, which is where we do our aero and climb testing (above). While those flat and climb tests help us tease out a frame’s aerodynamic capabilities and weight, when it comes to gravel bikes, people really want to know how fast they are on Zwift’s virtual dirt!

In that regard, the Pinarello Dogma GR turns in a strong performance, just 0.2 seconds behind the new Cannondale SuperX Lab71 and 0.8 seconds behind the Cervelo Aspero 5 across an hour of Jungle Circuit riding.

Upgrading Your Pinarello Dogma GR

Like all frames in Zwift, Pinarello’s Dogma GR can be upgraded in five stages. As a high-end race bike, each of the five stages results in a performance improvement. The Dogma GR upgrade stages are as follows:

  1. Ride 200km, pay 100,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
  2. Ride 260km, pay 200,000 Drops for a weight reduction
  3. Ride 320km, pay 350,000 Drops for a drivetrain efficiency improvement
  4. Ride 380km, pay 500,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
  5. Ride 440km, pay 750,000 Drops for a weight reduction

You can expect a fully-upgraded Pinarello Dogma GR to be approximately 28 seconds faster on a flat hour and 36 seconds faster on an hour-long climb vs a “stock” (un-upgraded) Dogma GR.

Conclusions

As both a strong climber and aero performer, Pinarello’s new Dogma GR beats every gravel bike in Zwift apart from the new Cannondale SuperX Lab71 and Cervelo Aspero 5. And it holds its own quite nicely against those two frames anyway, so if you’re a Pinarello fan, riding this as your virtual gravel whip may just be the winning move.

We’ll be adding this bike to the following posts soon:

Questions or comments?

What do you think of Pinarello’s new Dogma GR in Zwift? 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.

All About the New Roval Terra Aero CLX Gravel Wheels in Zwift

Eric Schlange
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19
All About the New Roval Terra Aero CLX Gravel Wheels in Zwift

All About the New Roval Terra Aero CLX Gravel Wheels in Zwift

This week’s game update includes a fresh set of gravel wheels from Roval: the Terra Aero CLX. While these wheels have been tested covertly by pros for several months, it’s only in the last couple of weeks that we’ve seen them announced publicly.

These wheels are interesting IRL for a few reasons, including their unique “Chopped Aero Speed” design and the front wheel being slightly deeper (50mm) than the rear (45mm). These are the aero gravel wheels in Roval’s lineup, while the Terra CLX III is their lightweight gravel offering.

Here’s how these wheels are described in the Drop Shop: “The fastest gravel race wheels are flat – you read that correctly. Flat. Our novel truncated airfoil may look odd & flat but with up to 5.84 watts faster than Terra CLX II, with aero gains that matter from mile one to mile two hundred.”

The wheels are now available in the Drop Shop, accessible at level 38 and above, for 650,000 Drops. Notably, they are rated 3 stars for aero and 3 for weight, the only gravel wheelset in game with such a high rating apart from the new Zipp 303. This should indicate that they’ll perform well compared to other gravel wheels in Zwift, but since Zwift’s 4-star rating system isn’t precise enough for our taste, we ran these wheels through our standard battery of tests to determine exactly how they perform in Zwift and stack up against other gravel wheelsets.

Let’s dive in and learn all about the in-game performance of the newest gravel wheelset from Roval!

Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance

Roval’s Terra Aero CLX is neck-and-neck even with the new Zipp 303 XPLR SW, turning in a one-hour flat test time 1/10th of a second faster in our tests.

That means these two wheelsets are both the fastest on Zwift dirt, outpacing all other gravel wheels by approximately 13 seconds across an hour of riding.

Climb Performance

The Terra Aero CLX edges out the new Zipp wheels in our climb test, which aligns with the fact that these hoops from Roval are slightly lighter than Zipp’s IRL.

Roval’s Terra Aero CLX beats the Zipp 303 XPLR SW by 3.8 seconds across an hour of climbing, and beats the older gravel wheels by an additional 1-2 seconds on top of that.

Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using the Zwift Gravel frame.

Jungle (Dirt) Performance

The aero performance and slight climbing advantage shown in our pavement tests translate into improved performance for the Roval Terra Aero CLX in our Jungle Circuit test. These wheels edge out the Zipp 303 XPLR SW by just 0.6 across an hour of dirt riding, while edging out all the older gravel wheels by 15+ seconds.

Conclusions

The Roval Terra Aero CLX is Zwift’s new top gravel wheelset, so if you’re racing in the dirt, you’ll want to pick up a set.

That said, I do want to lodge one complaint: it looks like Zwift’s art team created these wheels by just copying the Roval Terra CLX already in game, and giving them a different wordmark and spoke count on the front wheel. The problem is, these new wheels have a deeper rim depth, and that unique “chopped aero” design. Neither of these distinctives show in game, which makes these wheels look pretty boring.

But at least they’re fast.

My guess is the artwork will be updated in a future release.

These wheels have been, or will soon be, added to the following posts:

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.

Zwift Changes Gravel Race Routes One Day Into Series Due to Bugs

Eric Schlange
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79
Zwift Changes Gravel Race Routes One Day Into Series Due to Bugs

Zwift Changes Gravel Race Routes One Day Into Series Due to Bugs

Yesterday, Zwift made the unprecedented decision to pull Gravel Mountain’s new Red Rock Loop as the week’s featured Pas Racing series route, swapping it out for Watopia’s Jungle Circuit.

They’ve also changed the plan for stage 4 of the series, swapping out Red Rock Loop Reverse for Watopia’s Serpentine 8.

It’s a surprising move from Zwift, who have been teasing this week’s Gravel Mountain launch for weeks. But was it the right move?

The Bugs

On Monday morning, April 6, I walked upstairs to my office and fired up the ol’ YouTubes so I could watch the very first Gravel Mountain races and see what riders thought. I was excited about the launch – I had already seen the new route, having “pre-ridden” it using my bot on a pre-release build of the game so I could create a Strava segment for the new route.

Here’s my bot riding the course at 4 w/kg:

Watching the bot on the route, I had a few thoughts:

  • The map is gorgeous. The rocks and scenery are epic and beautiful.
  • The road is still too wide – and this is something I said about Gravel Mountain years ago. One of the cool things about gravel riding is that feel of going fast on narrow roads. Portions of Gravel Mountain feel much too wide, and this makes the road feel more boring and less speedy.
  • It felt fast, because Zwift was pulling some sort of trickery to make the course move past more quickly than normal, while keeping your actual speed realistic. It didn’t feel overly fast to me – but I also wasn’t experiencing the increased speed of racing in a pack.

Overall, my takeaway after bot-riding the route was that racers would enjoy the experience, and that it might bring something new to the world of Zwift – the fast-paced gravel crit.

So I was genuinely surprised at what I saw in the livestreams of the first gravel races. Here are the two streams I was watching, from Bike Bonk Biff and Road to A:

The first comments of these two streamers are pretty telling:

“Woah! That was a fast start! What? What was that? What the hell is this? That’s surely a bug, right? Or…?” (~Road to A)

“Oh! OK. This is actually… why is it so fast? What? What is happening right now?” (~Bike Bonk Biff)

Watch the streams, and you’ll quickly see what I saw:

  • Too fast: Speeds were much higher in the pack than on my solo ride (for example, Road to A’s speed was 10 kph higher at the end of the initial s-curves than my bot).
  • The bouncing: While the rider’s own avatar didn’t seem to bounce on screen, other riders’ avatars intermittently were, and the effect was not good. Not good at all.
  • Erratic movements: Riders were shifting back and forth left to right too quickly, and sometimes flying up through the middle of the pack unrealistically fast.
  • Riding through rocks: riders were moving through rocks and bushes on the edge of the road in places.
  • No rider placings: The game stopped showing what place the rider was in (on the right-hand rider list) near the start of the first lap.
  • Negative feedback: Feedback via in-game messaging was instantly negative. I’m sure Zwift has all those messages stored on a server somewhere, and if they were to make a wordcloud out of them all, the biggest phrase would probably be “wtf”.

