The latest Zwift update has been announced and will be released in phases over the next few days.
This release has some small new features, including new badges for Climb Portal lovers. Let’s dive in!
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Climb Portal Badges
After the Climb Portal launched, we said we’d love to see some associated achievement badges. It looks like Zwift was listening! They’ve added three new badges: Portal Climber, Climb Portal Pro, and Legs of Steel. These are awarded for doing 1, 10, and 25 Portal climbs and are worth 100XP, 500XP, and 1000XP, respectively.
It doesn’t matter which climbs you do – you could do Cote de Pike 25x to earn “Legs of Steel”, or go big and earn it on the Tourmalet. Or mix it up with whatever combination of climbs you’d like.
Climb Portal Schedule
Zwift has shared the Climb Portal schedule for August. It begins with two climbs we’ve already seen, but finishes with two new climbs from real-life Scotland: Crow Road and Bealach na Bà!
We’ve created a dedicated page at zwiftinsider.com/climb-portal-schedule/ which (like our Guest World Schedule and RoboPacer Schedule) will be regularly updated to show the current Climb Portal calendar.
New Race Results Screen
Zwift says, “Added a new results screen for races only. This will show a more simplified results view with more important data post race.”
I did a race just this morning (and had a power dropout, so no judgment on me finishing at the back 🥺) that ended with the new screen. Here’s a shot of it:
A few thoughts:
- It’s definitely simplified, which is great.
- We like the power numbers on the left. We’d like to click them to toggle between W/kg and pure watts, and we’d love it to show a badge or trophy next to numbers that are a new 90-day PB.
- There was nowhere to click and see the full finisher’s list, but we think that is a bug, since we’ve seen such a link in other mockups. (We would also like a way to click to see the results of other categories.)
More Release Notes
Here are additional tweaks and bug fixes Zwift provided for this update, with notes from us in italics:
- The Alpe du Zwift road line on the mini-map is now highlighted correctly.
- Fixed an issue that caused steering to not work after switching from Running to Cycling.
- Zwift Play:
- Fixed an issue that could cause a delay between pairing the controllers and the controllers being usable.
- Updated the battery indicator icon on the Pairing Screen.
- Fixed an issue that could prevent one controller from auto-pairing.
- General improvements to haptic feedback.
- Fixed an issue where unpairing Kickr Bike steering during a session would also prevent Zwift Play controllers from steering.
- Fixed an issue where if Kickr Bike steering was not paired, the Kickr Bike steering buttons would still work if Zwift Play was paired.
- General improvements to navigating the UI using Zwift Play controllers.
- Improved the description of the Trainer Difficulty setting in Zwift Settings. “Adjust the gear bias for your ride type” wasn’t clear? 🙂
- Fixed an issue that could cause intermittent swerves when cycling with a steering device: this is a welcome fix, but the issue doesn’t appear to be completely resolved based on some quick tests in a tightly packed race group of ~80 riders.
- Fixed a potential crash that could occur when navigating Workouts.
- Fixed an issue where the list of Pacer Groups in the Teleport menu was missing icons and w/kg information.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when closing the Zwift Settings menu.
- Fixed an issue where a runner’s shoes could be reset back to Zwift White when customizing their avatar’s hair or facial hair. We assumed this was just Zwift giving us fashion advice. “Changing to a goatee? You need white shoes…”
- Apple TV: Fixed a crash that could occur when navigating from Zwift to the Apple TV home screen and then back to Zwift.
See Zwift forum topic on this release >
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
Any indication if past Portal Climbs already completed will count towards the Climb Portal Badges?
I think, that is the case. I just looked and I have the 10x badge. I have been on holidays for three weeks and only done 2 climb portal rides since then. So the climbs from before my holidays seem to count.
They do according to the release notes on the Zwift Forums – “If you have already completed one of these achievements, you will be retroactively granted the achievement which you can view in the Badges screen.”
Just so I understand. Tourmelet counts but does it have to be ridden through the portal to count? So if you have done 9 by riding straight from the France world vs using the portal and then ride once using the portal, will this be counted at 10 or just 1?
