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Zwift launched bike upgrade functionality in March, and Zwifters have been busy putting in the work to upgrade various frames ever since.
While some people are content with just riding their bike and purchasing upgrades as they become available, others (like myself) are asking questions like, “Just how much faster will this upgrade make me?”
That’s what this post seeks to answer. But before I go there, let me link to two posts that fully explain the bike upgrades feature, in case you don’t yet understand it:
All About Zwift’s New “Bike Upgrades” Functionality
What is required to fully upgrade a particular bike in Zwift?
Below, you’ll find charts that answer two questions: how much faster does each upgrade stage make a particular bike, and how much power does that upgrade save?
Every bike frame in Zwift is assigned a particular upgrade scheme that defines what riders must do to achieve each upgrade stage, and what those upgrades are. I’ve created charts below for each of the 9 upgrade schemes, since each scheme is unique.
Performance improvements vary from scheme to scheme but are essentially the same for bikes within a scheme. That is, two different Distance-Based, Entry-Level bike frames will see the same time improvements at each upgrade stage. But a Distance-Based, Entry-Level bike will not see the same time improvements from stage to stage as, say, a Duration-Based Entry-Level bike. (For more on the upgrade schemes, and a table listing which scheme each frame uses, see this post.)
About the Charts
The Time Savings charts illustrate how much time is saved across 1 hour of riding for each upgrade stage. These numbers are based on our tests at 300W (4 W/kg) and may vary slightly if you are riding at higher or lower power levels, but within typical race pace levels (150-375W) the data should remain quite accurate.
The Power Savings charts show how, since your bike is now faster after upgrading, you can put out a little less power but still maintain the same speed as before the upgrade. You may be surprised to see that you’re saving less power on the climbs than on the flats, even though your time savings at that same upgrade stage is greater on the climbs than the flats. But that’s just physics! Power changes have a larger impact on speed when climbing than on flats.
There are a few caveats to mention before we dig into the data:
- The time savings data below is representative of each type of bike. Speeds will vary a bit from bike to bike, but for most bikes, the data below is accurate within 1-2 seconds.
- The power savings data below is an estimate based on our test rider holding 300W (4 W/kg). If that’s close to the power you race at, then these power savings numbers will be good estimates. But if you are riding, at, say, half that power (150W), the power savings drops (approximately) half as well.
Alright, let’s dive in!
Distance-Based Upgrades
Riders must put in a certain number of kilometers/miles before upgrading a distance-based bike (for details, see this post). Almost all road and gravel frames in Zwift fall into this category, so it’s the largest by far.
Distance-Based, Entry-Level Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
You can clearly see above that entry-level frames get all of their performance upgrades in the first 3 stages. (Stage 4 gets you a 5% Drops earning bonus, and stage 5 is a 5% XP bonus.)
You can also see how each type of upgrade affects the overall performance: stage 1 is an aero upgrade, so speed on the flats is boosted the most. Stage 2 is a weight upgrade, so climb speed improves massively. And stage 3 is a drivetrain upgrade, so performance on both flats and climbs is boosted.
Distance-Based, Mid-Range Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
Mid-Range frames get 4 stages of performance upgrades (stage 5 is a 5% Drops bonus), and you can see that the overall performance improvements (time savings at stages 4 and 5) end up matching the improvements to Entry-Level bikes at stages 3/4/5.
Distance-Based, High-End and Halo Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
Distance-based High-End and Halo bikes have their performance upgrades spread across all 5 stages, but you can see the final time improvement (stage 5) matches the final time improvements for Entry-Level and Mid-Range frames.
(When I say it “matches” I mean the time savings is within ~1 second, since the data plotted above is from actual tests of actual frames, so the numbers won’t match perfectly.)
Again, you can clearly see what is being upgraded in each stage: stage 1 is an aero upgrade, stage 2 is a weight reduction, stage 3 is a drivetrain upgrade, stage 4 is a small aero upgrade, and stage 5 is a weight reduction.
Duration-Based Upgrades
Riders must put in a certain number of hours before upgrading a duration-based bike (for details, see this post). This category is exclusively for time trial frames.