Zwift’s forum quickly lit up, with one rider starting a topic that has received over 100 replies in 48 hours.

To top it all off, riders reported not getting credit for finishing the stage, including the promised 1000 XP bonus.

Zwift Pulls the Plug

Just after 9am my time on Tuesday, April 7, 24 hours after the first Red Rock Loop events were held, Zwift’s event guru James Bailey posted this on the forum topic linked above:

Based on early feedback to the faster experience on Gravel Mountain, we’ve decided to make route changes for Stages 1 and 4. There will be a more detailed update coming shortly.

A few hours later, Zwift’s VP of Product Mark Cote wrote this:

Hey Zwifters,

As James mentioned, we’ve changed out the routes for PAS stages from Gravel Mtn as we address the issues some experienced. Crediting for Stage 1 completion is being handled as well and all should see credit for completion by EOD today.

W/r to Gravel Mountain: The ‘issues’ were especially notable for high powered, non-steering paired users on specific refresh rate devices…ultimately this led to a few people having a very bad experience with camera swaying and some on-screen jitters. The rest of us had the desired (sped up gravel) experience we were shooting for. We did test this on several occasions internally but missed testing in the high-speed, large packs that were apparent during the first events. Yep, obvious in hindsight, but here we are and we’ve adjusted the events.

Gravel Mtn WILL be back soon and tuned via additional testing. There’s something to the feeling of speed that we’re all quite excited about and we will dial this in. We definitely want to be trying new, fun things out but we missed the mark on the quality that we strive to deliver.

Thanks as always for the commentary and reporting here. It’s super appreciated and valued by our team.

Mark Cote

What About the GC?

At the time of this post, Zwift hasn’t determined how to handle the time-based GC for the Pas Normal Racing series.

On Friday morning, Zwift announced that they have annulled stage 1 in terms of GC rankings, meaning stage 1 will not count toward the time-based GC for the 4-stage series.

My Thoughts

First, I do think Zwift made the right call in pulling the plug on Red Rock Loop this week. The race experience was just too buggy.

It all seems so avoidable, though, right? Why wasn’t this caught in early tests?

Hindsight is 20/20, of course. But surely this could have all been avoided by Zwift testing the race course with a large enough pack of riders at a realistic race pace. I’m sure Zwift’s QA department is taking notes in this regard.

I think most racers are hoping what I’m hoping: that Zwift fixes the bugs and launches a much-improved Gravel Mountain soon. I like the idea of a fast-paced gravel crit course, and I think Zwift can make it happen. I do, however, share the thoughts/concerns of Aoi Niigaki, who posted this on Zwift’s forum:

If Zwift is after a sped up experience then that can be achieved through good course design. One of the things I noticed with the Gravel Mountain stage is how incredibly wide the road was. Narrower roads, tighter corners, shorter straights would all improve the perception of speed without the need to artificially boost it.

It’s a dangerous road you are going down Zwift (which started with the accelerated subway exits in New York). If people get used to double speed races then riding at normal speeds will start to seem slow and boring. Power creep is a thing in games and needs to be carefully managed less you stuff it up completely.

Aoi_Niigaki

I’m not convinced Zwift needs to speed up the visuals in order for gravel racing to be fun. And I definitely know that narrow roads with more turns/shorter straights can make a course feel fast and engaging without leading to “power creep”. I’d like to see Zwift explore this, particularly for virtual gravel and MTB racing.

That said, I’m not completely against Zwift’s idea of artificially boosting the perceived speed (let’s call it “visual speed”) of a route for a particular gamified race mode. This kind of experimentation is important, and I like that Zwift is willing to give it a try. It definitely needs to be dialed back though, particularly in the faster race categories.

