Along with the boatload of new features recently announced, lots of new indoor cycling gear has also been announced. In this week’s top video, learn all about the new Wahoo KICKR Core.
Also included in this week’s top videos are videos about the new KICKR Bike Pro, a rundown of the cheapest Zwift setups, an intro to one Zwifter’s Zwift Racing League team, and a 30-day fitness challenge.
Shane Miller, GPLama, provides an in-depth review of the new Wahoo KICKR CORE. Is it worth the upgrade?
Wahoo KICKR BIKE PRO Review: Quieter Ride, Better Zwift Integration
This past week, Wahoo also launched an updated KICKR Bike (KICKR BIKE PRO). Tariq from Smart Bike Trainers shares a review of this trainer after riding it for some time.
The Cheapest Ways To Get Started On Zwift
Looking to get started on Zwift? GCN briefly covers the most budget-friendly ways to get started on Zwift.
My Zwift Racing League team is faster than yours
Recently, Zwift reached out to Caryl to put together a team of Zwift-fluencers (Zwinfluencers?) for the upcoming Zwift Racing League season. Watch as she introduces the team and covers some of her recent races.
I Cycled Every Day for 30 Days — Here’s What Happened
Indoor cycling is often praised for its convenience and ease of use. After trying indoor cycling with Zwift for 30 days, Jordan shares his thoughts and considers how it has impacted his life.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
“Zwift’s Big Weekend” Events Announced for October 3-6
Today, Zwift posted a set of rides for the coming weekend (October 3-6) as part of an event dubbed “Zwift’s Big Weekend.” It’s Zwift’s birthday celebration – 11 years old this fall – and it’s “Our celebration of everything Zwift—pure energy, on and off the bike.”
There are actually two pieces to this weekend. The first is a set of fun banded rides led by pros and ambassadors, which I’ve detailed below. But the second piece is an unprecedented hardware sale featuring the biggest discount we’ve ever seen on the full Zwift Ride setup, which now includes Wahoo’s latest trainer, the feature-packed KICKR CORE 2.
Save on Zwift Ride + KICKR CORE 2
With a price well below other smart bikes, the Zwift Ride is already the best deal around for anyone looking for a turnkey Zwift setup. But this weekend, riders can pick up the Zwift Ride + Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 package for just $999.99/€999.99/ÂŁ999.99. That’s a huge discount off the regular price, especially for Zwifters in the US:
If you aren’t looking for a full Zwift Ride setup, but would love a trainer upgrade, Zwift is running a second promo on the new Wahoo KICKR CORE 2. This trainer, released less than a month ago, improves on the highly popular KICKR CORE by adding Wi-Fi connectivity, race mode, Bluetooth bridging, and more.
Purchase the CORE 2 from Zwift and you’ll get a free Wahoo TRACKR Heart Rate Monitor ($99.99/€89.99/ÂŁ79.99 retail) thrown in!
Beginner racers fall into one of two categories: those who have raced IRL but not on Zwift, and those who haven’t raced indoors or out, but want to give it a try in a safe place like Zwift. Zwift Beginner Racing (ZBR) is a new club hosting events to help both types of riders better understand the sport in a club-neutral environment.
To help both groups of riders, ZBR hosts group rides where the ride leader shares their experience and knowledge of racing on Zwift. For example, their next event is Monday’s “Zwift Beginner Racing The Ins and Outs of Sprinting” in which “The ride leader is an experienced Zwift racer and will provide insight into how to set up for sprints and all the key points to get you over that line as fast as possible.“
Upcoming Events
Currently. ZBR events are held on Mondays and Wednesdays and rotate between the following:
ZBR ride leaders message the group during events and are also on a Discord voice channel (https://discord.gg/PpCQzfuFdW) so event participants can communicate via either method.
Beginner Race Discussion
In addition to hosting events to introduce people to racing, ZBR provides new racers with a Facebook and Discord presence to discuss racing and to provide visibility for events that are focused on beginner racers. (ZBR defines Beginner events as those with a pen supporting a Zwift Racing Score (ZRS) of 0-150 or Category D with 0-1.7 w/kg.)
Zwift Beginner Racing is open to anyone interested in learning about racing and trying it out.
In addition, ZBR would love to add new ride leaders interested in sharing their knowledge of racing!
