Your choice of virtual bike frame influences your Zwift speed significantly. And Zwift’s Drop Shop gives us access to a pile of bikes: over 125 if you include the Halo, TT, Gravel, and mountain bikes!
At Zwift Insider, we’ve tested every Zwift frame and wheelset using an accurate, repeatable procedure to determine how it performs in game.
Based on those speed tests, we’ve chosen the five best gravel frames in Zwift today, and the best wheelsets for gravel racing. This isn’t just a stack rank of the most aero or lightest gravel setups in game, although that is the primary factor. We also took into account how each item performs across a variety of gravel routes.
Without further ado, let’s get to the list! Drumroll please…
The Best Gravel Bike Frames in Zwift
Cannondale SuperX LAB71
1,000,000 Drops, must be level 28+
The best climbing gravel rig in Zwift currently, and it’s also the second-fastest on flats. Plus, the paint job is Cannondale-cool! What’s not to like?
Why it’s a winner: super lightweight, and strong aero performance as well
Pinarello Dogma GR
1,100,000 Drops, must be level 30+
Just a fraction of a second slower on the flats than the Cannondale above, but it loses 3-4 seconds on the climbs, so it definitely plays second fiddle.
Why it’s a winner: strong aero and climbing performance
Cervelo Aspero 5
1,250,000 Drops, must be level 35+
The most aero gravel bike in Zwift, and by a decent margin (3 seconds or more). The only downside is that it’s rather heavy, so if your gravel race includes climbs (and most do), you’ll probably want to trade off a bit of aero performance for easier climbing and go with one of the bikes above.
Why it’s a winner: most aero gravel bike in game
Canyon Grail SLX
800,000 Drops, must be level 10+
It’s the 4th-fastest gravel bike on flats and climbs, and available at a super low level compared to other fast gravel bikes. If nothing else, it deserves a spot on this list as “the gravel bike you buy until you can buy the very best.”
Why it’s a winner: strong aero and decent climbing performance at a very low level unlock
Specialized Crux
950,000 Drops, must be level 35+
This is the only “older” gravel bike to make the top 5 list (the four above all came out in 2026). While it’s the least aero frame on the list, the Crux earns this spot by outclimbing every frame on the list, apart from the Cannondale SuperX LAB71. If Zwift ever brings the new Crux 5 into the game, it’ll no doubt be a real gravel weapon!
Why it’s a winner: strong climbing performance
The Best Gravel Wheelsets in Zwift
While we would have preferred to list the top five gravel wheelsets in Zwift, there are only two worth mentioning. The Drop Shop has seven gravel wheelsets available, but the oldest five all perform identically, while the two below are much faster (click for performance details).
Roval Terra Aero CLX
650,000 Drops, must be Level 38+
Simply the best gravel wheels in Zwift. Their speed on flats matches the Zipp 303 below, but they outclimb the Zipps by ~4 seconds across an hour of riding.
Why it’s a winner: best aero+climb performance of any gravel wheelset
Zipp 303 XPLR SW
1,100,000 Drops, must be Level 35+
The same aero performance as the Roval Terra Aero CLX above, but a bit slower on climbs since the wheels are a bit heavier. Still, apart from the Rovals, the Zipp 303 is far and away better than all other gravel wheelset in Zwift.
Why it’s a winner: strong aero performance
Upgrading and Digging Deeper
If you’re concerned about race performance – and you’ve read this far, so I assume you are – it’s vital that you upgrade your bike frames. In fact, upgrading your gravel frame boosts your speed much more than buying any new frame or wheelset! The difference between an un-upgraded frame and a fully-upgraded one is approximately 33 seconds across an hour of Jungle Circuit riding. Learn more here >
Want to dig deeper into the precise speeds of various frames and wheels? Check out our gravel frame ranking charts and public test data.
Share Your Thoughts
We hope all you riders/racers found this post useful. Think there’s a frame or wheelset we should have included but didn’t? Got other 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.
Where’s that ’26 Crux 5 update, let’s go Zwift & Spec.
It sounds like it won’t be here any time soon… I asked some internal contacts. Bummer! Because I bet it’ll be fast.
Thanks for checking… yea that’s a bummer, I’m an Alpe or so from maxxing my second Specialized bike upgrades and had hoped to move to a gravel rig (rather than a TT or MTB)… Means it’s all but guaranteed upgrading the og Crux will wrap up just before the Cx5 is added ofc. Might have to take one for the team.
I really enjoy the dynamic of Gravel Racing with the mix between tarmac and gravel routes due to having to choose between a gravel and a road setup. I can’t remember the exact percentage mix but the road setup was faster by a significant margin as I was able to race it with similar watts on both setups with a similar drafting/pack dynamic (and I believe the Gravel setup was supposed to be faster based on the research I did). I wish there were more gravel series but understand how it detracts from any other series taking place. I know Zwift will do some series but really wish they would do more.
What about mixed races? I remember the ZRL scratch race on Coutrysinde Tour this winter with the Temple KOM and one guy on a gravel bike gave us a good run for our money up there. With the new bikes would you go in that mixed bike race more aero to be less at a disadvantage on the road flats or lightweight to fully send it up the KOM?
What ever happened to the magnificent innovative gravel course update this season on zwift thing which was ‘introduced’ earlier this year and crashed in her first hours?
It’s going to be reintroduced… zoon…
I won’t hold my breath.
I still think that implementing “gravel” into zwift was a complete waste of resources. Zwift already misses the mark on a lot of cycling, but there is no way you’re going to implement a faithful gravel option in a virtual world and I don’t see the point in attempting to distinguish it from any other zwift riding.
Gravel feels like a complete waste of effort—an industry-hyped feature that may exist more for commercial reasons than because riders genuinely need it.
The real tragedy with Zwift, though, is how slowly it appears to develop in the AI era. At our company, we build software roughly 20 times faster than we did two years ago. Has anyone seen a comparable acceleration in Zwift’s product development? I certainly have not.
Instead, it still feels like the same small bug fixes and minor incremental changes, release after release. It is hard to understand why there is so little visible progress when AI-assisted development is already transforming software teams everywhere—including in the US and Brazil. Zwift itself has said it uses AI tools internally and is pursuing personalised AI-driven experiences, which makes the lack of obvious product velocity even more frustrating.
No need to develop when you bought your only competitor?
Oh look! Sweet. Another yapper.
Delete it and move on?
Thanks for letting us know you should be on MyWhoosh. Cheers.