The latest game release brought long-awaited data fields to Zwift’s HUD and a new ride stats panel. In this week’s top video, learn everything you need to know about the new features.
We’ve also selected videos about replacing a KICKR Bike with a Zwift RIDE, a guide to Zwift racing, a brutal Zwift race, and a review of the Elite Avanti.
ZWIFT Update 1.93: NEW Pedal Balance Data // More HUD Options
Learn all about version 1.93 in Shane Miller, GPLama’s latest video.
Wahoo Let Me Down (Again)… Meet My New Zwift Ride! Is it an upgrade?
After poor luck with the Wahoo KICKR Bike, Ride n Thrive tries the Zwift Ride. How does it compare to the KICKR Bike?
Complete Guide to Zwift Racing: Every League & Format Explained
Looking to start/improve your racing on Zwift? Chad Rides gives an in-depth guide to Zwift Racing.
I Entered the Wrong Racing Category. On Purpose.
Road to A tackles the first stage of the SISU Tour. How long can he hold on to the front group?
Elite Avanti In-Depth Review [2025] // Better Than Wahoo?
Hear from me, Oli Chi of ZRace Central, as I share an in-depth review of the mid-range Elite Avanti smart trainer. How does it compare to Wahoo?
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
The Tour de France is well underway, and Zwift has been holding a variety of events to celebrate. The most popular events this weekend are the Virtual L’Etape fondos, but we’ve also got a few more tantalizing picks listed below. Enjoy!
The 33rd annual IRL L’Etape du Tour happens this Sunday as riders take on the queen stage (18) of the Tour de France 5 days before the pros.
Zwift is hosting a virtual version of the ride – which is much shorter than the 131km IRL stage! The Zwift events are mass-start, fondo-style rides held every two hours on the Zwift Bambino Fondo route (53.3 kilometers with 398 meters of climbing).
Women’s Mini Races (3 races in an hour) happen each Sunday, but the ULTIMATE Mini Races are a bigger monthly event. If you’re looking for some punchy women-only racing, check out these events.
The 7-stage SISU Tour is well underway, and lots of racers are taking part in the competitive series. This weekend is stage 5, and it’s a tough one: France’s new Ven-10 route, which takes you up the first half of the Mount Ventoux KOM for 815m of climbing spread over just 10km!
One in eight women will experience invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, so the Cycle Nation team is holding a massive 500km ride on the flat Tempus Fugit route to help the South African I Love Boobies charity (donate here).
The event linked below is the 100km kickoff for the ride. Join the event, or find the group still riding after the event on Tempus Fugit and join for as long as you’d like!
Lots of riders are jumping into the Tour Fever-themed Workout of the Week because completing the event unlocks the in-game Zwift headphones, plus a 20% discount code to buy the IRL version from H2O Audio.
This week’s workout is the “Pre-Race Warm-up.” It’s only 20 minutes long, and ramps up your power intervals to get your legs and body ready for a race effort.
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!
The first week of August will see the Aussie Hump Day Ride Team (AHDR) kicking off their second annual Winter Tours. Aimed at Aussies with a 7:15pm AEST timeslot (that’s 5:15am EDT and 9:15am UTC), there are Women’s Tour events on four consecutive Monday nights and Open Tour events on four consecutive Tuesday nights.
The Tours group riders using Zwift pace categories (A-D), and each grade gets to race its own race. With General, Sprint, and KQOM Classifications, there’s something for everyone! Read on for details…
Route Descriptions
The Tours feature four iconic Zwift race courses in Neokyo, France, Austria, and Scotland.
The first week kicks off in Neokyo and the All Nighter course. 24km of racing with an elevation of 241m should see racers battle it out early over the opening 4 sprints before racers hit the Rooftop KOM, which will be the place for any climbers to launch their attacks to go for the win!
The following week, the Tour heads to France and the Hell of the North course for a 19.8km race with 4 sprints before racers contest an uphill finish up the Petite KOM.
Week 3 sees the Tour head to Austria’s Innsbruckring course for 3 laps of the Legsnapper raced over 27km. The Legsnapper will be the place for anyone to launch their attacks. With KOM points on the climb followed shortly after by the Sprint prime, this course will see climbers having a dig at both the KOM and the Sprint points.