This weekend’s big events are the kickoff to Zwift’s 2025/26 Fondo Series. But we’ve also selected two unique races and two unique group rides, none of which we’ve featured before. Check them all out below!
✅ Bonus XP 　✅ Popular 　✅ Endurance Challenge 　✅ Jersey Unlock
Zwift’s popular monthly Fondo Series is back, and it kicks off this weekend! This is by far the most popular event happening this weekend, so if you’re looking for a longer effort you can race if desired, this is it.
The folks at Team Evolve have spun up a new weekly ride concept where the purpose is to progressively ride longer (5km added each week) until you hit 100 miles in March.
This weekend is the first ride of the series: 30km on France’s R.G.V.
Based on early signup numbers, this new race series looks to be a popular one. It’s a 4-stage series, raced each weekend, with mass starts and not categories. And it begins this week with the first stage on Greatest London Flat (31km, 222m).
Enter individual races for the fun of it, or compete in all four stages. There’s a GC on ZwiftPower which uses cumulative time to rank riders across the series!
Looks like Team Evolve gets two features this weekend! On Sunday, they’re hosting a three-race omnium that will take a total of ~95 minutes to complete. You earn points based on your finishing position in each of the race, then the rider with the most points in each category wins the Omnium.
This is a three-race series:
Race 1 Croissant 12.5km iTT
Race 2 Petite Douleur 24.8km
Race 3 The Bell Lap 8km 4-lap crit
Bike are neutralized – same weight, CdA, and upgrade level. As always, be sure to read event description for more details.
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!
Zwift’s Climb Portal gives Zwifters access to a growing library of famous real-life climbs in a gamified environment where roads are colored based on gradient. Learn more about the Climb Portal >
While the library of climbs continues to grow, only two climbs are accessible on any given day. The climb of the month (in green below) is available in France, while a second climb rotates every few days and is only available in Watopia. The easiest place to see and select a climb is at the bottom left of your Zwift homescreen (scroll down).
Learn more about a climb by clicking it in the schedule below.
The Drop: MyCanyon Colorways Land In the Drop Shop
Yesterday, Zwift introduced a new concept in the Drop Shop – four fresh colorways of a frame that is already in game, the slippery Canyon Aeroad 2024. These four new bikes are painted in distinct designs from the MyCanyon collection.
The MyCanyon custom program was announced earlier this year, offering customers the opportunity to create a bike using a personalized mix of components paired with a unique, high-end colorway.
MyCanyon features nine different colorways, but this week’s Zwift release includes a select four:
MyCanyon Fabrio – Gold Dust:“A stunning golden yellow finish couples with striking mirrored decals. It’s a bike that radiates energy, and is as special as gold dust itself.”Read more >
MyCanyon Mano – Carina Red:“Home to many massive stars, including several that are 100 times bigger than the sun, Carina glows bright and bold. Painted using a hand-stamping process, this frame has a deep and fiery red color that looks three-dimensional under the surface.”Read more >
MyCanyon Opus – Felipe Pantone:“Inspired by the interplay of speed and technology, Felipe’s design represents organized chaos with some unexpected twists and turns as the bike moves. It’s modern speed, just like the Aeroad CFR.”Read more >
MyCanyon Opus – Elena Salmistraro:“Imagining a bike in motion, speeding towards the sun, light dancing on its surfaces, Elena used a kaleidoscopic color concept in her design, making a perfect combination of modernity and fun that is ideal for attracting attention.”Read more >
Opinion: An Odd Departure
Zwifters have asked for more bike colorways for years, particularly when it comes to popular race bikes. But Zwift has always been oddly hesitant to release more paintjobs.
The S-Works Venge, the most popular non-Tron race bike on Zwift for years? Available only in a dull gray to this day. The Pinarello Dogma F 2024? We’ll create a fun Zwifty colorway, but if you weren’t there to do all the races in September 2024, you missed your chance! The S-Works Tarmac SL8, the new favorite race bike? You can have it in any color you’d like. As long as it’s white.
It seemed logical to predict Zwift eventually releasing fresh colorways for frames and wheels which we could purchase using Drops.
But this is not that.
Instead, if you buy one of the new MyCanyon bikes, it adds an entirely new bike frame in your garage:
Sure, this is how it would work in the real world. But why does it need to work that way in Zwift?
