Barry2 

Zwift, Just like outdoors but indoors...... I don't think so

Bhahahahah

Barry

Eric F 

As someone who does pacer bot rides frequently, I like the addition of the Coffee Stop feature a lot.

unterhausen

That sounds good, also the teleport feature.

Eric F 

Oh! I didn't see that before. I like that idea a lot, too. I hope they make these fairly easy to navigate with the crappy Apple TV remote.

Barry2 

Don't get me wrong. I don't think it's a bad idea, I just found it funny.
I'd like to be able to do that on outdoor rides, so maybe it's jealousy.

Barry
.

PeteHski

Some of those new features look really good. Coffee stop could be handy at times (pee break, bottle fill, answer door etc) and the climb portal could be very useful for my alpine training and I'm a bit bored riding Alpe du Zwift.

But I'm most interested in how effective the new drafting will be, as drafting has always been a bit flaky in Zwift. Sometimes far too easy and sometimes way too hard for no apparent reason while just riding along in the middle of a large peloton. If they've genuinely improved drafting that would be the biggest improvement to Zwift in years.

gthomson

Always glad to see the game making improvements even if I don't make much use of them. I just wish they would figure out a way to remove items from the garage or trade them in or something. I have too many kits and too many low end bikes ha ha

Eric F 

I settled on a bike and wheels a long time ago, and haven't seen a reason to change. I think I currently have about 3.5M drops and no inclination to spend them.

PeteHski

Yeah it would be good if you could sell back your unwanted kit. There is no point in using lower tier frames and wheels once you upgrade to something better.

HeyItsSara

that's cute!

msu2001la

Once the Tron bike is unlocked, the whole concept of buying new bikes in the game seems arbitrary.
I have a massive sum of drops, and zero incentive or desire to go shopping.

Eric F 

I haven't even bothered to find out how to unlock the Tron bike. I'm plenty happy with an S-Works frame and Cadex wheels.

msu2001la

Honestly I can't tell much of a difference between any of the bikes/wheels in this game, but the Tron bike glows...

Eric F 

I noticed a slight difference on flat ground when I started using my current frame/wheel combination. There are times when I'm catching/passing others who are putting out a little more w/kg, and it tends to be folks on less-aero rigs. It's also possibly a confirmation bias, and there's something else going on.

PeteHski

The Tron bike is not the best for the alpine routes - too heavy. It’s also quite nice being able to ride a model of your actual road bike. I do have the Tron bike, but very rarely use it. I know it’s probably the best option for a flatter route, but I simply prefer a normal looking road bike.

unterhausen

Maybe it's just jealousy, but when I'm riding along with someone on a tron bike I think less of them. I got a tarmac on a promotion, but it looks an awful lot like the standard bike

rm -rf

The Tron bike needs 50,000 meters of climbing, 164,000 feet.
In 2022, outdoors, I rode 280 hours, 3700 miles, 192,000 feet. The 50,000 meters is a lot on Zwift, which tends to be way shorter ride times than I do outdoors. I'm surprised how many riders in the easy paced groups have Tron bikes.

unterhausen

I really dislike climbing on zwift. I know some of it's the kickr, but it feels unnatural. So I'm not going to be getting a tron bike any time soon

PeteHski

There are a lot of fast riders using easy paced group rides just for Z1/Z2 training miles or recovery spins. There are also plenty of slower riders who have just been around long enough to accumulate enough climbing metres.

gthomson

I think Zwift punishes me when climbing more than in real life as I find it brutal. I know it's something I have to work on but I just suck at it. If I'm in a group ride or race, I've lost up to 100 positions on a lengthy climb because I'm so slow and this is just with a TacX simulating up to 12% grade or something! TRON bike is not on my radar.

TBO I also find it looks too much like a video game to me when I see them. There's something inspiring about having a million sweat points to buy a $12 0000 bike that I would never for the life of me, buy in real life.

msu2001la

It basically took me two winter riding seasons to unlock the Tron. I didn't do anything specific - I just set the challenge to Everest and kind of forgot about it until I checked one day and realized I was 75% of the way there. I've always enjoyed the climbing routes in Zwift, and the Mountain Route in particular is one I frequently ride. It's 2200ft of climbing and I can bang it out in less than 75mins, so it's a good weekday ride for me. Last winter and the first part of this winter I was averaging around 6,000ft a week.

The crazy thing is that since unlocking the Tron bike, I've done very little climbing on Zwift. I think maybe I was getting bored with it, and lately have been way more into doing pacer group rides (which are generally flat) and also more structured intervals.

Also I live in a flat area, so the only climbing I get is on Zwift. If I had actual long climbs to go ride in real life, I'd probably be a lot less enthusiastic about doing this on Zwift.

unterhausen

I'm glad I've done all the big climbs on zwift, but not so much that I want to do it again. I do have my challenge set to "everest" but have no how much climbing I have done. I did all the big climbs before I knew how to get the tron bike.

Climbing on zwift definitely hurts my knees more than climbing IRL. Not sure why that is, it's just more steady or something.

I like the pacer rides, although it seems like I get ahead on climbs and then when I wait for the pacer they drop me. I swear they don't really adhere to the wattage limit very well.

spelger

i think a lot has to do with the bike not swaying left/right like out in real life. it is different for sure. i don't mind it so much but maybe because i am younger than some.

himespau 

I do a fair bit of racing on Zwift, so I probably change bikes more than most. Aero bike with disks for really flat stuff, climbing bike for super steep stuff, one of a couple different options for draft-off hill climb races (usually a TT bike unless it's really steep), Tron for courses that are a mix, etc. The differences are not always huge, but it gives me something to think about.

PeteHski

Yeah I do that too. Zwift racing is hard enough without being on the wrong bike! I have a dedicated climbing bike (Canyon CFR with the Mellenstein wheelset) and an aero road bike (Canyon Aeroroad with DT Swiss deep section wheels). I use the Aeroroad for most races and sometimes the Tron, but I prefer the "real" bike look. I generally follow the bike guide on Zwift Insider, but I do have a Canyon bias too!