The latest Zwift update has been announced and will be released in phases over the next few days. It’s a feature-stuffed release, too, with Streak incentives added and big changes to Zwift levels, the Drop Shop, and the Climb Portal. Let’s dive into the details!
Level 100
That’s right, level 60 Zwifters: we’ve got 40 more levels to work toward!
In fact, this week’s update does much more than add 40 levels and their corresponding unlocks. Zwift has reworked the entire “leveling curve”, reducing and “evening out” the amount of XP needed to attain each level. They’ve also put in place two types of “accelerated leveling” so Zwifters can transition from their current level to their “correct” higher level in the new system at a faster rate while still enjoying the fun of leveling up.
To keep this post as short as possible we’ll cover the new levels, Drop Shop shuffle (below), and related topics in a separate post:
Read Level 100% Zwift Revamps Levels, Reorganizes Drop Shop >
Drop Shop Shuffle
Zwift didn’t add new features or items to the Drop Shop (although we hear that is coming!), but they modified the prices and level requirements for nearly every frame and wheelset in the Shop.
Zwift says they did this to “better tie equipment performance to the level they are unlocked.”
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Ride Streaks
We’ve been asking Zwift for more carrots, and this update adds a new one: streaks!
The idea is simple: ride on Zwift at least once a week for 2+ kilometers to keep your streak going. A streak summary screen is now shown after every ride so you get metrics for your streak, learn if this activity earned you any bonus XP, see how far you have to go to the next level, and more:
You’ll earn a tidy XP bonus for your first two days riding each week (Monday thru Sunday) as your streak progresses: 300 XP for your first two days in week 1, 400 XP for the first two days of week 2, then 500 XP for your first two days each week after that, as long as your streak continues.
Climb Portal Scaling, Completion Tracking, and Rankings
This update brings some big changes to the Climb Portal:
- Scaling lets you change the gradient (but not distance) of a climb
- Completion Tracking tells you which scaled versions of a climb you’ve completed (50/75/100/125%)
- Percentile Rankings show how your best completion time compares to other Zwifters
The Climb Portal now allows climb elevation scaling. Zwifters can reduce the climb segment’s elevation to 50% and 75%. And if you’re hardcore, you get the option to increase it to 125% after completing it at 100%! Scaling does not change the length of the climb, only the gradients.
You select your scaling when choosing your portal climb – but you can also change it just before entering the portal:
All the numbers on screen are adjusted based on your chosen scaling percentage, including the average gradient and total elevation shown on the left as you climb.
Separate in-game leaderboards are kept for each scaled version of the climb, so you’re only “competing” against others who did the same climb as you. Top the leaderboard (on any version of the climb) and you’ll get the polka dot leader’s jersey.
All riders are visible on the climb regardless of chosen scale, but the rider list and icons behind each rider indicate which scaling factor they are using.
What about Strava? Will 50% scaled climbers be blowing up the Climb Portal segment leaderboards?
Nope. Zwift has worked with Strava to automatically exclude the easier scaled efforts from Strava leaderboards by tagging these efforts as “gamified.” This is the message you’ll see on the Strava site if you ride the 50% or 75% versions:
Important note: if you ride a 50% or 75% scaled version of your climb during an activity, your entire activity will be tagged as “gamified,” and all Strava segments will be excluded. So if you want your activity to match with Strava segments, don’t mix in a scaled climb portal effort!
This scaling feature includes a tracking element that records which version(s) of each climb you’ve completed. (This is an essential part of the 125% scaling feature, since it only unlocks after you complete the climb at 100%.) See below, indicating completion of Old La Honda at 100% and 50%:
Riders have been asking for a way to track completed climbs ever since the Portal was released, so this will be a welcome addition for many! And good news – it appears to track completions since the Portal launched, although we haven’t confirmed that with Zwift.
You’ll also see a percentile ranking next to the completed climb versions in the screenshot above. This is a super-fun feature, and the first of its kind in Zwift: a perpetual leaderboard showing how you rank against other’s efforts!
If you’re looking at the current climb of the month, the percentile shown is only for efforts in the current calendar month. This way, each month’s featured climb turns into a month-long game-wide competition, which is a super fun idea.
If you’re looking at a climb that isn’t the climb of the month, but just one of the featured climbs (see climb portal schedule), the percentile you see is an all-time percentile.
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Virtual Shifting Change for Free Ride Workout Blocks
Today’s release notes include this line: “Zwift Hub: For Zwifters with virtual shifting enabled, free ride blocks within Zwift Academy workouts now start at the default gear 12.”