Four big issues I foresee with Zwift using this method to release new colorways:
UI confusion (it’s not how the system has worked up until now): Many Zwifters already have multiple colorways unlocked for particular frames in their garage. You select the frame, then select which colorway you’d like. In fact, confusingly, the Canyon Aeroad 2024 has three different in-game colorways that work this way, meaning this week’s change adds four new colorways that work completely differently.
Upgrader anger: If riders love their Canyon Aeroad 2024, then they’ve already worked to upgrade it. Now, if they buy a new colorway, that new bike won’t upgraded at all.
Crowded garages: The request for Zwift to let us clean out our garages – even if it just means deleting items entirely without getting any Drops back – has been echoed so many times that it’s basically a community meme. This setup just makes our garages more crowded, when Zwift could have utilized the existing functionality of consolidating multiple colorways under one frame.
No model names: This is a minor issue, perhaps. But there’s no indication in the Drop Shop of what model of Canyon bike these four new frames actually are, apart from the fact that they look like the Aeroad 2024. But are they actually the same? Do they perform identically? (Zwift tells me yes, but that’s not clear in the UI.)
Let me be clear: I’d be happy if The Drop encouraged me to drop major Drops on a sweet colorway. I’ve got 83 million+ Drops to burn, after all! So please, Zwift, go ahead and create super-exclusive and incredible-looking colorways. Give some of them crazy high prices, in fact. You could even do limited-edition releases. Make it feel special to be one of only a few owners.
But releasing them as standalone bikes just seems all wrong. So I hope Zwift decides to modify the Drop Shop, allowing us to purchase colorways for frames we already own without further crowding our garages.
What’s Next?
Zwift’s This Season on Zwift announcement made it sound like additional colorways would be coming after the initial Canyon release (“Stay tuned for more Drops coming to the Drop Shop this season!”)
I haven’t heard of what’s coming, or when. And frankly, I hope they fix the issue above first. But we’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the look of these new Aeroads? Will you be buying one? What do you think of the whole concept of buying new colorways of frames to add to your garage? Share your thoughts below!
How the Team Race Was Won: Sprinting Dandy on Fine and Sandy
This week my team (Coalition Delusion, racing in the B1 Development Lime division), took on 8 others in a points race slugfest in Urukazi. Everyone knew heading in that it would be a tough race. Could we survive in the front to the finish, while grabbing enough sprint points along the way?
Only time would tell. Here’s how our race unfolded…
Planning + Warmup
Our team had been chatting on Discord for several days leading up to this race. How could we best attack four laps of Fine and Sandy? Nearly all the race-winning points were in the 8 sprints, but we would also have to survive 8 repeats of the short, dusty Mech Isle climb.
We really didn’t know much about the other teams, either, it being a fresh division and we having only raced a TTT together.
In the end, we decided that the key was to stay in the front group for as long as possible (first priority) while also contesting as many sprints as possible (second priority). It was left to each rider how exactly that would happen.
I was already one dirty chai and a few pieces of Neuro caffeine gum into my day by the time I got on the bike at 9:35am, so I was nicely caffeinated. I’d also applied some PR Lotion to my legs, then I rode a 20-minute warmup, keeping the effort mostly zone 2, with a few spinups to get my heart rate up in zone 4.
After updating my name to include [Coalition] and changing to my chosen race rig (Pinarello Dogma F 2024 + DT Swiss disc), I headed to the pens. Let’s race!
Lap 1 – the Start
The 50 riders in our race started quite tamely, but that was expected. Everyone knew we would need every bit of power we could muster to hang on over 8x Mech Isle climbs and contest 8x sprint segments.
If you’re wondering what this course looks like conceptually, it’s this:
Captain Neil was on comms, keeping calm and carrying on, directing and giving atta boys.
As we crossed the wooden bridge to begin the first Mech Isle climb, I was well-positioned just a bike length from the front, giving me room to “sag” the climb if the group was pushing harder than I could hold.
Vanecht from the Belgian Zwift Riders team threw down a huge attack as we began, but I wasn’t going to chase that. Too much action up the road. Apparently others thought the same, as he stayed away, taking max FAL points on the Boardwalk Sprint before sitting up and rejoining the peloton.
