The latest Zwift update has been announced and will be released in phases over the next few days. This release has some fun features and important changes, so let’s dig into the details!
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Repack Rush Opens
Many Zwifters noticed construction in Titans Grove during the last few weeks, and today we see what Zwift was working on: Repack Rush! This short route is a steering game that includes boosts, time bonuses, and hazards that you pick up (or avoid) by steering your rider.
The route is paved, twisty, and 2.76km long. The goal of this FutureWorks “game route” is to use steering, gamified elements, and of course your own legs to finish the route in the shortest time possible. Ride over the blue boosts for a speed boost, ride through the green stopwatches for a time bonus (they’re worth 0.2 seconds each), and avoid the red hazards which slow you down!
At the end of the route you’ll get a summary screen showing your Repack Rush time(s) and a link to view the global leaderboard. You can then click to try it again, or click to switch to free ride mode and exit into the redwoods near the entrance to Titans Grove.
Here’s a quick ride-through:
Why is Zwift releasing a steering game today? We can’t say for sure, but as explained in our recent Recent Zwift Leaks: 6 “Coming Soon” Features post, this may be Zwift preparing to release game controllers in the near future.
Action Bar Refreshed
The Action Bar has been reworked as promised, bringing more options to this key UI element:
The refreshed Action Bar adds popup submenus for camera positions, emotes, and the new Teleport feature (more on that below). Here’s a quick video run-through:
Additionally, the contents of the Action Bar change depending on the type of activity you are currently doing:
Free Ride
U-turn
Message
Screenshot
Teleport
Coffee Stop
Toggle Graphs
Show/Hide HUD
Emotes
Change View
Events
Message
Screenshot
Coffee Stop
Toggle Graphs
Show/Hide HUD
Emotes
Change View
Workouts
Pause Workout
Skip Block
+ Intensity
– Intensity
Change View
U-turn
Message
Toggle Graphs
Screenshot
Emotes
These Action Bar changes have carried over to the Companion app for a consistent experience. Tapping the Change View, Teleport, or Emotes icon in Companion now brings up a submenu:
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Teleport Feature Launched
The much anticipated Teleport feature launched in today’s update. Originally called “Rider Teleport” when Zwift announced it in April, the feature is now called “Teleport” because it works for runners as well as riders.
Teleport lets you seamlessly move between RoboPacers or active friends who are currently in the same world. This lets you do fun things in a single activity that weren’t previously possible, like:
- Warming up with a slower RoboPacer before popping over to a faster pace group
- Bouncing around the map to ride or run with friends who are currently online
- Re-joining a pace group after you get dropped
- See more use cases here
What do your activity maps look like after teleporting? Zwift has done a very nice job when viewing the activity on Zwift.com:
Strava (shown here using the ZwiftMap for Strava Chrome extension) isn’t quite as pretty. It charts all the lines the same way, even though the teleporting portions aren’t figured into your overall activity distance:
A few Teleporting rules:
- Zwifters don’t get distance credit or XP for the distance covered while teleporting.
- Zwifters will get credit for any routes or segments completed during their activity, as long as they don’t Teleport in or out during that route or segment.
- Zwifters cannot Teleport into or out of events.
- You can only Teleport to Zwifters you follow who also follow you back.
- The Drops multiplier game restarts whenever you teleport to a RoboPacer… even if it’s the RoboPacer you are already with.
Power Curve Window and Limit Changes
Zwift maintains a “critical power curve” for all riders to properly categorize them when entering Category Enforced events. Today that power curve was expanded from 60 to 90 days. This makes the power curve’s time window consistent with the 90-day window used for our personal records visible for leaderboards and HoloReplays.
Zwift also modified the zMap limits for all categories, reducing each limit by 0.1 to 0.3W/kg. (You don’t need to know what the limits are, since they’re computed automatically, but if you’re curious you can see the updated limits on our Category Enforcement page.)
These changes will result in some Zwifters being re-categorized in Zwift’s Category Enforcement system. Specifically, the changes will require some Zwifters to race in a higher category than before.
