Zwift Announces Free Trial Changes: No More Free Monthly 25km
Today, Zwift announced an upcoming change to their free trial setup:
We’re writing to let you know about a forthcoming change to simplify our free trial offerings.
Effective from August 1st, the current 25km free trial offered to paused, or lapsed, Zwift members will be discontinued. We want to thank all our members who took advantage of this offering in the past.
Please note that we will continue to offer a 14-day free trial for new members to discover the benefits of our platform.
For years, Zwift has effectively had two different “free trial” offerings running in parallel:
New accounts aren’t charged until the end of their 14-day free trial, which begins the day they start pedaling on Zwift
Paying subscribers who pause or cancel their membership could ride up to 25km each month for free. This offer renewed on the 1st of each month, and also applied to people who signed up, took part in the 14-day free trial, but never became paying subscribers.
It’s the second offering that is being done away with on August 1st.
Note: These changes don’t affect Zwift running, which is still free to use unless you have a Wahoo KICKR RUN and want to pay for automatic incline control.
Ready the Pitchforks
Zwift will surely receive some blowback on their decision from “seasonal Zwifters” who enjoy riding outside in good weather while still popping into Zwift once or twice each month. (And after last year’s price increase, there are certainly more of those Zwifters on the platform than ever before.)
While some riders abused the free monthly 25km, I can’t help but think it also kept seasonal Zwifters engaged with the platform. Will the cost savings of removing those “freeloaders” from the ecosystem outweigh the value of keeping past subscribers engaged during sunny weather? And how many of those riders will now restart their subscription earlier than planned, so they can maintain access to Zwift?
Those are significant questions, with actual dollar figures attached. But only Zwift will know the answers…
Pack Dynamics are perhaps the most challenging thing to “get right” when it comes to indoor cycling simulations like Zwift. Accurately replicating the speed and movement of a lone rider isn’t easy, of course. But accurately representing a pack of such riders is another challenge entirely! (It took a Cray supercomputer to analyze the fluid dynamics of a peloton, after all…)
Zwift has iterated through various pack dynamics “versions” over the years, with the most recent major release being pack dynamics 4.1 around two years ago.
However, pack dynamics on Zwift are never released as singular major updates. It’s better to think of them as something that is being regularly tested and tweaked, with specific goals in mind. And they’ve had various iterations of the latest pack dynamics (version 5) enabled in certain Zwift activities for almost a year.
Pack Dynamics 5 (PD5) was created to improve two key avatar behaviors:
Collisions: Zwift wants fewer collisions between riders’ avatars for a more realistic-looking ride experience
Draft Seeking: Zwift wants your avatar to find the draft more quickly, but to do so in a realistic-looking way that honors your steering choices
PD5 went live for free rides in Watopia in late 2024, and I shared a post in January 2025 with an update on its current state and lots of details about what was changing. Since then, the team at Zwift has been iterating and testing PD5, steadily broadening its use in the live game as wrinkles were ironed out.
Over a number of months, we have been testing, privately and publicly and making iterations to our 5th version of Pack Dynamics. This is presently live on all free ride, group ride and RoboPacer activities.
Pack Dynamics V5 (PD5) has two goals. Firstly to improve collision avoidance – so you do not ride through other riders. Secondly it improves how quickly you are able to find the draft after having been overtaken – great news if you ride in TTTs!
Most recently, a number of our event organisers have been helping us test this new feature in races and we’ve also run a week of the Zwift Crit Racing events using PD5. We have received no negative feedback as a result.
We will be turning on PD5 for races (and thus all Zwift activities) tomorrow (July 24) around 1300 UTC. This will give racers a chance to use it in the Thursday Team Time Trials, as well as having a full month of ZRacing to get used to the new dynamics before our peak racing season begins with the launch of Zwift Racing League in September.
As always, if you ever have any feedback after having tried using PD5 in races, we’d be delighted to hear it.
Many thanks, James
In summary: Pack Dynamics v5 is now live across the entire game.
If you’re curious, here are some of the changes Zwift made to earlier versions of PD5 before last week’s release:
Made the collision more “soft” between players because it was creating unwanted left/right movements in big packs
Removed the possibility of “bullying” another player using manual steering (i.e., a player should not be able to push another player laterally)
Fixed an issue where players in big packs would get stuck at the center line of the road and create an unnatural line of overlapping players
Zwift says they “have not changed how drafting and air resistance is calculated, so no difference is expected when catching up to another player or pack of players.” I may still run some updated TTT tests just to make sure, though!