For my part, I put in a hard sprint, but not a maximal sprint. 11th place.
The group slowed quickly after the sprint point, and I realized I had my first powerup: a steamroller. Should I hold it for the Mech Isle climb up the road, or burn it in hopes of getting an aero at the next arch? I decided to hold onto it.
On Discord, it sounded like teammate Chris M was already feeling the effort. We all told him to hang on as long as he could. In ZRL, every point counts!
The first Tidepool Sprint is where I realized I’d made a tactical error in holding onto my steamroller. Because it was clear that riders with aero (helmet) powerups had a huge advantage in the sprints, as they rode away from me quite handily and I crossed in 23rd:
I decided then and there not to make that mistake again. My new goal was to have an aero powerup heading into as many of the sprints as possible. If that meant burning a steamroller and suffering more on the Mech Isle climb, so be it.
Because I thought I could hold on up that climb, even though it was a hard effort. And sprint points were all that mattered. 39 riders left in front. On to lap two.
Lap 2: the Winning Move
As the race unfolded, we settled into a rhythm: go hard on the Mech Isle climb and sprint segments. Ride easy in between. Most of that in between riding was really easy, in fact. I kept finding myself poking my nose into the wind, even though I was only holding 150-200 watts!
On the Mech Isle climb at the start of lap 2, ZSUN rider T. Schippers attacked hard, chasing another rider who was even further off the front. I didn’t think much of it, and neither did most of the riders, it seemed.
But this was the winning move.
I came through the Boardwalk Sprint in 11th, without any powerup to assist me. I was starting to believe that I had the legs today to grab some solid sprint points, especially if I could land an aero powerup. And just like that, the Zwift gods gifted me one – my first on the day!
As we wound our way through Mangrove Maze, we noticed T. Schippers was growing his gap off the front, now 15 seconds ahead. Impressive. But still, I don’t think anyone saw it as a move that would last.
The Tidepool Sprint on lap two was my first all-in sprint effort, as I had an aero powerup and thus, I hoped, a shot at a top-5 finish. I crossed the line in 4th. 47 points! And a steamroller, which meant I’d have one easier go up the Mech Isle climb, but another meagure finish on lap 3’s Boardwalk Sprint.
35 riders were left in the front group as we finished our second lap, with 1 additional rider (Schippers) 38 seconds off the front.
Lap 3
Monica came into the office just to document my sprint suffering…
As we made our way toward the first sprint of our third lap, we all began to understand the beautiful plan T. Schippers was executing. While we sprinted our guts out 4x each lap, sitting up in between to recover, he was keeping the power steady and slowly growing a gap on the peloton.
I certainly didn’t have the legs to bridge up to him solo. And it seems nobody else did, either. As long as he was riding within himself, he was going to win this race and land a huge points haul. Would that be what his team (ZSUN) needed to win? We weren’t sure, as we really didn’t know who the strongest teams were.
A 14th-place finish on the Boardwalk Sprint earned my team 37 more points, and more importantly, another aero powerup! I used that aero to grab 3rd (and 48 points) on the Tidepool Sprint, where I got another aero powerup.
It meant I would suffer a bit on the two Mech Isle climbs just up the road. But hopefully that meant I could finally put in a fast effort on the Boardwalk Sprint.
The Mech Isle climb at the end of lap 3 proved to be the one that dropped teammate Chris M from the front group. He’d done a remarkable job of holding on, though, and continued to soldier on in the chase group.
The front pack had been whittled down to 29 riders (plus Schippers well off the front) as we headed into our final lap. Five Coalition riders remained in the front group.
Lap 4 – the Finish
Several riders went surprisingly early on the final Boardwalk Sprint, but I wasn’t feeling spicy enough to follow. Still, I had an aero powerup, so I gave it a go, crossing in 8th.
Landing a steamroller powerup put me in a bit of a quandary. Should I hold onto it to ease my final effort up the dirt climb? Or ditch it in hopes of getting an aero powerup?
I decided to burn it – to literally trash it (so other riders wouldn’t see what I did). And it worked! I got 16th on the final Tidepool Sprint, well behind the riders with aero powerups. But I also landed an aero powerup myself, which I knew would be helpful in my finishing sprint, as long as I could hold onto the wheels up and over the final Mech Isle climb.
