jrg1244

Interesting interview with Eric Min, CEO of Zwift on 11/25. I was most interested in the forthcoming Zwift bike as well as huge investment in the platform in general which hopefully will lead to more innovation.

Ed Wiser

I asked this question on the Redit Zwift group and the consensus so far is no interest in a Zwift bike. I think Zwift will have to appeal to a different user to buy the bike. More towards a spin bike user that a outdoor bike crowd that likes racing or doing winter training their current market. Don’t know if there is enough room in thre market for a Pelton and Zwift bike.
I have a wahoo bike and I am pleased with it and they have good customer support. Zwift would be starting from zero in the hardware market. Will require a lot of customer support. Way more that just software. Where they mainly deal with software and billing.

jrg1244

I think your view makes sense, but I tend to think there's more market space between people that want exercise at home and people that actually like to ride bikes than you admit. I've seen more riders outdoors in the past 6 months than I've ever seen and, like me, I don't think these people will be satisfied with getting barked at in basement spin classes when the snow starts to fly and roads become largely not ridable. Min said that Zwift and Peloton swim in different lanes and I agree. I also think one of the primary customer barriers to entry for Zwift is the hardware necessary to use it and the complexity of ANT+, Bluetooth, HRM, etc. A purpose built Zwift bike could solve those issues and make actual indoor riding more accessible for people who just like riding bikes.

I do agree that building hardware is a very different endeavor than writing code, deploying servers, marketing and sending bills. I assume the huge influx of cash they've recently received would allow them to bring on some experienced talent to help accomplish. I, for one, am rooting for the Zwift bike.

Cheers Ed.

Ed Wiser

We will see how all this indoor riding will shake out after the Covid Crisis is over. I see a lot of people going back to gyms for the social aspect. Most of Zwift and other cycling app’s users are from other countries and not the US.

PoorInRichfield

I think the drive towards a Zwift bike might be driven by trying to reduce cheating on the platform for pro racing. If everyone is riding an "official bike" instead of their own, that might reduce the possibility of cheating a potentially level the playing-field. I agree with @Ed Wiser in that there seems to be a bubble being created in indoor sports right now due to COVID... we shall see how many spin bikes and the like get used once we past the virus lock-down.

Ed Wiser

For the professional pro bike races they have been using trax trainers that are shipped to those riding in the race. An some e racing events are held in the same venue.

mstateglfr 

I'm sure there will be an adjustment in the market once covid is over.
But still, Zwift and at home trainers has been a steady growth segment for the prior 4 years. Just a couple months before covid, Peloton was raking in cash from the Christmas season's sales.