Don’t worry Eric, even with the power dropout your watts are better than mine
The race results screen would be significantly more useful if they showed Categories. In the old screen, it would show your position against all Categories, not just the group you were actually racing against, so you might’ve finished 1st place but it shows you as say… 13th place, because Cat A’s finished before your group.
On the “old” screen you could click on the category icon at the top to filter to just your category results. Not very intuitive but it was there.
I feel there’s no bigger comedown at the end of a race where you’ve destroyed yourself to cross the line in the top five, only to be told “you were 117th; you were beaten by loads of people in A and B who weren’t really in the same race as you.”
Any updates on the Apple Silicon native version of Zwift that was hinted a few months ago? It was supposedly almost done and had massive performance increases…
Bring back all the climbs being available. Sometimes a long leg breaker is more than you want.
Yes, or at very least give us two or three to have access to. The same one for many days doesn’t make sense to me,
Totally agree. As mentioned not everyone wants a huge climb all the time, sometimes a short but challenging climb is good, especially if you’re pushed for time, so having at least a long and short climb available at any one time would make sense.
Seperate badges for the climb portal climbs would be nice though. Also that way it is easier to see which ones we have done and which ones we still have to do.
I disagree as you probably won’t ever ride most of them again or possibly have the option to do so based on none of the original climbs being available for most of this month. Next month I would wager they will add some Spanish climb so again we won’t see them.
then if they rotate them you will see them every 2 month or more. Badges should be for things you can achieve at any time.
Colin, Makes sense to have badges that should be for things you can achieve at any time.
But I also agree with Peter, that at the very least, there could be a list that shows which you have done or not done. I also understand that it will be frustrating to miss one and it never to have it come up again 😩
Do we get credit for the portal climbs we’ve already done or do I have slog up the Tourmalet again!?
So sad nothing to see any improvements for clubs since months. They announced keep together for Club Rides for example.
It would be nice to be able to ride all available climbs in a chain for the everest challenge. Descend uphill and immediately start the next one or pre-select with a tick box to reach the required altimeters
Everesting has to be done on a single climb, and repeat, to be valid, so there’s no sense in your request
Do we know if previous climbs through the climb portal will count toward the badges?
Oh, I see Dietmar already answered that. Cool!
So no more giving ride ons to people around me through the post race screen?
It is a bummer that you can no longer see the results of other cats and toggle between seeing your results in the context of all cats vs just yours. If it does let you scroll through the whole list, that is nicer than just showing the first 20 places, which was common for a while.
Overall, I’m not sure the value of this as all the rest of the data was present once you ended your ride (or if you used a web browser to scroll over to Zwift Power while still doing your cooldown.
Excellent.
I’ve done over 40 climbs already so nothing extra required
Ooh Bealach na Ba will be an interesting addition. It’s a tough old climb by any standards, 650m from sea level in about 9km. Don’t be fooled by the 7% average as most of the action is in the last 4km. Long 20%+ sections.
Wonder if they will simulate the terrible road surface and even worse weather too?
How would you pace it?
IRL – don’t go too hard until the steep section starts about 5km then just try and keep the pedals turning over on the long steeping drag to the right hand hairpin where it eases (but not by much…). I’d imagine similar tactics would work in Zwift….!
Veloviewer segment is here:
https://veloviewer.com/segment/6671117
Great to see the continued effort to improve Zwift Play….oh wait a minute, I’m in Canada a Tier 2 Zwift subscriber denied Zwift Play.
I wouldn’t worry about it, zwift play really isn’t much of a big deal.
It’s the principle. Using all subscribers fees to develop hardware and software only available to some is BS. Zwift promotes gender parity then shafts subscribers.
Lost details and shadows on Apple m2 pro
I recently upgraded two M1 machines to M2 for the better performance in Zwift. Crazy, yes, but I had hopes. My M2 Max just idled along with the increased graphic details and shadows. Enjoyed the performance and thought they could easily up the profile or even let the user choose. Zwift giveth and Zwift taketh away. Short term issue??