Discussing PD5
There’s a long Zwift forum thread, begun in January, with hundreds of replies from Zwifters providing feedback on PD5 as it evolved. (This thread is now closed, but you can read it for historical context if you’d like.)
If you’d like to share your thoughts on PD5 in Zwift’s forum, you should do so on this new thread from James.
Zwift loves to celebrate the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and today, as the Tour kicks off, they’ve listed a custom-painted Zwift Ride smart frame in their online store:
The frames feature a custom Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift paint scheme, adjustable crank arms, and a custom head tube badge. A TdFFaz sticker pack is thrown in as well!
Only 124 of these frames were made: one for each kilometer of this year’s mountainous final stage:
The frames are priced at $899.99 / €899.99 / £849.99. Here are direct links to purchase the frame in each of Zwift’s sales areas:
Zwift also just launched a discount deal on their flagship Zwift Ride with KICKR Core setup, offering free shipping throughout the US, UK, and EU. That’s $110 off here in the US, saving you ~8.5%.
Purchase via the links below to help support this site:
FemmeCycle Collab has been on a mission to convert riders to racers since 2023. We believe that with the right guidance, community, and opportunities, anyone can discover their inner superpower!
Our new Summer Ramp Up Series is a 3-week women-only race series featuring a different race format each week. Results are based on individual performance only (this is not a team competition), categories are beginner-friendly, and there are four time zones to choose from.
But the Summer Ramp-Up Series isn’t just about racing. It’s a journey designed to boost your confidence and sharpen your tactical skills in different race styles. Every week throws a new challenge your way to ensure you get a well-rounded development experience.
Zwift Ride Giveaway
All participants who successfully complete every race in the series will be entered into an exclusive raffle for a spectacular grand prize! To qualify, you must complete all three mini races in Week 1, and then one race in Week 2 (Individual Time Trial) and one race in Week 3 (Points Race).
The ultimate reward for your dedication? The chance to win a Zwift Ride with KICKR Core! (We’ve got the Ride covered; all we ask is that you cover the shipping!)
Route and Schedule Details
Race times each week will be:
9am UTC/5am IT/2am PT
4pm UTC/12pm ET/9am PT
11pm UTC/7pm ET/4pm PT
2am UTC/10pm ET/7pm PT
Each time slot is its own league on ZwiftPower, so you’ll want to race a consistent time slot to compete for maximum points overall.
Week 1 – July 29: Mini Races – Sharpen Your Instincts
We kick off the series with three shorter, intense events, perfect for developing your sprint power and strategic positioning within a pack. You’ll be racing three distinct mini races, each with a unique challenge for racers:
Each race will award finish points only – 100 points for first, 99 for second, 98 for third… down to the last finisher. Points for each race will be added together, and the racer with the most points (out of 300) after the third race will win the week.
Tip: Don’t forget to sign up for all 3 events. When you cross the finish line, exit the race and head to the pen for the next race!
Week 2 – August 5: Individual Time Trial – The Ultimate Test of Power
The second week shifts focus to the individual time trial (ITT). This discipline is a true test of your sustained power output, mental fortitude, and pacing strategy. In “the race of truth” it’s you against the clock, pushing your limits in a solitary effort.
You’ll want to load in your best TT bike this week! Draft is turned off, so even though you will see racers around you, you will not benefit from being in their draft. Top finisher will be awarded 100 points, second finisher will get 99 points, third finisher will get 98 points, right on down to the last finisher.
Week 3 – August 12: Points Race – Master the Art of Strategy
Conclude the series with the thrilling points race. This engaging format combines elements of endurance and tactical brilliance as riders accumulate points at designated segments throughout the race.
The race course includes includes two QOM segments and one sprint segment. The segments will award points for Fastest Through the Segment (FTS) and First Across the Line (FAL), down to the 10th rider, and riders will receive finish points as well (100 points for the first rider, 99 for second, 98 for third…).