Zwift’s virtual shifting presents an interesting challenge in certain workouts with free ride blocks, including the first workout of Zwift Academy 2023 which had riders going straight from Erg mode into an all-out effort in free ride mode. With virtual shifting you don’t know what gear you’re in while in Erg mode since that UI element is (sensibly) hidden. Then, when the free ride block begins, the game shows your virtual gear and immediately “shifts” into it.
Today’s change doesn’t fix the problem entirely, but it at least lets you know what gear to expect at the start of any free ride block.
More Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
- Added route intersection options when opting to freeride after completing Repack Rush.
- Updated rider lean visual to be more realistic.
- Fixed an issue on Repack Rush where the Restart button was hidden when the HUD was disabled.
- Fixed an issue where cyclists with steering devices could steer off of the road in several locations throughout Watopia.
- Fixed an issue which caused some rivers to dry up in London and Makuri Islands.
- Fixed an issue where grass was missing in some locations in Makuri Islands.
Discuss this release on Zwift’s forum >
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
Mannnnn, going to be a bit disheartened if the DT disc wheels and CADEX Tri frame are pushed further away with this now that I’m nearly level 41… We’ll see, I guess…
I *think* if anything they will be closer?
Correct you were. Straight to the drop shop once the update hits my profile!
See new Drop Shop item prices and level unlocks here: https://zwiftinsider.com/level-100/
Oh, crap. I hit level 42 last week and bought the DT Swiss wheels but was/am a few thousand drops short for the Cadex TT bike. Now the drops needed has increased by another 500,000. Could have been worse I suppose.
Eric, have you heard anything about fixing the wattage fluctuation that occurs while riding on the Zwift Hub? The numbers are all over the place and never really stay near what the actual wattage is.
Turn on the 3s average. They are accurate, and precision is good-enough. Don’t go chasing waterfalls…er wattagefalls?
Thanks, I’ll give it a shot!
Yes, what Griff said. Zwift Hub now does 10Hz updates (10x per second), so if you have power set to “instant” you’ll see it changing a lot! Turn on 3s average and it’ll update around once per second.
Good to know!
It worked! Thanks!
“Fixed an issue which caused some rivers to dry up in London and Makuri Islands.”
This is great to hear! Zwift is now solving our global climate change problem! Go Zwift! 🙂
They’ve been very busy down in Long Beach…
It would be nice to be able to organize our bikes & wheels in our garage our way instead of the default alphabetically way & to be able to clean out our garages of bikes & wheels we have accumulated and no longer ride.
Definitely – it is very frustrating to have to scroll down to the Tron or to look out for the specific lightweight bike for hills
I’ve been requesting an icon/delete button on all our items in our garage for the past 2 years. I’m sure each rider has a percentage of items they would like to get rid of. Call it the garage organizer icon
YES. Give us 3 or 4 “favorites” to have for quick switching before we start
I think it would be good to have a “team car” of about 5 bikes – on my Zwift team car I’d have a Tron bike, climbing bike, MTB, TT and possibly a gravel bike.
I’d like to discard most of them. you only need five max – Tron, climbing bike, TT bike, then possibly a gravel and an aero – five. how can I discard of the rest?
Does the scaled version of the portal climb still offer the same amount of bonus xp, allowing a faster rate of return?
That’s a good shout!
100% should get 100%
75% should get 75% and so on and yes, if you are nuts enough to go 125% then have 125% XP.
My guess is the arches give the same powerups as usual regardless of scaling…
The whole level and reward system needs a full rework. The lack of items to get makes leveling up boring. Beyond level 10, there is little excitement of getting a new bike or gear. Got the Aeroad and DS 62. You are basically all set.
I know a few people that can’t wait to get the Cadex Tri bike with DT Swiss disc wheels…
but does it really matter? last week I did a TTT on a Tron because I forgot to change – possibly lost a few seconds, but blno big deal. The “best kit” gives you very marginal gains over “ordinary kit”
Of course for some it matters for others it does not. You do you. But according to the zwift insider TT speed tests, it makes a 10 second difference on Tempus Fugit. On longer distances, times 6 teammates, I would argue it makes a significant difference.
If you are in competition,I would want the Best kit.I am riding a Hill Climbing Series,I want the lightest bike with best frame and wheels.Sometimes only a few seconds can make difference between winning or losing.
“Got the Aeroad and DS 62. You are basically all set.”