Three riders managed to get away off the front up that final climb, and I just suffered my way over it, making sure I didn’t get gapped off the back. My gamble had worked: I had survived the final climb, and had an aero in my pocket for the finish.
My plan was to surf the wheels until the final few hundred meters, and that’s what I did. I probably left it a bit late, but managed to cut through most of the group and finish 6th.
The results from WTRL came in quicker this week, and we were stoked to see Coalition Delusion atop the leaderboard!
Just like we’d told Chris M, every point counts. Without his 159 points we would have lost to Atom Racing. That’s why you never give up in a ZRL race.
Of course, everyone on the team contributed in a big way, as you can see from our points totals above. You can’t win these sorts of races with just one or two outstanding performers. Well done, Coalition Delusion!
Personally, I was really happy with my result, as I somehow managed to be the leading points scorer for my team this week. While my average power for the race wasn’t anything impressive, 17 sprint efforts across 69 minutes of racing certainly emptied my matchbook!
I’m enjoying my ZRL races so far this year, more than I have in some past seasons. It’s fun to be in the mix, instead of just holding on for dear life until I get shelled off the back.
Lastly, kudos to T. Schippers for nailing the long breakaway, Jensie-style, and taking the overall win. It was a strategically brilliant move, and he managed to do it with a 319W (3.365 W/kg) average. Not surprisingly, he earned more FAL and FIN points than anyone else in the race (434 total).
Request: Realtime Points
This was a fun race. But it would have been so much cooler if we had real-time points results displayed in the HUD. Imagine the strategic elements that would bring into the race.
Please make it happen, Zwift!
Your Thoughts
How did your race on Fine and Sandy go this week? Share below!
Join the Cycle Nation 24-hour Charity Ride October 18-19
Want to put in some big miles for a good cause? On October 18-19, the Cycle Nation team is hosting its third annual 24-hour charity ride on Zwift to benefit the Distance For Difference organization.
You don’t have to ride all 24 hours to take part… 12 events are scheduled over the weekend so riders can jump in whenever they’re able! Read on for details…
About Distance For Difference
Distance For Difference (D4D) is a registered non-profit organization which, since 2005, has made a significant impact on the well-being of children in South Africa. D4D use sport to generate funds for distribution to various children’s charities.
To participate, you’ll need to join one or more of the 12 “Cycle Nation”Cycle Nation/CMC Distance 4 Difference 24 Hour Ride” events taking place on October 18/19 and listed at zwift.com/events/tag/distance4difference.
Late join is enabled, and each event is 90 minutes long and held on Tempus Fugit to help everyone stay together. Yellow beacons will lead the rides at 1.8w/kg, but riders are free to form their own groups above or below this pace.
Cycle Nation Kit Unlock
Finish any of the rides and unlock the Cycle Nation kit!
Zwift version 1.98 begins its phased rollout today. This is a minor update that brings emoji support to in-game chat and rider names, along with a few other tweaks. Read on for details…
In-Game Emoji Support đźš´
Emojis have always worked when reading messages in the Companion app, but they didn’t show up in game. That changes with this week’s update, which will show emojis in messages and Zwifter’s names. How many emojis can you put in a message? A lot.
But only up to two emojis will be displayed in your surname (the first two you use).
Ride leader’s names aren’t displaying emojis correctly yet, but we assume this will get fixed soon:
Leaderboard
After completing a timed segment, your leaderboard ranking is now shown in the center HUD.
This is particularly helpful if you have swapped out the leaderboard on the side HUD for the ride stats panel that was added in July.
New Routes Incoming
Keen-eyed reader Rein reports 6 new cycling route badges showing up:
Tropical Rush
London Calling
Dun Dash
Electric Break
Scotland After Party
Glasgow Crit Six
We assume these routes will be unveiled in an upcoming event series, perhaps “Zwift Unlocked” which runs from October 6-November 16 and is said to feature new routes.
Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
Fixed an issue where Zwift Companion and Zwift Game could potentially show different streak week numbers.
Fixed an issue that could cause workout arch lighting to appear on the roadway without a corresponding workout arch.
Fixed an issue where TT bikes could potentially automatically steer toward draft in free rides (where drafting provides no benefit); TT bikes now only seek draft in TTT events.
