AdkMtnMonster

I have about 6,745,000 drops, I’m on Level 31. Should I buy more bikes? I never change bikes, always ride the Emonda because I just don’t care about that part of Zwift.

burnthesheep

I feel it's all about the levels. The drops come, but then you can never seem to be able to buy what you "really" want.

Like, disc wheel for the TT bike in Zwift. The level is silly high for that. For a mostly outdoor riders supplementing with Zwift, a years long venture to level up.

I dunno, blow it up, have fun. You pay for it, so use the features as you please.

genejockey 

Bikes and wheels make only a small difference in speed, and speed in an imaginary place is irrelevant unless you're racing. So if you don't race, all you're doing is dolling up your avatar.

AdkMtnMonster

Agreed. I turned off the annoying chat window a long time ago, I wear black, ride a black bike, use Camera View 3 so I don’t have to watch my own avatar…. I’m there for the Watts, time and effort. I couldn’t care less for “the social.” I’ve never raced or done a group ride, but I have done a lot of workout rides, and a full 12 week training plan. Just wondered if I was missing anything by holding onto all those drops. I imagine that nearly 7 million drops is probably normal for anyone that Zwifts a lot.

blacknbluebikes 

My avatar is friggin smokin hot. Total botox and implants, got the hair extensions, tatoo eyebrows, might get a nose job in '22. Who needs Zipp wheels when you look that good in BikeMeta world?

AdkMtnMonster

Uh, yeah…. Ok. I think you might be doing it a bit differently than I do it. Ride on, I guess?

Eric F 

I don't care about chatting (not sure how I would do that and ride at the same time), but the interaction with other riders in real time is what makes Zwift valuable to me. I enjoy group rides, bot groups, or just finding a person to ride with at a similar level. I've done a few races, but it's not a draw for me.

genejockey 

The only time I ever tried to chat, I was in the starting pen for one of the Zwift Academy rides. I typed something, but thought better of it, so I did what you do in just about every other messaging system where you want to delete a message you don't want to send - I hit the 'Esc' key. Which dumped me out of the ride, and I was unable to get back on.

I had to wait 2 hours till the next one - 9 PM, and then halfway through it, a patched tube that had lasted for months suddenly decided to give way, the tire went flat, and I had to drop out anyway.

himespau 

I mean if you want to time trial or ride dirt or whatever, getting a bike specific to that mode is nice. But if you're there just to do workouts and don't care about that, let it ride. Or get the tron just because.

tempocyclist

I haven't really spent any of my drops. I think I bought a frame way back that I never use. Since unlocking the Tron, it's all I ever ride.

When I unlock Level 45 shortly, I'll "splurge" and buy the Zipp 858/Super 9 full disc wheel combo and pair it with the new Cervelo S5. Maybe.

himespau 

If you want disk, that's not the fastest (barely) disk wheelset anymore. The DT Swiss Disk is a tiny bit more aero and available at level 42.

gthomson

I buy a few things, like better wheels to reduce some weight, bought the lightest bike when I do some climbing and a TT bike and a gravel bike when I choose the appropriate ride to match the bike. All stuff I would never do in real life so I might as well enjoy in the fantasy world

AdkMtnMonster

There are a few days when I wish I could use those drops as cash. I’d bribe myself to take a rest day.

billridesbikes

I bought the lightest bike and the lightest wheels for assaults up Ven-top and Alp d’Zwift. It probably only makes a few seconds of difference for time, but makes me feel better.

I wonder if there is a correlation of people who don’t care about having the lightest or most aero bikes and wheels IRL are the same ones in game that don’t care?

himespau 

I don't know. I ride vintage steel in real life and on my trainer for Zwift. In game, I ride the best bike that I have for the particular course I'm racing (JRA rides, I just stick with the Tron). Since I don't race in real life, I ride the bike I have. Getting the best bike possible in the game only costs me time and sweat, so I'm all about the diminishing returns there.