Note: Zwift tells us the new power curve window and/or zMap changes may not be immediately visible on ZwiftPower or Zwift.com, but they have taken effect and are determining which categories each Zwifter can race.
More Fixes and Tweaks
Additional tweaks and bug fixes Zwift listed for this update:
- Zwifters can now see which workouts have been completed and when in the workout browser.
- Fixed an issue in the Ride Report where output wattage was not visible in the Critical Power graph.
- Fixed an issue where the nameplates of other Zwifters were visible when the Heads-Up Display (HUD) was disabled.
- Fixed an issue in the Garage where scrolling (via scrollbar) was reversed.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when free riding and joining a private event.
- Fixed an issue where running events on the event-only Splash and Dash route would not complete as expected.
- Fixed an animation issue with the Handcycle that could occur after completing a challenge.
- Fixed an issue that made it difficult to see the position of the text cursor when editing a custom workout title.
- Fixed an issue where Workout bias adjustment could be decreased to negative values.
- Fixed an issue where incorrect badge titles were shown in the Badges screen.
- Android: Fixed a crash that could occur after closing the Pairing screen.
- Fixed an issue joining Pace Partners.
See Zwift’s release notes in the forum >
There are also a few more bug fixes and new features we’ve discovered in this update:
- KICKR Bikes lose steering ability after taking a Coffee Break (bug from v1.39)
- New u-turn popup UI when performing a u-turn on PC using the down arrow
- On-screen gearing is now visible for users on the Tacx NEO Bike Plus (and the original Tacx NEO Bike with firmware update). This update was actually rolled out around a month ago, but we just learned about it.
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
What about fixing the bug in the previous update where ERG mode doesn’t work when connecting with Zwift Companion and Apple TV.
I used that setup last night and didn’t have any issues. Hope you are able to get it fixed for you.
Haven’t had a chance to get online yet (knee injury). Does the new Repack Rush course give them room to bring back Repack Ridge, or is that space taken by this and Repack Ridge is gone forever (I hope not, but those of us in the Cult of Repack Ridge – though incredibly loyal and vocal – have always been few in number).
Seems like Rush is built on top of Ridge, so you couldn’t have both live at the same time.
I’d love to see more singletrack dirt stuff on Zwift!
I just wish I could see average watts for my ride. Like the ftp test.
I use my garmin/wahoo bike computers for that, and for av. w/kg. Nice if it was on zwift but this is a work around of sorts
If you’re on PC you can use Sauce for Zwift. It’s a great way to see all your data live during your ride. You can also see all of the data of people around you.
You can also just hit the menu button during a race/ride to get your average watts. Not ideal (hopefully they provide a main screen option for this), but I use this several times a race.
The sidemenu is bugged and have been for weeks. Dont show riders in front of yourself
I have noticed exactly the same thing
Yes the “Zwifters nearby” list often shows my own name at the very top of the list which then means that I don’t see anyone listed ahead of me (even when I’m staring at several avatars). It seems to get worse the longer I ride, like my name keeps inching toward the top of the list until it finally hits the top and stays there. I think it started 1-3 releases ago. I’ve been seeing it during workouts, not sure about free rides or events.
Every time a new update comes along, the comment section fills up with people wishing their pet peeve bugs would be fixed. So, assuming that there is a Zwift developer or two reading this, please have a look in the bugs section of the Zwift forum and just round up a bunch of easy to solve one’s and spend a few hours on them? I am sure if this would be done regularly, you would have a happier community and also a longer list of fixed bugs!
Of course I am just saying this because I have my own bug I would like to have fixed… 😉
https://forums.zwift.com/t/the-letter-a-is-omitted-in-usernames/594702
Super exited about Repack Rush!
Any word on when Zwift will be optimised for recent Apple TV devices?
Bring steering to stages bike. This repack looks fun.
Yes and show the on-screen gearing too!
The strava “visible” vs “hidden” lines just look like the standard privacy options on Strava for hiding the start & end point of your IRL activities.
