The new Zwift Big Spin series has just kicked off, and many riders are joining the events in hopes of spinning and winning novelty unlocks like the tri-spoke wheel and orange headphones.
Chief among the Big Spin unlocks, though, is the “Zwift Atomic Cruiser” – a tribute to “futuristic” mid-century bikes like the Spacelander. To be clear: there’s no way to purchase this bike. The only way to unlock it is to finish a Zwift Big Spin event and have the prize spinner land on the bike space, which is the lowest probability prize on the spinner.
Here’s how it is described in Zwift’s Drop Shop:
“Look up ‘joyride’ in the dictionary, and you’ll find a picture of The Atomic Cruiser – the first Grand Prize of The Big Spin. Stylish at any speed, this blast from the past is a classic speedster.”
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This frame is rated 2 stars for aero and 2 for weight. But Zwift’s star ratings aren’t precise enough to communicate actual performance in game in a useful way, so we ran the Atomic Cruiser through our battery of speed tests.
Here’s everything you need to know about the performance of the new Zwift Atomic Cruiser frame in Zwift.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
The Atomic Cruiser may look like a super-aero rocketship, but unfortunately… it’s not.
Its test time of 51:43 means it is slower than every other road frame in game, apart from the mighty Buffalo Fahrrad. It is 21 seconds slower than our “baseline” Zwift Aero frame and 29 seconds slower than the fastest frames in game on our test course, which is two laps of Tempus Fugit, totaling 34.6km.
Climb Performance
Clearly, Zwift’s Atomic Cruiser is not a lightweight frame. We think Zwift was pretty generous in making the frame as light as they did, considering it looks like it should weigh more than any other frame in game!
The Atomic Cruiser turns in an Alpe climb time of 50:07, which is 39 seconds slower than our Zwift Aero baseline and 77 seconds slower than the best climbing road frame in game – the Specialized Aethos. Once again, it is slower than every other road frame in game, other than the Buffalo Fahrrad.
Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock 32mm carbon wheelset.
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Conclusions
It’s probably best to think of Zwift’s Atomic Cruiser in game like you’d think of having this same bike IRL. It’s a novelty frame that will grab eyes and stir up nostalgia, but you don’t want to ride it if you’re looking for speedy performance.
So pull it out of your garage on recovery days, enjoy a cruise, and don’t forget to smile.
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.
So, pretty much what we expected. But we still want it!
Identical performance during Zwift games?
Same as other frames, yes. Definitely worth racing on for Zwift games. 😂
Perfect for the Alpe this weekend
Got mine yesterday, intend to go crit racing tomorrow and the up the Alpe Sunday
It would have been so cool if they gave it similar characteristics as the Tron bike. Add a little spice to the rides when a few people show up on their cruiser and crush it! I guess it will make a great training bike. Nothing like slow and heavy to make to faster on your light bike!
But if you show up NOW and crush it, that’s the ultimate win. ATOMIC CRUISE TO GLORY!
If there ever will be descent races from AdZ, the cruiser in combination with the tri spoke wheels will hardly be beatable.
but what about the tri spoke/disc combo?
Testing it now… post incoming.
Holding my breath expecting to be dissappointed 😂
Since all bikes are nutralized during the Zwift Games for elites, I hope some will ride on this bike….
The useless unlocks, that fill my garage even more, are the reason I do not take part in the series 😒
thanks for sharing
Wow, thats a tad negative
Bet you are disappointed with every present you ever receive. Your birthday must be a right laugh-a-minute party.
It would be nice to have a second garage to separate bikes that are hardly used so that an individual can keep their six or so frames at the top of the list. A file systems if you will.
Hoping the wheels have at least the same performance as the other disc wheels!
They do not.
Damn … I hoped that the Tri Spike would beat all the non-disc-wheels on Tempus as a minimum
what ??? … over 3min slower on Tempus than the Swiss Disc ??? 😳 … that’s really disappointing 😢 … hopefully ZHQ will change the performance after your official article 🙏🏼
They know about it and will fix it soon.
puuh … this sounds good 🤗
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined
But will any of this stop me from forcing my team to get them so we can turn up to the TTT looking cooler than Jumbo Lease a Bike did with their new helmets?… NOPE
That would be quite a sight! You just need enough people with the Cruiser
first run was socks…..i have bad ADZ vibes where i havent gotten the ADZ wheels yet in 15 climbs
Took me 26 tries. Then got them twice more. Lol.
I got mine the first time I climbed the ADZ after I bought the Roval Alpinist CLX and so no longer needed it. 😜
The bike though i got after 4 attempts.
