Greasy hands, chain tattoos on your socks, and oil stains on your parquet floor should be a thing of the past with the Zwift Ride! This fully indoor-optimised smart bike promises a riding experience perfectly tailored to the virtual world of Watopia. Alongside various practical features, the smart bike integrates seamlessly into the virtual Zwift ecosystem. We had it in review.
A First Look at the Zwift Ride
Three boxes. One goal. Maximum performance and a completely new Zwift experience – at least that’s the promise. Zwift touts an always-ready, spotless indoor cycling setup for your home, eliminating the hassle of cleaning your road bike and mounting it on a trainer.
But that’s not all! All the controls for Zwift are located directly on the bike. Plus, thanks to a virtual 24-speed drivetrain and a perfectly aligned chainline via the Zwift COG freehub, it’s designed to be as quiet as it’s easy to set up. Sounds too good to be true? We put it to the test to find out.
In review: What can the Zwift Ride do?
The Zwift Ride puts you in a good mood right from the start.That’s thanks to a straightforward manual and just one Allen key for all the bolts. It even comes with a sizing chart that ensures a perfect fit and minimises the hassle of switching between two riders, especially if your partner treats it as seriously as dividing up the last slice of pizza!
Greasy fingers? Not a chance! The pre-lubed chain is a breeze to install thanks to a simple tensioning device. Wax fans, we’re sorry to disappoint – if you’re craving shiny fingers, you’ll have to do that yourself or crank out a few extra watts. The upside? Blissful silence! Thanks to virtual shifting, a Zwift COG instead of a cassette, and a Wahoo smart trainer, the Zwift Ride is whisper-quiet – perfect for blasting your favourite playlist without the noise of a chain spoiling the vibes!
The bike is constructed from welded aluminium tubes, tipping the scales at a hefty 34 kg – plus an extra 15 kg for the Wahoo KICKR. Not exactly lightweight, but luckily, you’re riding virtually! In fact, the substantial weight is a good thing here, offering unbeatable stability.
The bike stays securely planted even during all-out sprints. Gone are the days of testing your nerves by strapping your delicate 6.8 kg carbon road bike onto a trainer – this beast is rock solid. To top it off, a rubber pad on the down tube protects your floor in case you ever need to place the bike frame next to the KICKR – let’s be honest, you won’t be hanging this tank on the wall!
The supplied thru-axle uses the same Allen key that fits all the bike’s relevant bolts. The built-in chain tensioner located near the bottom bracket can be secured during assembly. This allows the chain to be slackened for an easier installation and then, with a quick click of the included thru-axle, re-tensioned once everything is in place.
Since this bike comes straight out of the box and will never leave the cosy confines of your living room, the chain stays 100% clean – and so will your floors! Say goodbye to those black-splotches on your carpet and stained parquet floor!
Ready, Set – Zwift? Not So Fast! If you don’t already have a Zwift subscription, you will still have to reach for your credit card with this all-one-bike. The Zwift Ride only comes with a 30-day free trial, after which the subscription costs € 19.99 per month or € 199.99 per year.
Connecting the control units via Bluetooth will introduce you to Zwift Play. To activate the controllers, you need to press the Zwift logos to wake them up. Since these aren’t powered by the Wahoo’s main power source, they have a battery life of around 20 hours. Thankfully, recharging is quick and easy with the included cable. And if you get lost in Watopia and the batteries die, don’t worry, you can keep riding while they charge, unlike with a traditional drivetrain that could leave you stranded. No need to call your better half for a rescue mission – ride on!
Unfortunately, the handlebar tablet mount isn’t included in the standard package. It’s available as an optional extra for € 49.99. What a pity! A universal mount for laptops and tablets should definitely be part of the basic kit for an all-in-one indoor bike.
Included in the package is a rubberised, anti-slip cover for the stem, designed to protect the moving parts and electronics of the handlebar from sweat while also doubling as the perfect spot for your smartphone.
Once everything is connected, you can customise your shifting logic in the settings. Zwift offer virtual groupsets from Shimano and SRAM with 24 gears, or you can opt for sequential shifting instead. To protect your floors from sweat, Zwift also sell a large mat for € 89.99, reducing vibrations and helping keep the peace with your housemates.