The last week is one for the all-rounders with Scotland’s Muckle Yin providing plenty of opportunities to grab those KOM and Sprint points as you race for glory.
The Zwifty socials were all abuzz last week when Mathieu van der Poel donned Zwift-branded headphones for his TdF TT warmup. Turns out, these headphones are a collab with H2O Audio, headquartered in San Diego, California just a bit south of Zwift’s Long Beach headquarters.
Mathieu’s headphones basically match the in-game headphones which were originally available via the Big Spin 2024 prize spinner:
Unlock In-Game Headphones
The in-game headphones are available through some time in August as a reward for completing one of the Tour Fever or Watch the Femmes Workout of the Week events. You’ll also receive a 20% discount code when you complete the workout!
Wireless, Bluetooth, with active noise cancellation and a built-in microphone for seamless calls (and Discord!)
100% sweatproof design with removable and washable silicone ear cushions (Patent Pending)
Powered by custom-developed 45mm drivers that deliver rich sound and deep bass
50h battery life
To be clear: this isn’t Zwift getting into a new line of hardware. These are simply a Zwift-branded version of H20 Audio’s flagship “RIPT Ultra” headphones.
The most popular response to over-the-ear (OTE) headphones + Zwift seems to be “it will be too sweaty.” (It reminds me of the concerns people have with Zwift and virtual reality glasses. The concepts have merit – virtual reality, high-quality audio – but there are potential sweaty downsides…)
Riders are concerned about possibly damaging their expensive headphones or experiencing discomfort caused by sweat accumulating around the ears. Both valid concerns, which I share as well.
H2O Audio claims this a 100% sweatproof design, and I’ve got a set arriving today to test. I’ll be wearing them in some very sweaty Zwift heat training sessions in the coming days… for science! Watch this space for a full review.
Questions or Comments?
These headphones are eliciting some very polarized opinions. Most Zwifters seem to be saying either, “Take my money!” or “Way too sweaty!”
What about you? Thoughts on this product? Share below…
Zwift version 1.93 begins its phased rollout today. This is a significant update, adding a new HUD panel, additional HUD metrics, and fixing an irksome streak bug. Read on for details…
This update adds 4 new metrics to the in-game HUD:
CORE Temperature*
Heat Strain Index (HSI)*
Weighted Power (WP)
Left/Right Power Balance (see note below)
* the CORE Temperature and Heat Strain Index (HSI) metrics require a CORE sensor. Connect your CORE sensor to your HRM using the CORE app, then the CORE sensor will show up as pairable in the Heart Rate box on the pairing screen. (We published a post 2 years ago about using the original CORE sensor for heat training on Zwift, and a lot has changed since then! Watch for an upcoming post about heat training on Zwift using CORE.)
Two additional metrics, Average W/kg and Average Speed, will be added very soon. They were initially included in this week’s release, but a bug was found in final testing.
Setting Up Left/Right Power Balance
For L/R Balance to work in the HUD, you’ll need to pair a device as your “power” source which transmits Left and Right power via Bluetooth (ANT is not currently supported). Here’s what that looks like (here I have Favero Assioma pedals paired as power source, and my Wahoo KICKR paired for resistance and cadence):
New Ride Stats Panel
A new Ride Stats panel has been added on the left, showing your Critical Power across five standard time windows:
5 seconds
1 minute
5 minutes
20 minutes
60 minutes
“Critical Power” in this context is the maximum average power you achieved across a given time interval.
The panel also includes two additional metric slots, which you can configure under Settings>HUD to show any of the 11 available metrics:
By default, the new Ride Stats panel won’t show while you ride. Click the “Toggle Side Display” button in the action bar to swap between showing segment leaderboards and the Ride Stats panel. (We’d love to see Zwift saving our preference here, so we don’t have to toggle the Ride Stats panel every time we ride.)
As shown above, if you trigger a split during your ride, this will pop in just above the Ride Stats panel.
Route Badge Indicator
A route badge icon has been added to the minimap, making it easy to know whether you’ve earned the route badge for the currently selected route:
The white icon indicates that you have not yet earned the route badge, and the green icon indicates that you have already earned the route badge.