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift begins on Saturday, and our first two picks of the weekend encourage Zwifters to #watchthefemmes! Additionally, we’ve chosen two big endurance rides plus the re-categorized Tiny Races for a bit of variety.
Zwift is partnering with eight community clubs to host a Watch the Femmes Club Series that kicks of this weekend! Each club hosts a day of hourly rides, with all events lasting 45 minutes and located on a fresh route each day.
Zwift Insider kicks off the series by hosting rides on Saturday, then Her Spirit follows on Sunday. (Some rides are banded, others are not. See event details at zwifthacks.com/app/events if you want to know banding status.)
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Watch Party Rides are held each day of the Tour and hosted by special guests and community leaders. These are 60-minute events with open pacing, held at the same time as the live stage broadcast so participants can watch the race on a second screen while Zwifting together.
Diane Ingebire (Rwandan rider for SRAM zondacrypto Generation) is hosting stage 1’s ride on Saturday, with the Bikealicious team hosting stage 2 on Sunday.
This week, we’re reducing the number of categories in the Tiny Races from 5 to 3, which will make for significantly larger fields and even more challenging racing. Are you ready to push to your max in four races within an hour? It’s a legit workout, with a competitive and fun twist.
Each week in July, the Velos club is visiting a different epic route on Zwift. This week, they’re taking on 25 laps of the Volcano Circuit (105km total)!
The manager of the largest fitness center in northern England leads this event, and he offers expert advice on training and nutrition during every ride. Additionally, the yellow beacon rides at 2.5 W/kg, and the red beacon rides at 2.0 W/kg, so riders can group at a pace that suits them.
Here’s a popular long ride with two pace options: B group at 3-3.3 W/kg, or C at 2.5-2.9 W/kg. Both groups will be riding 4 laps of the Neokyo All-Nighter route for a total of 97.6km with 668m of elevation, with optional efforts on some of the intermediate segments if you’d like.
Choose your desired pace, listen to the ride leader, and get that endurance work done! Both categories have a leader (yellow beacon) and sweepers.
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!
How To: Retrieve a Lost or Partial Zwift .fit File for Uploading to Strava or Other Services
If your Zwifting is interrupted by a power outage, computer reboot, or Internet problems, you may “lose” your current ride without being able to save it properly.
It’s also possible that everything may seem to be working fine, but after your session, the saved ride never shows up on Strava, and signing into Zwift.com shows your ride as a “partial ride.” This indicates Internet connection issues at some point in your ride which prevented your device from sending data to Zwift’s servers.
Take heart – all is not lost! Zwift continuously saves your activity progress on your device and sends the data to their servers. Regardless of what happens with the server connection, you can always retrieve your local file (unless you’re using Apple TV) and upload it to Strava or any other service.
Note: you cannot upload the file from your computer to Zwift.com to get full “credit” for your ride within Zwift – meaning the ride in question will probably show as a “partial” on Zwift.com forever.
Retrieve Your Activity on Zwift for PC/Mac
Each of your rides is saved on your computer at %USER%\Documents\Zwift\Activities\ as an industry-standard .fit file. On PC, they are saved at C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Zwift\Activities\.
Just find the ride in question (files are named by ride date) and upload it to Strava or any other service.
Retrieve Your Activity on Zwift for iOS and Android
There’s a hidden feature on Zwift for iOS and Android that lets you easily access your list of ride files and attach them to an email. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Tap the ZWIFT logo 3x Step 2: select your ride from the list and click “OK” Step 3: send the email!
Retrieve Your Activity on Zwift for AppleTV
Unfortunately, there is no way to access the local .fit file on AppleTV if something goes wrong. If you find you’ve finished and saved your Zwift ride and it’s not showing up on Strava, it’s possible the upload failed even though the activity saved on Zwift’s side. Try visiting zwift.com/sign-in to download the ride file, which you can then upload to Strava.
Downloading from Zwift.com
If for any reason you need a copy of your .fit file from Zwift’s servers, it’s easy to access. Log into your account at zwift.com/sign-in, navigate to your activity, then click the gear icon. From the popup, click “Download Fit File”:
Fix Uploading Errors with FitFileTools.com
If you get an error when attempting to upload your .fit file to Strava or another service, the file is corrupted in some way. In that case, head over to fitfiletools.com and fix it using their tools. (Hint: the “Corrupt Time Fixer” is often the solution.)