Haha. Lol. No.
well, they have just made levelling up more relevant as both those items now have much higher level requirements!
My favorite…FIRE SOCKS
Fire socks were definitely the best new item since the Tron bike.
FWIW, I don’t even really care what’s available at level 61 but I’m still excited for when I level up.
So the streak gives rewards for riding at least once a week, and additional rewards for riding twice a week? An I reading that correctly?
,Also, is it Sunday to Saturday or something else?
The week in Zwift is from Monday to Sunday, making the weekend part of the same week.
It’s Monday-Sunday.
so when do you actually get the extra XP – at the end of the week or after each ride? 🙂
After each ride. The extra XP shows on the streak summary screen.
New levels is great. I look forward to ticking them in the future! What I would really like to see some more focus on from the Zwift folks is establishing a way to block users like one can on social media. This kind of privacy control is important and should be made a top priority. New levels and roads and equipment is cool, but allowing people (mostly women) to prevent harassment from the creeps who are out there is more urgent.
why do you care about levels. please explain – I’m intrigued – they are meaningless to me.
Is there a way to foce the update? Closing and reopneing and checking for updates and I’m still on 1.53
you wait and be patient. its always rolled out
I am jumping the gun a bit too. Won’t release widely until tomorrow anyway! Thanks
I had my Update today,Apple TV seem to be the last in the Que for some reason🙄
I could know this because I was almost maxed lvl. Now I need some extra motivation. Happy there will be more carrots. Have allready Cadex and DT Swiss 100 DiCut DISC achterwielen.
Good progress Zwift, now can we get the running track converted into a velodrome next?
I was hoping that they’d convert more of the roads to dirt, for us trail runners
or put the velodrome right next door to the running track!
Am I seeing this right? With the new changes, is the XP necessary to go from level 60-61 not ~ 30,000 XP like it is from 59-60? The picture in the article shows that it is 4560 XP tp the next level, with the blue bar being maybe 1/5 of the way across.
Correct – levels take much less XP now. See this post for details: https://zwiftinsider.com/level-100/
Will you level up quicker if you’ve been on level 60 already for a long time. Same way they did when they introduced another 10 levels and we’d already been on level 50 for quite a while.
GP Lama seems to think so. He released a new video this morning explaining his thoughts.
Eric’s workouts in the past have paid off, even for updating arcticles he got quicker 🙂 Just refresh the site and you’ll see the link to a separate site just for leveling.
Yes. Read about accelerated leveling here: https://zwiftinsider.com/level-100/
I’m unnaturally excited by all of this. The level 60 to 100 transition is like doing quantum mechanics though 🤯
How about fixing the Bot Rides is a whole bunch of routes now seems the Bots only use 5 to 7 of them way to many cool routes to keep using the same routes.
The freeride workout block resetting seems like a potential problem – I don’t have a Zwift Hub, so it won’t reset me, but I have a bunch of workouts where there’s a freeride break before a series of freeride specifically so that I can set the correct gearing for the effort I’m going to do during the workout. (Generally for things like all-out efforts where I don’t want the erg easing up on me or a spiral of death.) Sounds like ZwiftHub users can’t do this any more because it’ll reset on them, and if level 12 isn’t the right level for your Tabata all-out efforts, sucks to be you because you won’t be able to shift in time.
@eric I suppose this means a whole buying guide post covering best frames/wheelsets to unlock now that levels and costs are changing!
Yes, I’ll be reworking a LOT of posts!
Do we get to keep what’s already in the garage even if it was purchased ‘below’ the new level ?
Yes, Zwift says nothing will be removed from our garages.
Only added – so I guess the new default steel bike and Venge for completing California challenge will be added (if completed already)?
My Venge popped up when I clicked on the Ride California challenge window.
Need some more non-route badges too! But this will keep me busy for a LONG time!
I really don’t understand the point of levels – I think I’m about level 58 – I don’t see much motivation to get to 100 – there are no rewards. meanwhile I have accumulated 14million drops – totally useless – I wish I could cash them in for real money – even bitcoin, but I can’t. I have more virtual bikes, wheel ls etc than I would ever need. can someone please explain the point of levels and drops.
I rode for decades using only a bike computer that required a magnet on a spoke. No one other than me knew how much I was riding. No Strava, no Zwift … nothing. I was motivated because I love riding.
Not everyone is like that. If Zwift gamifying exercise works to get people off the couch and onto a bike, then I’m all for it.