When you’ve picked your favourite route from the Zwift menu, it’s time to ride! At first, the many buttons on the controllers can be overwhelming, but after a few sessions, it all starts to make sense. The Zwift Play controllers eliminate the need for the Companion App entirely, so you can enjoy hours of uninterrupted training without your phone, focusing fully on your session.
During your ride, Zwift Play shows its true potential. Finally, you can steer in Zwift, letting you find the perfect rider to draft behind in a sprint. Steering is controlled via the long, movable orange strips where the shifters would normally be on a road bike. Other buttons allow you to hand out those all-important “Ride Ons”, activate power-ups, and navigate through menus.
Thankfully, there are no potholes in Watopia! Otherwise, the open-top bottle cages wouldn’t be quite so practical. Their big advantage? You can easily grab and replace your bottles during training – even in the heat of an intense race.
Zwift’s promise is clear: to deliver a complete smart bike similar to the Wahoo KICKR BIKE, but with ultra-quiet shifting, to which the virtual drivetrain and Zwift COG are key. By eliminating the need for a cassette on the Wahoo KICKR, the system eliminates mechanical shifting. Cross-chaining and a rubbing derailleur are things of the past too. The gearing, or rather the resistance, is provided by the Wahoo KICKR’s integrated magnetic brake and controlled digitally. During Zwift workouts, you won’t even need to shift – the level of resistance adjusts automatically to match your session.
There’s good and bad news for anyone already equipped with a smart trainer and looking to upgrade their pain cave with the Zwift Bike.
The good news: The Zwift Bike is available without the Wahoo KICKR CORE for € 799.99. However, you’ll also need to purchase the Zwift COG drivetrain for virtual shifting for an additional € 79.99.
The bad news: The virtual drivetrain isn’t compatible with all smart trainers. Zwift’s website lists all supported devices, but compatibility is mostly limited to Wahoo, Zwift, and a few models from Elite and Van Rysel. Unfortunately, Tacx trainers aren’t supported at all – boo!
Despite the otherwise generous adjustment options, one thing cannot be changed: the crank length is fixed at 170 mm. As such, racers accustomed to their perfectly dialled road setup will need to adapt.
The 42 cm wide handlebar could also take some getting used to for smaller riders with narrow shoulders. Like the crankset, the handlebars are exclusively available in one size and cannot be adjusted. While most riders will likely manage just fine with a 42 cm handlebar on an indoor trainer, this lack of customisation detracts slightly from an otherwise well-thought-out and adjustable design.
Do you really need this indoor-trainer?
Yes, absolutely! The Zwift Ride opens up new ways to make indoor training more dynamic and engaging than ever before. Whether you’re tackling steep climbs like Road to Sky or hammering through fast crit races, the Zwift experience is significantly more fun with integrated controllers that allow virtual steering, shifting, and the use of power-ups. While the Zwift Ride is designed exclusively for indoor use, it’s fully optimised for this purpose, offering a smart, clean, and low-maintenance solution for indoor training. The world out there might be ending, but the sun is almost always shining in Watopia 😉
Thanks to its easy setup, excellent adjustability, and rock-solid stability, the Zwift Ride is perfect for beginners, experienced riders, and even those aiming for the Zwift Academy. The only potential drawback? The lack of handlebar width and crank length customisation, which might be a dealbreaker for some. After countless sessions on the trainer, we can confidently say, sweaty but contented: The Zwift Ride is fun, functional, and injects much-needed excitement into otherwise monotonous indoor training.
Would we buy the Zwift Ride?
Yes, we would. Even though there are significantly cheaper alternatives for sweating it out on Zwift, the Zwift Ride is ready to go straight out of the box and fully optimised for Watopia. This eliminates any excuses and delivers a completely new Zwift experience. The lack of dirt and ultra-quiet operation don’t just keep your partner or roomate happy, but also fit perfectly into the Zwift Ride’s hassle-free package. Just hop on and ride!
Tops
- Sturdily built
- Low noise levels
- Mostly customisable fit
Flops
- No tablet or laptop mount included
- Only one handlebar width and crank length available
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Words: Tobias Kübler, Jan Richter Photos: Jan Richter