AdkMtnMonster

I have 6 different bikes that I can put my human self on and ride. I still don't care what my cartoon is riding in Zwift. I'm putting out the Watts no matter what that goofball pedals. I wonder if people that wish they were faster, but don't put the effort in to get faster, ride the lightest/most aero bikes they can "buy" in Zwift?

genejockey 

My eyes rolled so hard reading this I almost fainted.

Maybe - now stick with me here - maybe the "lighter" and "faster" bikes are a bit of harmless fun for people who spend hours sweating in their garages/basements/spare rooms during the dark and cold months so they can hit the road in good shape come the warm and sunny months?

AdkMtnMonster

I'm sure of it. I forgot the sarcastic smiley in my post. I *do* care about anything cool that I might be missing in Zwift by just riding the same bike all the time, which is why I asked the question in the first post. I love Zwift.

TennBent

I'm Level 29. When I started back into Zwift a few weeks ago, I had about 5 million drops so I made my second frame purchase ever - the Cervelo S5 2020. I had already earned the Tron bike and the Meilenstein wheels, so I figured, why not treat myself? I also just purchased a gravel bike in case I want to ride in the dirt and I'm already back up to nearly 5 million drops. I am thinking about getting a TT bike just for the occasional all-flat ride and when I hit Level 34, I will get the Specialized Aethos for the climbs.

I don't race but I so I probably don't need any of these bikes but what else am I going to do with my drops? I have found that the Cervelo is a bit faster which makes me push more to keep improving my PRs. When I get the Aethos, the first thing I will do with it is go after PRs on the Alpe and Ventoux. Sometimes, the psychological boost gives you that little impetus to push harder.

The drops just keep piling up and I'd never be able to do anything like this in real life, so I will make some purchases along the way. However, it makes no sense to go crazy so I'm not going to buy 30 bikes and 20 wheelsets. I'll stick with whatever is a top or near-top performer in each category and then choose what works best for the ride that I am doing that day.

jpescatore

I didn't see any need to buy anything other than a better frame and better wheels, better from the point of view of lighter vs. more aero. I'm 220 lbs and don't do "weight doping" on Zwift so I'm willing to be a gram weenie on Zwift vs. in real life...

I figure some day Zwift might say "For 1M drops, you can buy a real world T shirt or water bottle" or something like that and I'll burn them off.

I wish the free stuff you get when you reach a new level was better - I just passed a level and now could wear a "retro bike helmet" - I leave that on the garage shelf along with the retro socks from the last level and the gloves from the Alpe du Zwift climb...

gthomson

My wish would be that you Zwift would create some kind of market where you could swap or trade up with your old items to get something new or offer to someone that doesn't have enough drops to purchase.

I also wish they offered some C&V bikes in the Zwift world. I would definitely cruise around on an old Bianchi, Colnago or Eddy Mercx frame instead of the Zwift steel bike.

PeteHski

It's worth having the better bikes in Zwift if you are racing or riding in fast groups when simply not getting dropped is a challenge. It's a bit like real life in that respect. A better bike gives you marginal gains in aero and weight. If you are just doing Zwift workouts and riding solo then it obviously doesn't matter what bike you ride.

genejockey 

Yes. When you're battling over 0.1 second, the marginal gains are useful. Otherwise, as I said above, it's just dolling up your avatar.

I have started selecting bike and wheels based on the elevation profile of particular races, and mostly these have been decided by 0ths of seconds. It does make me wonder whether I made bad choices.....

PeteHski

Yeah I basically have a climbing bike/wheelset and an aero bike/wheelset. A bit like the pros, lol. There's actually a guide on Zwift Insider to what bike/wheelset combos to choose for climbing or aero at each level. From memory I think the lightest climbing setup is about 50 seconds faster up the Alpe du Zwift climb than the stock Zwift bike on their test (75 kg rider at 300W). Not insignificant if you are in a race up there!

sarhog

From Zwift Insider: What to buy at each Zwift level
Fastest set up for beginners

In a nutshell, the best things to buy that are available early are a Canyon Aeroad and DT Swiss wheels.