I still don’t really need the the levels, unlocks, etc. But they’re still fun and I enjoy the social aspect of Zwift.
If nothing else, your level, stats etc. are just bragging rights. And that is cool. If you have ridden 100,000km on Zwift, others can now see it via your level or profile, etc. It’s an amazing accomplishment even if you would have done it without the levels, unlocks anyway.
Don’t 💩 on other people’s enjoyment of the platform.
I’m not shitting on anyone. My issue is not with other users but with what Zwift actually gives you for reaching higher levels. if I get to level 10, 20, 30 etc I can get something worthwhile or some privilege, etc – for example access to a new world at each level 10.
Isnt bitcoin useless?
I have no idea. I don’t have any. I understand you can buy things in the real world with bitcoin.
For those below level 50 what will the XP change do for us? I am level 35 with 233000 xp
never mind. I found the answer.
can we clean out our closet of jerseys we will never wear?
“Zwift has worked with Strava…”
^ This is easily the biggest thing announced today. I don’t believe that has ever happened before.
Right?! It surprised me, too!
Seems like efforts at increasing regular engagement of riders, which is in a business sense key to retention of Zwift subscribers. There are a lot of different constituancies, cohorts or whatever within the subscriber base. Hard to please all of them with each of the changes, but overall it seems like an upgrade of the platform to me. I appreciate the continuing efforts at rethinking and improving the platform we’ve seen this year.
Maybe I missed it but do you receive 300, 400, and 500 points for if you ride 2 days in a given week or those point levels for each of the first 2 days of that week (so 600, 800, 1000 available in week – which seems pretty high)? I don’t care a lot but have a couple kids very interested in how the new system will affect their progress. As usual, awesome stuff Eric. It clearly took lots of work to thoughtfully lay out the new system.
The latter. So yes, a big XP incentive to ride twice each week!
so what in the world we have climb portal scaling and trainer difficulty. what is going on.
There’s some great and welcome improvements in this latest release. I love the way Zwift has worked with Strava to keep the climb portal segment achievements fair, but honestly, I do miss the Rick Astley segments! #bringbackrick
Those were so good! https://zwiftinsider.com/rickroll/
One can only see completion of the two currently active climb portal climbs?
Zwift doesn’t seem to have recorded my completions, guess I’ve have to contact support and link the rides to get it recorded.
Support wasn’t sure but suggested completion of climb portal climbs that happened before this release might not be recorded and said to wait for clarification from zwift. So hopefully we get some clarification.
The trainer difficulty setting is there.You need to be in race mode,ready to ride.You will not see it otherwise in Settings.
Think I found a potential bug when levelling up and not get the 50,000 drops bonus. I levelled up from 25 to 26 on the 300 XP 2 ride streak bonus after my ride. When I went to ride the next day I was at level 26, however I did not receive the 50,000 drops bonus nor was there a leveling up denotation on the previous ride in the companion app.
I would like to have the opportunity separate favorite bikes and wheels to find them easier. Or be able to throw/sell(halfprice) them
Does completing the climb portal in easy mode count for the Legs of Steel badge?
Yes.
Is it worth getting the Scott Addict if I already have the Canyon Aeroad? They seem to have swapped places in the drop shop.
Addict is a much better climber, but slightly less aero. I’d say it’s a better all arounder. See https://zwiftinsider.com/tron-vs-top-performers/
Heaven forbid I decide to workout and actually get one. Whiskey, tango, foxtrot. Scaled climbs?!?!?!?! HTFU. Remember it is not a painful experience. Pain is the experience. or you are wasting time. Time you will NEVER get back
Right? Go 110% hard every day! No recovery rides! We never heard of overtraining! If you ain’t overtraining you ain’t training! LFG!
I want to turn off the ride streak notification as I find it really irritating. How do I turn it off?
@Eric Schlange Questions on Portal scaling:
Thanks!
Distance and elevation still count on Strava and Zwift, since you’re still doing accurate distance and elevation.
It’s only the segment that wouldn’t be accurate, so those are excluded.
Thanks @Eric Schlange Follow up question: if selecting say 125%, will that be persistent if doing hill repeats, or do I have to check the scaling for every ascent in the same ride?
Just really annoying that it flags all segments, as just done 4 x 100 climbs, lap around France then 1 x 50 climb. To get it all flagged by Strava.Are Strava IT so-called professionals that useless that they are unable to just exclude the relevant segments ? After all we / some of us are paying for this lack of service.
Zwift going off track in my view. It’s a training app not Fortnite