Duration-Based, Entry-Level Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
Whew, that stage 1 aero upgrade makes a huge difference! And again, we see that only the first three stages offer performance upgrades for Duration-Based Entry-Level Frames.
Duration-Based, Mid-Range Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
The major upgrade for Mid-Range frames comes at stage 4, when aero performance greatly increases.
Duration-Based, High-End and Halo Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
Again, High-End and Halo frames have their performance upgrades spread across all 5 stages. And the big stage is the final one with its major aero upgrade, which should save you around 6W on flat races. That’s no joke in a time trial.
Elevation-Based Upgrades
Riders must climb a certain amount before upgrading an elevation-based bike (for details, see this post). This category is made up of mountain bikes and a handful of climbing-specific road bikes.
Elevation-Based, Entry-Level Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
The big upgrade here happens in stage 2, when the bikes get significantly lighter. Notice also how the upgrades are very climb-focused, with most of the improvement coming on the climb side of things.
Elevation-Based, Mid-Range Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
The total time savings charted above differs a bit more than usual compared to the Entry-Level and Low-End Elevation-based frames because our sample frame used for the Mid-Range chart is a mountain bike frame (our only option), while the others are road bikes.
Elevation-Based, High-End Frames
Time Savings
Power Savings
All Frames + Upgrade Schemes
Wondering which Zwift bikes use which upgrade schemes? Here’s a complete list:
| Bike | Upgrade Scheme | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Allied Able 2022 | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| BMC RoadMachine | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| BMC SLR01 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| BMC TeamMachine | Distance, High-End | Road |
| BMC Timemachine01 | Duration, Mid-Range | TT |
| Bridgestone Anchor RS9s | Elevation, Mid-Range | Road |
| Brompton P Line | Distance, Entry-Level | Funny |
| CADEX Tri | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Cannondale CAAD12 | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Cannondale CAAD13 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Cannondale EVO | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Cannondale R4000 Roller Blade | Distance, Halo | Halo Road |
| Cannondale Super Six Evo | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Cannondale SuperSix Evo LAB71 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 Team | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Cannondale SuperX LAB71 | Distance, High-End | Gravel |
| Cannondale Synapse | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Cannondale System Six | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Canyon Aeroad | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Canyon Aeroad 2021 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Canyon Aeroad 2024 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Canyon Aeroad CFR Alpecin Premier-Tech | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Canyon Aeroad CFR - CANYON//SRAM | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Canyon Grail | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Canyon Grail SLX | Distance, High-End | Gravel |
| Canyon Inflite | Distance, Entry-Level | Gravel |
| Canyon Lux | Elevation, Mid-Range | MTB |
| Canyon Speedmax CF SLX Disc | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Canyon Speedmax CFR | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Canyon Speedmax | Duration, Mid-Range | TT |
| Canyon Ultimate CFR | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Canyon Ultimate | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Cervelo Aspero 5 | Distance, High-End | Gravel |
| Cervelo Aspero | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Cervelo P5 | Duration, Mid-Range | TT |
| Cervelo PX-Series | Distance, High-End | TT |
| Cervelo R5 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Cervelo S3D | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Cervelo S5 2015 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Cervelo S5 2020 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Cervelo S5 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Chapter2 Koko | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Chapter2 Rere | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Chapter2 Tere | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Chapter2 Toa | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Colnago V3RS | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Cube Aerium | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Cube Litening C:68x | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Cube Litening | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Diamondback Andean | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Factor One | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Felt AR | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Felt FR | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Felt IA 2.0 | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Felt IA | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Focus Izalco Max | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Giant Propel Advanced SL Team | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Giant Revolt Advanced Pro | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Giant TCR Advanced BikeExchange-Jayco Team | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Giant TCR Advanced SL 2021 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Giant TCR Advanced SL 2025 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Lauf True Grit | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Liv Devote Advanced Pro | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Liv Langma Advanced SL 2021 | Duration, High-End | Road |