If a route does not have an accompanying badge, this icon will not be shown.
Outdoor Ride Streak Bug (Not) Fixed
Zwift started importing outdoor rides from Garmin and Wahoo back in April, but there was an odd bug: if your first ride of the week was an outdoor ride that was imported into Zwift, you wouldn’t get your streak extension XP bonus, even if you rode on Zwift later in the week!
Zwift’s update notes say this bug is now squashed, but in our tests, the bug persists. Zwift updated us on July 22 to say the issue should be finally resolved in the next update release.
New Routes?
Four new cycling route badges showed up unannounced in this update:
Red Zone Repeats
Power Punches
Climb Control
Flat Out Fast
Presumably, these are new routes that will be soon be available in Zwift. Watch this space!
(Also, a “Rapide Run” route and badge showed up for runners.)
Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
For the Americans: Fixed an issue that could cause Climb Portal cards in the Home Screen to only show distance in metric units.
Fixed an issue that could cause Zwifters to get stuck on the Tour Of Tewit Well route in Yorkshire if riding at low power levels.
Android: Improved the appearance of workout arches.
iOS: Fixed a crash that could occur when taking screenshots in rapid succession.
Mac: Fixed an issue that could cause the background of the top-left HUD section to be transparent.
Over the last 3 months, Zwifters have been working tirelessly to upgrade their bikes. In this week’s top video, a veteran Zwifter shares his tips and strategy for bike upgrading.
Also included in this week’s top picks are videos about Zwift’s strong community, tough Zwift races, and more bike upgrade tips.
My Zwift Upgrade Progress
Top e-sport cyclist Josh Harris shares his strategy for upgrading bikes and his progress so far.
True Sportsmanship in Zwift Racing: Why I Love This Community
One of the greatest things about Zwift is its unrivaled community. In this video, Chad Rides shares his experience in a Zwift Ladder race.
I got WALKED in this Zwift Sprint
Jeff from Norcal Cycling joins another Zwift race. Hear from him as he discusses his tactics and mistakes in this race.
ZRL bike upgrades – don’t panic, here are 3 tips
Which bikes should you upgrade for Zwift Racing League? Titanium Ben shares three tips on upgrading bikes for optimal performance in the Zwift Racing League.
Pushing Limits Up Box Hill! | Zwift Race
Eric Barfell tackles a tough Zwift race up Box Hill. Watch as he puts up a strong race and pushes himself to the limit.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
With Le Tour now underway, we’re in a racing mood, so this week’s event picks lean toward the racing side of Zwift a bit more than usual. See below for two unique races we’ve never featured before, plus a popular and established stage race.
We’ve also included two popular group rides. See our picks below…
Think of the Ghost Team’s “Mini Little Tour” as a sort of slightly longer Tiny Races. Held just twice a month, this is a series of three back-to-back races, each 15-20 minutes long. Courses this week are The Classic, Electric Loop, and Mountain Mash.
✅ Good Cause ✅ Popular ✅ Special Guests ✅ Kit Unlock
Once again, one of the most popular rides this weekend is the open-paced Tour de 4 ride with Sir Chris Hoy (11x world champion and 6x Olympic champion). Tour de 4 is an initiative to change the perception of people living with stage 4 cancer and raise vital funds for cancer charities across the UK.
✅ Popular Race ✅ Unique Event ✅ Endurance Challenge
The 7-stage SISU Tour is now underway, and lots of racers are taking part in the competitive series. This weekend is stage 3, which takes place on one lap of Knights of the Roundabout (54.4km, 359m elevation).
We picked this race event because of its unique structure, which will surely lead to some strategic racing! This is a points race, and you earn FAL points based on your position across the sprint line on each lap. With 7 LaGuardia Loop laps total (plus a lead-in) that means you’ll have 8 sprints in this race… and the final sprint counts for double points.
All categories start together, but are scored separately on ZwiftPower. This is gonna be wild!
This series from Shimano is proving popular! These are open-paced group rides on newer Zwift routes that include a #SuperCyclingSunday kit unlock, special guest riders, and more.
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!