Your Thoughts

Did you race Red Rock Loop? How did it go? And do you think Zwift made the right call in pulling it? Share your thoughts below…

Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: The Classic (Points Race)

Eric Schlange
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6
Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: The Classic (Points Race)

The second race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 Round 4 happens Tuesday, April 14, and we’re in Watopia for an attritional multi-lap points race on The Classic, a replica of the first Zwift route ever created.

Don’t understand how ZRL points races work? Read our explainer >

There’s much to discuss, including crucial course segments, powerup usage, bike decisions, and strategic options. Let’s go!

Looking at the Route

Each lap of The Classic is 4.7 km (2.9 miles) long, and there’s also a 4.1 km (2.5 miles) lead-in to the first lap. A/B teams will race 6 laps (33.2km, 306 m), while C/D will race 4 23.5 km, 210m).

The route is a simple counterclockwise loop of Watopia’s Jarvis Island. The circuit includes a short sprint plus a draggy KOM which will prove decisive:

The race will begin with a ~4 km lead-in from Watopia’s downtown start pens, taking riders around the upper half of the Volcano Circuit and onto the Jarvis loop.

Late-breaking update: riders will get a feather powerup in the start pens.

I wouldn’t expect any big moves here, as riders will be keeping their powder dry for the points segments up the road.

A note about powerups: as explained below, WTRL tells me riders will receive Aero Boosts at the Jarvis KOM arch, Feathers at the Jarvis Sprint arch, and Draft Boosts at any other arches. That means you’ll receive a draft boost at the downtown Watopia lap banner just after starting, and at the Jarvis lap banner each lap. These leads to some interesting strategic choices, which I discuss more below in the Powerups section.

The first points segment we’ll encounter is the Jarvis KOM. This climb is 1.8 km long, averaging 1.8%, but keep in mind that average gradient number is affected by a bit of downhill that begins 1 km into the climb:

It’s better to think of this KOM as two short climbs (the first 1 km long at 2.7% and the second 400 meters long at 2.5%) separated by 500 meters of descent/flat. This is a very draftable climb, especially at race speeds, so take advantage of the draft (and maybe your Draft Boost powerup) to conserve effort.

A quick 1.2 km descent from the KOM’s crest brings will bring us to the start of the circuit’s sprint segment, the Jarvis Sprint:

This is a flat (-0.1%), 200-meter sprint, and we’ll be hitting it with a big head of steam. This one will be fast and short, so consider yourself warned: you’ll probably need to start the sprint positioned near the front of the pack if you want to finish near the front.

The Jarvis lap arch comes less than 900 meters after the Jarvis Sprint arch, and you’ll get a Draft Boost powerup here if you aren’t currently holding onto a powerup.

That’s one lap. A/B riders will complete 6 laps, C/D will complete 4.

One final note on the finish: since the Jarvis lap arch finish line is less than 900 meters after the final Jarvis Sprint arch, you can expect the effort to continue after the final sprint segment. It’s going to be a fast, hard finish!

Read more about The Classic >

Powerups

WTRL tells me riders will receive Aero Boosts at the Jarvis KOM arch, Feathers at the Jarvis Sprint arch, and Draft Boosts at all other arches. Late-breaking update: riders will also get a feather powerup in the start pens.

That means you’ll receive a draft boost at the downtown Watopia lap banner within seconds of beginning the race, but only if you burn your feather quickly. Probably best to hold onto the feather for the first KOM segment.

You’ll receive these powerups on each Jarvis lap:

  • Draft Boost at the lap arch

  • Aero Boost at the Jarvis KOM arch

  • Feather at the Jarvis Sprint arch

Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing for 40 seconds.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) This could be employed on the downhill/flat bit of the KOM, or any other fast part of the course.

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). Everyone will be using this on the Jarvis Sprint points segment, so you probably don’t stand a chance of a good result without it! Trigger it a few seconds before the sprint begins, as it will probably take you less than 15 seconds to cover the actual sprint segment.

Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds.
Use on climbs, when weight matters the most. The feather is best used on the Jarvis KOM – particularly the second stage of the climb, when riders will be on the limit.

Riders will need to decide if they use the feather just after receiving it at the sprint arch (in order to get the Draft Boost powerup at the lap arch), or hold onto it for the climb. Since using the feather just after the sprint is almost the same as throwing it away, the question boils down to: would you rather have the Draft Boost on the KOM, or the feather?

Bike Recommendations

You’ll want an all-arounder setup for this race, as the points are effectively “gated” by your performance on the Jarvis KOM. So pick your preferred all-arounder frame from the four top performers:

For wheels, I’d recommend two different top performers. Choose your advantage:

  • DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 65: these are the more aero wheels, beating the Wake 6560 by 3.9 seconds across an hour of flat riding. These are optimized for the Jarvis Sprint.

  • Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560: these are the lighter wheels, beating the DICUT 65 by 9.6 seconds across an hour of climbing. These are optimized for the Jarvis KOM.

Of course, your frame’s upgrade status should impact your decision. Read All About Zwift’s New “Bike Upgrades” Functionality for more. See also Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers 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.

Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. Here are the recons I’ve found (comment if you find another!)

J Dirom

Nathan Krake

Beccah Niesen

Strategic Options

Points Distributions, The Classic

6 Laps

4 Laps

These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.

How will these races unfold? What strategies will teams employ? Here’s what I predict:

  • Honey, I Shrunk the Peloton: Some teams will choose to attack the KOM again and again, and this will cause the elastic to stretch and eventually snap for some riders.

  • First Lap FTS: Fastest Through Segment top 5 times will probably all be set on the first lap. Why? Because the pack draft will be largest then, and everyone will push hard on the initial lap’s segments. Riders will simply be too tired to better their times on subsequent laps from a smaller group.

  • Save the Sprinters: Teams with strong sprinters may try to keep the KOM as slow as possible to increase their sprinters’ chance of surviving the climb and grabbing points on the sprint.

  • A Long, Hard Finish: The final KOM will feature big attacks by riders with punchy w/kg. Then you may get a moment to rest on the short descent that follows… but that final flat ~1km through the sprint segment to the finish line is going to be mayhem.

Your Thoughts

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

All About the New Cervelo Aspero 5 Gravel Frame on Zwift

Eric Schlange
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29
All About the New Cervelo Aspero 5 Gravel Frame on Zwift

All About the New Cervelo Aspero 5 Gravel Frame on Zwift

UPDATE April 21, 2026: Zwift lightened the Cervelo Aspero 5 and changed it to a high-end distance upgrade scheme in the v112 update that began rolling out today. Read more > See current performance data at Zwift Speed Tests: Gravel Frame and Wheel Ranking Charts.

Zwift’s latest update includes a new gravel frame from Cervelo, the Aspero 5. Released last summer IRL, this is an unapologetically aero gravel bike which Cervelo claims is “37 Watts faster than its predecessor, and 34 Watts faster than the nearest competitor.”

On Zwift, you’ll need to be updated to game version 1.111+ to see this bike in the Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 35+ with 1,250,000 Drops to buy it (the most expensive gravel bike on Zwift). Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:

“Faster than the rest. The Aspero-5 blends aero shaping with razor-clean handling, making high-tempo gravel feel smooth and controlled. It accelerates with intent and tracks like it’s on rails, the kind of bike that dares you to push a bigger gear.”

See our master list of all frames in Zwift >

It’s rated 3 stars for aero and 3 stars for weight – the only gravel bike on Zwift with such a high aero rating! We expected it to perform well at high speeds, but since Zwift’s 4-star system isn’t the most granular of performance measurements, we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance at nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!

Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock gravel wheelset on the un-upgraded version of the frame.

Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance

The Cervelo Aspero 5 certainly lives up to its billing as “the most aerodynamic gravel bike ever created.” It beats every other gravel bike in Zwift (including the other 4 fast frames added in March/April 2026), edging out the previous leader, the Cannondale SuperX LAB71, by 1.2 seconds across an hour of flat riding.

It also beats the old Cervelo Aspero, which used to be the fastest gravel bike on Zwift, by 4 seconds.

For comparison, the stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 145.4 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of flat tarmac, while the (former) fastest gravel bike, the Cannondale SuperX LAB71, loses 112.4 seconds. The Aspero 5 only loses 111.2 seconds.

Climb Performance

Right now, Cervelo’s Aspero 5 isn’t a very strong climber on Zwift. But be sure to read about the * below for more info on how these results will be changing!

Currently, the Aspero 5 turns in essentially the same climb test time as the old Aspero. That means it loses 20.7 seconds across an hour of riding to the top climber, Cannondale’s SuperX LAB71.

The stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 161.8 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of Alpe du Zwift climbing, while the new Aspero 5 loses 139.4 seconds, and the Cannondale SuperX LAB71 loses 118.7 seconds.

Jungle Performance

Of course, nobody really cares about how well a gravel frame performs on pavement, which is where we do our aero and climb testing (above). While those flat and climb tests help us tease out a frame’s aerodynamic capabilities and weight, when it comes to gravel bikes, people really want to know how fast they are on Zwift’s virtual dirt!

In that regard, the Cervelo Aspero 5 turns in the strongest performance of any gravel frame on Zwift, edging out the closest competition by around half a second* across an hour of Jungle Circuit riding.

About the * (Pending Weight Loss)

You’ll see we marked the test results above with an asterisk. Here’s why: Zwift tells us they will be reducing the weight of the Aspero 5 just a bit in the next release (version 1.112, scheduled for April 21).

So while the Aspero 5 is already a strong performer, it will be even faster after the next game update! The change won’t make the Aspero 5 the strongest climber in the Drop Shop, but will help it perform a bit better in the hills, while giving it a bigger edge in aero performance.

We’ll publish an updated version of this post once we’ve tested the updated frame.

Upgrading Your Cervelo Aspero 5

Like all frames in Zwift, Cervelo’s Aspero 5 can be upgraded in five stages. It’s currently set up as a mid-tier distance bike in terms of upgrade stages, but this is a misconfiguration on Zwift’s end which will be modified in the next game release, along with the bike’s weight. For now, though, the bike’s upgrade stages are as follows:

  1. Ride 160km, pay 50,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
  2. Ride 200km, pay 100,000 Drops for a weight reduction
  3. Ride 240km, pay 150,000 Drops for a drivetrain efficiency improvement
  4. Ride 280km, pay 200,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
  5. Ride 320km, pay 250,000 Drops for a 5% Drops boost

Any upgrade stages you reach and purchase will remain even after Zwift updates this bike’s upgrade scheme, so you’ve got two weeks to upgrade it as quickly as you can!

You can expect a fully-upgraded Aspero 5 to be approximately 28 seconds faster on a flat hour and 36 seconds faster on an hour-long climb vs a “stock” (un-upgraded) Aspero 5.

Conclusions

When it comes to fast dirt on Zwift (think flat roads or even the Jungle Circuit), Cervelo’s Aspero 5 beats every gravel bike in Zwift, just edging out the other fast frames added in March/April 2026. And while it’s not the best frame for pure climbing, it’s going to get a bit lighter in two weeks, making it the best choice for most gravel races, if you’re looking purely at performance.

My opinion: it’s fast, but it’s also a pity the bike doesn’t have a cooler colorway in Zwift. While Cervelo has never been known for particularly eye-catching paint jobs, something a bit more blingy would have been welcome. Maybe someday Zwift will let us buy a cool Aspero 5 paint job in the Drop Shop.

We’ll be adding this bike to the following posts soon:

Questions or comments?

What do you think of Cervelo’s new Aspero 5 in Zwift? 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.

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