Wrapping It Up
It can be a real bummer to finish a Zwift ride only to realize it didn’t save properly. Happily, following the simple steps above will let you post your ride to Strava or other services. As we know… if it isn’t on Strava, it didn’t happen!
All About Next Week’s TNP Summer Championship Races
Club TNP (Team Not Pogi) ran a successful private Spring Championships, so they’re following up with a public summer version next Monday and Tuesday (July 28-29) at 6:45pm UTC/2:45pm ET/11:45am PT. It’s a unique race setup, with events on back-to-back days and separate competitions for GC, sprint, and KOM. Read on for details!
Livestream
The race will be livestreamed on the popular Inside Cycling World (youtube.com/@insidecyclingworld) channel, which boasts over 30k subscribers.
Stage Details
Stage 1 – July 28
Route: The Muckle Yin, with custom finish at 33.7km (Sgurr North KOM arch)
Sprint segments: Champion’s Sprint, Breakaway Brae, The Clyde Kicker
GC, Green (Sprint), and Polka Dot (KOM) winners based on combined time
Results
Race results will be posted on the TNP Race Results Discord page (discord.gg/VeZw2jgk2m) and their Club page in Zwift Companion.
About TNP (Team Not Pogi)
The TNP club was established by Oliver Moore from his YouTube channel (youtube.com/@notpogi). They are a small but inclusive team looking to grow and attract riders to a welcoming, friendly community that encourages progression from bottom to top.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2025: In-Game Events, a Custom Zwift Ride, and More
The women’s top teams will soon be racing the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift! Launching July 26 and ending August 3, the 9-stage race begins in Vannes and travels coast-to-coast to finish in Châtel.
This edition of TdFFaZ features a total of 17,240 meters of climbing across 1,165 kilometers, beating the previous records for both elevation and distance. Stage highlights include stage 8, which boasts a total of 3,490 meters of elevation and the hors catégorieCol de la Madeleine. See route details >
Zwift has spun up a host of events to immerse us in the excitement of this year’s Tour. You’ll even see #watchthefemmes-themed road art and robopacers in game! Read below for complete event details and more…
Club Series
New this year, Zwift is partnering with eight community clubs to host a Watch the Femmes Club Series:
QueenBee Ladies
Zwift Insider
Her Spirit
FemmeCycle Collab
Fietsvrouwen
Rocacorba Collective
Female Cycling Force
The Female Cycling Tribe
Each club is hosting events for one day during the Tour on a route of their choosing. Finishing one of these rides unlocks a unique Club version of this year’s Watch the Femmes kit:
Zwift Insider is hosting the first set of events this weekend – come out and join us on France’s Three Musketeers route!
L’Etape du Tour de France is one of the biggest amateur gran fondos in the world, with over 16,000 registrants. Zwift is an official partner of L’Etape du Tour de France, and this year, they’re hosting Virtual L’Etape du Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift events hourly from August 2 to 9.
These events celebrate the legendary climbs of the Tour by putting riders on the Power to the Portal route with a finish up the epic Col de la Madeleine (14.3km, 1118m elevation), the same climb this year’s IRL L’Etape event ascends. Finishers unlock the new 2025 Watch the Femmes kit.
Zwift’s Workout of the Week series will be Watch the Femmes-themed from July 28-August 24 with four weeks of workouts featuring different pro women:
Puck Pieterse: Vo2 Surges
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney: Classics Workout
Evita Muzic: VO2 Max – 3×4 Tabata Style
Zoe Backstedt: Sevens
Complete a Workout of the Week to earn 20% off the new Zwift H20 Headphones and unlock them in-game! You’ll also unlock the new 2025 Watch the Femmes kit. (Completing the WoW on your own as an on-demand workout will not unlock the headphones, discount code, or kit.)
These “second screen” rides are held during the live race broadcasts, so you can ride with fellow Zwifters while watching the race on another screen. Chat about race highlights with Zwift friends in real time, in rides led by pros and ambassadors and women’s cycling fans!
Not sure how to Watch the Femmes from your country? See this page.
These are open-paced 60-minute events, and each stage is held on a different route. Finishers unlock the new 2025 Watch the Femmes Kit.