| Liv Langma Advanced SL 2025 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Liv Langma SL Advanced Disc | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Moots Vamoots RCS | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Mosaic RT-1d | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Parlee ESX | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Parlee RZ7 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Pinarello Bolide | Duration, Mid-Range | TT |
| Pinarello Bolide TT | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Pinarello Dogma 65.1 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Pinarello Dogma F 2021 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Pinarello Dogma F 2024 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Pinarello Dogma F10 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Pinarello Dogma F12 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Pinarello Dogma F8 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Pinarello Dogma GR | Distance, High-End | Gravel |
| Pinarello Dogma X | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Pinarello Espada | Duration, Halo | Halo TT |
| Quintana Roo V-PR | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Ribble Endurance | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Ridley Helium | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Ridley Noah Fast | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Scott Addict RC | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Scott Foil 2015 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Scott Foil 2023 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Scott Plasma RC Ultimate | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Scott Plasma | Duration, Mid-Range | TT |
| Scott Spark RC | Elevation, Mid-Range | MTB |
| Scott Spark RC World Cup | Elevation, High-End | MTB |
| Specialized Aethos S-Works | Elevation, High-End | Road |
| Specialized Allez | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Specialized Allez Sprint | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized Amira | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Specialized Amira S-Works | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized Crux | Distance, High-End | Gravel |
| Specialized Diverge 4 | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Specialized Diverge | Distance, Mid-Range | Gravel |
| Specialized Epic S-Works | Elevation, High-End | MTB |
| Specialized Project 74 | Distance, Halo | Halo Road |
| Specialized Roubaix | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized Roubaix S-Works | Duration, High-End | Road |
| Specialized Ruby | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Specialized Ruby S-Works | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Specialized Shiv Disc | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Specialized Shiv S-Works | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Specialized Shiv | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Specialized Tarmac Pro | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized Tarmac | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized Tarmac SL7 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Specialized Tarmac SL8 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Specialized Venge 2015 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Specialized Venge S-Works 2019 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Trek Emonda | Elevation, High-End | Road |
| Trek Emonda SL | Elevation, Entry-Level | Road |
| Trek Madone | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Trek Speed Concept SLR 9 | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Trek Super Caliber | Elevation, High-End | MTB |
| Uranium Nuclear | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Van Rysel EDR CF | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Van Rysel RCR Pro | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Van Rysel RCR-F | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Van Rysel RCR-X | Duration, High-End | TT |
| Ventum NS1 | Distance, Mid-Range | Road |
| Ventum One | Distance, High-End | TT |
| Wilier Filante SLR ID2 | Distance, High-End | Road |
| Zwift Aero | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Zwift Atomic Cruiser | Distance, Entry-Level | Funny |
| Zwift BMX Bandit | Distance, Entry-Level | Funny |
| Zwift Buffalo Fahrrad | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Zwift Carbon | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Zwift Concept 1 (Tron) | Distance, Halo | Halo Road |
| Zwift Gravel | Distance, Entry-Level | Gravel |
| Zwift Handcycle | Distance, Entry-Level | Recumbent |
| Zwift Mountain | Elevation, Entry-Level | MTB |
| Zwift MX Rider | Distance, Entry-Level | Funny |
| Zwift Recumbent Trike | Distance, Mid-Range | Recumbent |
| Zwift Safety | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Zwift Steel | Distance, Entry-Level | Road |
| Zwift TT | Duration, Entry-Level | TT |
Questions or Comments?
Share below!
I don’t know why I thought the upgrades would have been more significant. 😉
What is the scale of the vertical axis ? it would make it easier to understand (and I would not have to assume )
Oops… looks like I need to adjust something so the scale shows up. If you mouse over the bars it’ll tell you the number. But I’ll fix it, too.
The scale of the vertical axis is seconds saved per 1 hour of riding – no need to assume.
That’s not the scale, though. That’s the units. The scale wasn’t showing (on small screens). But now it is!
Wow talk about news you can use. These charts are awesome. Thank you!
Thank you! I’ve been wanting a good reference for the intermediate upgrade levels, and this delivers.
Don’t get me wrong, I upgrade my machine as soon as I can but, to me at least, they never seem to make any significant difference to my riding. Must try harder.
I have upgraded two bikes so far. I can’t tell the difference and there isn’t any indication of the bike being upgraded, outside of the picture in the garage. I do like chasing goals however, so I have at least enjoyed the process.