Where are those sweet red spoked wheels with the white sidewalls shown in the Big Spin Ride Series promotional material?
Zwift’s Atomic Cruiser resembles the Schwinn DX Cruiser from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Pee-wee Herman tugging away springs to mind.
How would it perform on a long steep downhill?
Was just telling my wife about the Spacelander last weekend! Made in my hometown of Muskegon Michigan.
Got it on my second spin, tri-spokes first spin! So naturally I did the next Zwift Games event with them, so cool!
https://youtu.be/LHPq3Tp3yz0?si=SYWs4tlZEI7vXOv5
Given that my favorite bike to ride (because I use Zwift to train for real life events, and having a subpar frame plays well to that) is indeed the Buffalo, this is going to be a mainstay in my riding time. Because reasons. 😂
I think a more relevant comparison is to mountain bikes. Zwift perhaps should have made the performance on this considerably worse, which would serve a useful purpose of allowing for handicapping, allowing much stronger riders to participate with less strong riders or robo-pacers while still getting a workout.
I’d love to see a complete makeover of the Zwift bike/wheel performance scheme, making your job here obsolete. Have 3 categories of road bikes: aero, climbing, and all-around. Within each category have 5 performance levels: higher performance climbing bikes would climb faster, while higher performance aero bikes would be lighter and more aero, for example. Then within this matrix, different manufacturers could provide different entries, with higher levels requiring higher levels, more drops, etc. It would be completely transparent and allow riders more practical choice over models: a Cervelo and a Specialized in the same category and level would perform the same. Wheels would then have the same categories.
The Tron could be considered a level 6 all-arounder with level 6 all-arounder wheels, perhaps, or perhaps a level 5.
Hi Eric
What are the odds to get the bike?
I did a Big Spin ride yesterday and never got the Spin Wheel at the end. Only saw the usual route completion banner
with your ride stats. Could running Zwift from my iPhone have any bearing as to
Not getting the Spin Wheel?
Got
to resolve ASAP because I must have the Atomic Cruiser ! 🙂
That’s odd that you didn’t get the wheel. I reported it to Zwift, but you might want to let support know.
Did you late join per chance? And maybe even get routed incorrectly?
Got mine yesterday riding the stage 1 short route on my first attempt, AROOOGA!!!
Hey! I got the Makuri jersey in the big spin yesterday, but the jersey is not showing in my garage? The head phones do. Anyone else experienced the same?
Somehow I won it on my first spin
i would have expected the near velomobile fairng to have exceptional aero performance yet be freakishly heavy so that it would be impossible for mere mortals to stay with a group on a modest rise (but then blow past everyone on the descents). It would make for interesting racing.
Can’t believe I’ve unlocked this on my first spin. Took me so long to get the wheels up the Alpe so I feel this is justified:)
Took it for a spin and it’s visibly slow, think it will only be a recovery ride cruiser for fun.
I have somehow scored this bike 3 time ( plus sunglasses and helmet). Would love to do a TTT on it.
Did both editions of Stage 1 and got the bike then wheels 😁. I do have about seven pairs of socks/gloves from Alpe just to equalise it though 😭
It would be really great if they did more events like this but the prizes were bikes just a tiny variant different to the Tron bike. So a bike a tiny bit faster on the flat and a tiny bit slower uphill (or vice versa). Not enough different, so that people would race them as an alternative to the Tron
This may not be worth investigating but SuperTuck doesn’t appear to work on the Atomic Cruiser.
Does changing to a more aero wheel set make any sense?
I mean… it’ll make your rig faster. But I don’t think anyone’s going to race with this frame, unless equipment is neutralized like Zwift Games.
Didn’t know I’d won the bike until I had purchased a pinarello dogma at level 40 and there it was in my garage. Will be using it tomorrow hope nobody laughs
It’s the Perfect bike for Meetups and Event’s where everyone stays together. Better known as Banded rides. Had a Meetup just like that 2 weeks ago. It was just fun 🤣
Spin landed on the atomic cruiser, but didn’t show up in my garage. Did this happen to someone else? Did I miss a prompt to offer an appropriate sacrifice to accept said atomic cruiser?
I’d like to see performance testing at power levels that I can produce. Aamof, every time I look at your wheel and frame performance test results, I have the same thought: This doesn’t apply to 90% of zwifters. Stop being elitist!
I’ll admit that the 90% figure is a guess. Zwift could probably give you average and median FTP values, but barring that, how about testing at 200 watts? And or maybe 150 and 250?
Big Spin Christmas Sweaters?