Want to support the Femmes all year ’round? For the first time ever, Zwift is selling a limited number of Watch the Femmes Special Edition Zwift Ride frames. Only 124 frames were created! These frames feature a custom paintjob, adjustable “bear claw” cranks, and include a Watch the Femmes sticker pack.
Zwift has made big moves into the fitness tracking space in the last few months. To summarize:
Fitness Tracking was added to the Companion app, giving you a current training score and status, among other things (read more)
You can now automatically sync outdoor rides recorded on a Wahoo or Garmin head unit into Zwift’s ecosystem, so those workouts are factored into your Zwift training score/status (read more) (Note: Hammerhead support is coming very soon.)
A recent Companion update lets you see your historic fitness trend, giving you a historic view of your progression (read more)
There’s still work to be done in order for fitness tracking to work well for multi-sport athletes. But if your primary training is done on the bike, Zwift now tracks your fitness quite nicely using trusted, industry-standard, TSS-based metrics.
But it only works if you get all your bike rides (indoors and out) into Zwift’s fitness tracking system!
Recently, I ran into an issue when I found myself on a mountain bike ride without a head unit. (Most cyclists will know this is a rare but not unprecedented situation. It’s easy to find yourself on a bike without a head unit, perhaps when renting or borrowing a bike, or starting a ride only to realize your head unit battery is dead.)
No big deal: I opened the Strava app on my phone and recorded the ride. (Because if it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen, right?) But when I finished the activity, it didn’t pop over to Zwift. Because Zwift’s fitness tracking only pulls in outdoor rides from Garmin and Wahoo – not Strava.
Why Not Strava?
Zwift has never said why they don’t support imports from Strava, but my hunch is it has to do with Strava’s API Agreement, which is so far-reaching that following it to the letter would mean you couldn’t do much of anything with the data pulled from their API. A few examples:
“You may not use the Strava API Materials in any manner that is competitive to Strava…”
“You may not use the Strava API Materials (including Strava Data), directly or indirectly, for any model training related to artificial intelligence, machine learning or similar applications.”
“You may not process or disclose Strava Data, even publically viewable Strava Data, including in an aggregated or de-identified manner, for the purposes of, including but not limited to, analytics, analyses, customer insights generation, and products or services improvements. Strava Data may not be combined with other customer data, for these or any other purposes.”
How could I get my ride from Strava to Zwift, so my Zwift training metrics would be accurate? I poked around and figured it out, and now I’m sharing the details with you. (This, incidentally, is how many articles on Zwift Insider come about.)
2 Steps: Download and Upload
As it turns out, the process is fairly straightforward – although not as simple as I’d like it to be.
The first step is to download your ride’s .fit file from Strava. You can’t do this from within the Strava app on your phone – you have to pull up the Strava website in a web browser, and go to your activity’s detail page. Use the 3-dot menu at the bottom-left to select “Export Original”, and you’ll download the .fit file:
The second step is to upload that .fit file into your Garmin or Wahoo account.
Uploading to Wahoo
The only way to upload a .fit file to Wahoo is via the Wahoo app (note: this is different from Wahoo’s ELEMNT app.) In order to do this, you’ll need to have the .fit file saved on your phone (I did this by emailing myself the .fit file I had downloaded from Strava, and saving it to my phone).
Here are the simple steps to upload your ride to Wahoo via their app:
Open the app and tap “History” at the bottom
Tap the + sign at the top left
Select “Upload”, tap the upload button, and select the file saved on your phone
The only way to upload a .fit file to Garmin Connect is via a web browser (not the Garmin app). To do this, sign in to connect.garmin.com then click the cloud at the top-right and select “Import Data”. Choose your .fit file, and you’re all set!
I should add that you don’t actually need to own or use a Garmin or Wahoo head unit in order to use their apps and import .fit files from Strava as outlined above. For the purpose of this post, the Wahoo app and Garmin Connect web interface are simply tools to get your Strava activity into Zwift.
These apps from Garmin and Wahoo are free, you just need to create an account to use them.
That’s all, folks!
Once you’ve uploaded your .fit file to Wahoo or Garmin (and soon Hammerhead), it will pop into Zwift’s ecosystem and appear in your Fitness Tracker in the Companion app, as long as you’ve properly connected your Zwift account to Wahoo or Garmin (instructions here).