Same, I just like ticking them off & gaining something, even if I can’t feel the benefit.
Upgraded my TT bike and it is significantly faster, i find im putting out less power for the speed compared to ungraded and if i increase to my “normal” TT power the bike is swift!!
We’re talking seconds over an hours riding, the effect is minimal and certainly won’t be felt as you’re riding. Not really worth it unless you’re big on racing I guess, but a bit of fun I guess to add something to aim for
The racing is rigged so yeah, puts.
I tried the same Stage a few times, trying to improve my GC position and I also tried different set ups.
With the aero set up, I got dropped going over Titan’s (I’m a fat lad, hills hurt me) and then never saw the front again but with my climby set up, I stayed with the front blob over the top and managed a top 10 finish overall.
The upgrades might be seconds over an hour on a flat course for a lightweight racing snake but if those seconds allow me to hold onto the blob through a difficult section, I’m happy and will continue to choose my rigs accordingly.
I’m curious how upgrades compare to powerups. For example, is a fully upgraded climbing bike like having a feather powerup all the time?
Good question. Basically, having a feather powerup the whole time would be MUCH more powerful than the advantage of a fully upgraded climbing bike.
We know that, up Alpe du Zwift, reducing your weight by 1kg saves you around 45 seconds up Alpe du Zwift. A fully upgraded climbing bike will save you around 60 seconds over the same (see charts above).
But a feather powerup reduces your weight by 10%, so an 80kg rider will be 8kg lighter, saving 8*45=6 minutes if it was active throughout the entire climb.
See https://zwiftinsider.com/rider-weight-speed/
My guess is the same sort of advantage would be found if you had an aero powerup or draft boost throughout an entire ride – they make you much faster than a bike upgrade will.
These are great. But instead of “watts saved at 300w” could you make it watts saved (or even just raw watts required) at 40kph? Obviously only applies to a flat test but would match industry standard reporting. And then apply the same logic to all the other performance charts.
but that will depend on the rider. Some riders will have to put out more watts than others to maintain 40mph and so the savings will differ
That’s the entire reason that all of Eric’s tests have used a 183cm 75kg rider at 300w – a standard result.
LOL american standard. thick wattz.
Coincidentally, a 75kg, 183cm rider on a road bike on flat ground at 300W rides right around 40kph on Zwift. (Stage 1 Cannondale SuperSix Evo LAB71 travelled at 40.24kph in our test, for example). So the times above are pretty darn close to what you’re asking for…
Interesting, that’s actually pretty remarkable that it works out that way. Now to figure out who hates the idea of reporting to industry standards so much that they downvoted my original comment repeatedly.
I find it he whole recent bIke adjustment and upgrade a lost opportunity for zwift to make bikes more relevant. We could have had genuine differences between areo, climbing and around bikes but instead you could literally upgrade and use one bike pretty much everywhere.
but it reflects real life – where people on a group ride can ride a climbing frame and keep up with their mates on aero frames.
Fantastic writeup, all the data I was after since the new system dropped 👌
Glad to hear it. Happy to help!
What is truly disappointing about this whole “upgrade” process is the number of people exploiting loopholes (read: cheating) in order to level up faster. Lots of riders are just teleporting to other people sitting on to of Ven-Top and the Alpe and just coasting downhill to meet the distance or time goals. Pretty lame, if you ask me.
Some “riders” get more out of gaming the system than riding gives them. Don’t get me started on the coffee men.
This particular feature is really annoying me to have it enabled in anything other than a pacer group ride. Anything where you have an actual result posted in ZwiftPower should have the coffee option disabled.
the chances of me knowing anyone who happens to be sitting at the top of Ven-Top or the Alpe just at the moment that I log onto Zwift is pretty much zero. The number of people doing this must be miniscule and certainly not worth worrying about IMO..
Oh Tony, don’t be so naïve. It IS happening on a large scale! It’s even being organized on a Team level! I’m willing to name names! One rider goes up, leaves his activity running, posts it in the Team chat…and everyone else on the team teleports to him. And that is over 20k on Ven-Top days! It’s one thing to “game” the system…but call a spade a spade…this is outright cheating!