Ah – you are precisely correct! For some reason I had that option enabled in my test account… I think I was testing it a while back for the purposes of writing an article about how goofy it is that Strava has privacy controls for virtual rides.
I’ll update the post above.
even tho i do have a sterzo, id be happy if they just has that road opened and use it for some route changes without all the toys on it.
Yesterday I saw riding near the volcano a new deviation in the small map at the top right, I guess is were the climb portal will be situated.
Yup. It’s been there for several weeks!
I got upgraded to A after the latest updates. So thanks for the vote of confidence. Zwift. But seems a bit over inclusive – I’ve never hit very close to 4.2 FTP (3.9 is my highest ever FTP w/kg) and I am 81kg, racing age 50. I’ve also never hit 5.1 W/kg in 5 minute power but not sure that’s what they’re basing zMAP on. I’m guessing the algorithm may take into account absolute power and/or average time spent at various power levels. I guess it really doesn’t matter – I mainly race time trials on Zwift as part of a training plan for IRL TTs so finishing last in A vs. top 5/top 10 in B doesn’t really detract from what I’m trying to get out of Zwift. But I suspect they’ll end up tweaking the Category Enfrocement algorithm again.
Log into your zwift.com profile and go to your feed to see the data Zwift has saved to determine your category: https://www.zwift.com/feed
It’ll even tell you the dates you set the power bests.
Yeah, it appears I did pop over the zMAP threshold. Last month’s 5 minute power test gives me a zMAP of 5.11w/kg. I’ll take any upgrades I can get these days but there is a pretty big gap between my zMAP and zFTP and only exceeding one triggers the category restriction.
Sure there’s a big gap between zMAP and zFTP. One is 5-minute power (approx) while the other is more like an estimate of 60-minute power!
Congrats on your upgrade. I wish I had the power to get bumped into the A’s.
I could be wrong, but this feels a lot like a ‘jump the shark’ type moment.
I tried Repack Ridge today on Apple TV with a Sterzo, and @Eric Schlange is right on – it’s clumsy. My steering input often conflicted with the games built-in steering and it was awkward to say the least. Is Zwift missing an opportunity here to test full user steering? Just let me steer and turn off the built-in steering (bet that’s a major deal, tho). The teleport feature works great! I teleported from Repack and warmed up with a lower watt Robo and then teleported again for the workout I really wanted.
With the new companion action bar is there a way to get Zwift to cycle through changing view? Before I could tap it four times and it would alternate views automatically.
yea, ran into this as well… poked at it a bit and looks like they only show a list menu now, which you have to try to read. I run companion on a phone on a shelf sort of arms-reach adjacent to my bike – can’t read the menu at all from that far away at that angle. Much preferred the cycle-through-views approach.
In the revamped Action Bar during workouts, I hope they move ‘Skip Block’ to the far left so it isn’t next to ‘+ Intensity’. Was annoyed last night trying to hit ‘+ intensity’ during an interval and accidently hit ‘Skip Block’ and got the exact opposite of what I wanted.
Would be much less of an issue if I just accidently hit ‘Pause Workout’ instead.
The teleport between Pacers is great though.
Re action bar: in workout mode the “Erg mode” button does not contain a visual indicator whether erg mode is on or off (unlike the “old” button).
The only way I could check was to look at reported power in response to a power surge on my part!
Correct, that was removed.
Also, what is this portal-looking thing next to the volcano?
Upcoming Climb Portal! One in France, too.
Zwift no longer uploading my training peaks workouts?!
I actually like Repack Rush with my kickr bike but struggle with the auto steering. Anyone have any pull with Zwift to turn auto steer off? It would be so much better.
I (and others) have shared that same feedback. I bet it’ll happen.
Same here. I also think the green clock icons need a shadow or something because their position in space seems vague and it’s difficult to judge whether you’re about to hit them or not.
Anyone found any drop out issues on Mountain 8 route (or any other routes for that matter) since the new update (1.42 June 2023)? I’ve attempted the Moutain 8 route 3 times in the past couple of days and had drop outs; 5km in, 2km from the finish and 9km in. Internet is fully connected and functional.