Same issue. Got my MacBook Air M2 (with 10-core GPU) back in January and was so pleasantly surprised when my rider had shadows, and the game just appeared generally smoother. Now, those shadows are gone. AND camera 1 is up to its old bugginess of being too close at times. If I go in-game, then switch bike or switch from pace partner group, camera 1 goes from normal to too close. This issue rears its ugly head every six months, and it appears the beast has returned. Aargh.
Is the Race Results screen gone forever once you hit close, or is there a way to view the results online at a later time/date?
You can always view results in the Companion app.
On a group ride this AM I went 167 mph and was so far ahead of the fence I was booted even after stopping. I was on a coffee break. This was after update on ATV this morning
Man. Talk about #humblebragging on your massive sprint power… 😜
“Fixed an issue where if Kickr Bike steering was not paired, the Kickr Bike steering buttons would still work if Zwift Play was paired.”
Issue?? I actually liked being able to use Kickr Bike controls and Zwift Play together. Hope they didn’t nerf the buttons on the hoods (U-turn and powerup) too.
How about StagesBike buttons and gearing? And keyboard controls for the same actions as Zwift Play for those on incompatible devices or countries where it’s not available? If I recall correctly, they’d like as many people as possible have control at their fingertips.
I forgot to mention making the protocol publicly available.
I wonder if there are hidden 50x or 100x climb portal badges…
Only one way to find out… 😉
Don’t know it’s related to this update, but my left side play controller would not work in a race this morning. Fully charged btw. I kept getting pushed off to the right of the pack.
Hi,
I have isuue on my Samsung Galaxy S21 android 13 after latest update. I have a message that zwift is no more compatible with device. Any comment or solution please?
After the upgrade, my trainer difficulty settings appear to have been adjusted to zero. Meaning that no matter the grade, the resistance is the same. The only thing that changes is the speed (slower uphill). I don’t need to shift gears. On prior upgrades it was obvious how to change the trainer difficulty settings, but when I went to do so with this version, there does not appear to be an option to change trainer difficulty settings. Previously there was the option. So, on this version, where do you go to change the trainer difficulty settings?
This isn’t an update issue. You just haven’t paired your smart trainer in the “controllable” box. Do that and it’ll work like normal and you’ll see the Trainer Difficulty setting too.
Anyone else have issues with Zwift continuously crashing after the latest update? Running it on an iPad Air 2 and it always crashes around 11 minutes into a ride. Both my operating system and the app are up to date. Super frustrating.
possible bugs after this last update: I have the zwift PLAY controllers. I notice that now they take more time to connect (via the companion app). Furthermore, when I deploy the draft-power-up in a race, I’m constantly pushed to the side of the road, out of the draft, and I have to use the play-steering to get back in the peloton. When the power-up time runs out everything goes back to normal, I can steer, and when I don’t my rider follows the group. Anybody else experiencing this?
The veering van powerup bug is definitely widespread, and Zwift says it will be fixed in the next update.
I joined Coco for half an hour on the volcano circuit and then took a left to the climb portal. I did not get the “portal climber” badge when emerging back from the portal after completing the climb and descent. Do portal climbs only count towards the badges when started from the home screen instead of also when manually navigating to the portal?
I’ve selected the portal climb from the home screen twice and completed it both times and I still do not have the first portal climb badge.
Eric – do you know what “counts” in terms of a completed climb for the badges? Obviously must include getting to the top, however do you need to fully descend as well…. or maybe even get to the chequered flag on the climb portal completion bar (which often includes a few km of Watopia or France as well)? Reason I ask is I have done 10 climbs but don’t seem to have achieved the second badge?
I would love to know the answer to this. I’ve gone up and down and then done several laps of the volcano after a few times now and I still don’t have the single portal climb badge.
SHOW SHADOWS ON APPLE M1 MACBOOK!
YOU’LL NEED TO YELL AT ZWIFT NOT US SINCE WE DON’T MAKE THE GAME! 😜
Does the distance climbed on the Portal Climbs count towards the Everesting challenge? I haven’t seen that number move after probably a half dozen Portal Climbs.
thanks!
Yes.
Will you get credit for the badge if you do the climbs at 50%?
You mean the 10x and 25x Badge? Yes, u do. I did it that way.
Yes thank you!