Sorry seen it happen. Some people are following thousands of people and when you look at their ride map there are straight lines all over the place as they teleport here there and everywhere to mountain peaks and then are riding up to 100kmhr down hills on fully upgraded bikes without even pedalling. Far too many Zwift “Hacks” if you go looking for them.
Totaly agree with you! I do a ton of climbing on Ventop and have had so many riders teleport to me for a free descent which is super annoying and I see so many groups of riders descending. I contacted Zwift support and suggested they implement a feature where you can either accept or decline a teleport request. I think this would solve the issue of people using the teleport feature to cheat.
pathetic losers, o well everyone knows who they are. Its all well documented.
The question now is whether, by fully upgrading two bikes of similar quality, the lower-ranked one can actually become better. For example, can the Pinarello 2024 become better than the Tarmac SL8?
This is shown an one of the speed test articles that Eric has issued – which shows the speed data for the Stage 0 and Stage 5 versions of every bike.
Easy answer: all distance-based bikes basically will speed up by the same amount once fully upgraded. So the SL8 will still be ~1.5s slower than the Dogma 2024 on the flats across an hour if you’re comparing both bikes at stage 0 or both at stage 5.
What I find a little annoying (and borne out by the above data) is that climbing frames get an aero upgrade for Stage 1, which is pretty pointless as you don’t ride those frames for their aero capability and they are not all-rounders. You really only get to improve the frame for its proper purpose when you upgrade to Stage 2.
Sure, but most climbing races include a lot of flat road, so for me at least… I like having my climbing rig become a bit more aero. And those upgrade stages come quickly once you start using a particular frame.
I hear what you are saying, I guess the reason why it seemed odd to me is that the best climbing frame isn’t even the best frame for climbing until it gets the weight upgrades. If you wanted top performance in a hilly race you would only choose the Aesthos over the SL8 if you had already got a weight upgrade on the Aesthos. It would make more sense to me to give it a weight upgrade at Stage 1 and the an aero upgrade at Stage 2. I appreciate that this is very much at the extreme end of first world problems!
So, @Eric Schlange, if I’m understanding these charts correctly, when looking at them in isolation and not considering that to get halo bikes etc., there’s no point upgrading the following:
Is that right??
That’s when the performance upgrades end, yes. Some people may want to keep going to get the 5% bonuses though…
Hello Eric,
Can you remind us what the 5% bonuses are?
You can get an upgrade to low or medium bikes that makes it so the bikes earn 5% more Drops or XP. See stage detail tables at https://zwiftinsider.com/bike-upgrade-details/.
Hi Eric,
In some time – first I need to built some more endurance – I aim to complete the two longest and hardest routes on Zwift; the Über Pretzel and the London PRL Full.
I’m not quite sure which bike to chose for those epic rides….
For instance, do I take my fully upgraded Aethos, which has the absolute best climbing performance? Do I take my fully upgraded Aeroad 2024, which is the better all-rounder but by then is slightly more biased towards the aero spectrum? Or do I take my stock S-Works Tarmac SL8, which outclimbed the stock Aethos and was the fastest all-rounder on the flats?
And does the bike choice differ between the two routes?
I mean, the Über Pretzel has some serious climbing portions in one go like the AdZ and the Epic KOM, where the London PRL Full has a lot more shorter climbs equally dispersed around the route.
Since you have (all) the data, I’m wondering if you could run some test. Luckilly, I am your average Zwift rider, standing 183 centimeters tall and weighing 75 kilos. So hopefully that would make the test runs more easy.
Thanks in advance, and ride on!
Steven
The zwifterbikes website can run the calculations for you, just be careful to set all the parameters correctly.
If you’re on your own – draft at 0% – it’ll recommend your fastest TT setup on almost every route other than pure climbing.
If you’re more likely to be in the draft then it swings towards an aero all-rounder.
Of the bikes you listed the fully upgraded Aeroad will be the fastest, and it’d be worth swapping to the Aethos for ADZ. But for the sake of a few minutes you might as well put those km’s into upgrading the SL8.
Thanks a lot! I didn’t know about that website until you came along.
Perhaps you’re right, and I’ll be running the stock SL8 just for the sake of it.