Love the continued innovation. That said, Iâm still hanging on to the I like a ârealâ bike on my trainer so itâs not for me.
Funny thing is I have a very expensive road bike sitting on my Kickr yet I have not ridden it on the road in almost 2 years (I ride gravel and MTB when I ride outside now). On paper Iâm the ideal candidate for a smart bike, but Iâm old school and still want a real bike on my smart trainer for TR and Zwift. Makes no sense but thatâs where my head is at. 
The trainer looks great imo. If the price is competitive I will really consider it
The bike accessory is also money! Specially if they keep prices in check and keep the whole package at a lower price point than the competition i think this will be a winner
Looks nice and love the innovation too, but I also like a real bike on my trainer too!
My trainer bike is cheaper than that and I can use it outside and I can also lend it to my MTB friends or those who come from another city to visit me, for occasional group rides for example. I also use it as a commuting bike.
More info here.
Wow! It looks fantastic. I wonder if Tacx and Wahoo will respond.
Along with @dcrainmakerâs questions about will it support standard ANT/BT, I am curious about the controller they mention. Is this something you will be able to buy to support future game function on âpartnerâ hardware or are they going to push the game to require their hardware.
If they are giving the finger to their existing hardware provider base, partners now competitors, and then drop the ball on the rollout they are going to have a bunch of companies with pretty big balance sheets and a lot to lose pretty unhappy and aggressive. I get this is a tiny % of the whole for garmin, but wahoo has an awful lot to lose.
Update to DC Rainmakerâs post from yesterday, with conformation from Zwift.
Conceptually, I think they have done an excellent job w/ both devices. They have created items which are differentiated in a crowded space.
Iâm still puzzled by the lack of a screen on the bike, thereby eliminating a true âplug & playâ position for Zwift.
But overall, these are both well done.
It really looks like a bike⌠Front wheel and all⌠So thatâs that
Yeah, but the tron effect is nice, and I like the idea of a matching hardware and software.
I know they are not inventing the bike.
I find this a bit underwhelming given how much capital the company has. Maybe much focus on fashion and not enough on function? There really isnât a compelling reason to make an dedicated indoor trainer bike look like a bike and doing so can limit it a bit in terms of how functional/flexible/etc your platform is. It states it will fit 5â to 6â6" but looking at this first concept I wonder how loosely the term is applied.
Iâd be much more likely to go for a Kickr, Tacx, or Stages smart bike before this. But ultimately the more players in the smart bike game the better.
I wonder if it will have a USB port to avoid ant/ble dropouts.
Just checking out DCRainmakerâs comments on the new Zwift bike and Zwift trainer. If I read this correctly, these are going to come with in-game steering controls either integrated or included as an accessory. That is, I think, an industry first.
I predict these are likely to be wildly successful products. Yikes.
Yeah, a network option like Wahoo offers as an option on the Kickr V5 would be a good feature.
I like certain aspects of this range of products.
Full Zwift Ride:
-
For the while bike option, the fact that it is modular is nice. The other smart bikes are one piece, heavy and difficult to move. The Ride ability to split it like a regular bike & trainer setup means moving it if/when necessary is an easier ordeal. That modular aspect could also help if/when there are technical issues needing replacement. Either section couple be swapped easier than the single unit designs.
-
I am mixed on the size aspect related to the faux âwheelsâ. They give some style and the potential for lighting options is a fun consideration. I see people complaining about all the wasted space, but its hard to see how 1-2â is a deal breaker for anyone considering any of the other smart bikes. Unless you are fitting into a closet sized room, I just canât see that as the limit some imply. If Z delivers on the other features they hinted (elevation control and/or a fan) it may well be worth the space.
-
Touching on the lighting, Iâd hope they have the RGB rainbow
options. Sync with power, heart rate, speed or environment are a few options. I also would hope they are âmotionâ capable with a pseudo âspinâ option that fakes a wheel rotation too. Tie that to the in game speed, power or whatever foe some fun effects. This serves the most potential benefit to the rider for the full Ride bike option, and may be largely missed for the trainer Wheel since it is behind the rider.
Trainer Zwift Wheel:
-
When looking at the trainer only, the faux wheel is not something I love. First issue might be related to the fact that they seem to have set it to mimic a 700c road wheel. Should be ok fit for typical road bikes and 29" MTB. But I wonder about fit with older 26" wheel bikes? Maybe thats a non issue, but seeing the wide range of bikes people use for trainer work, this may well prohibit a wider adoption.
-
The other issue, and probably should have said this first is that I dislike the potential for use and storage of the Wheel. It is HUGE when compared to any other trainer. I may be missing some hidden details, but it doesnât look like there is any way to fold it for storage or easy movement. It does have 3 apparent handle slots, buy it still would be a beast. The lack of folding is one reason I despise the Flux trainer. Build them up and get used to the footprint. Just a silly limit IMO when there are decent ways to make them livable.
Game Control:
- This is long overdue. I considered a DIY hack of a game pad to make controls doe steering, boosts, views, brakes, etc. but I skipped it due to the limited support and options Z offers. Hereâs hoping that their offering will open the door to more retrofit options of game integration to regular bikes as well as their Wheel option.
The kickr bike has buttons (located on the inside of the shifter hoods) that can control the steering in Zwift. Or at least that is what I have read they are able to do
Ride/Bike thoughts:
-
Not a fan of the single anchor point on the front wheel.
-
Design is fine, but will look dated within a year or two and does nothing to grow their audience.
-
If it doesnât have open standard support, itâs basically a non-starter. Since they didnât include a screen, Iâm guessing they were smart enough to have the bike work with other apps.
-
Theyâll probably sell a few units to their diehard fans, but honestly this is such a middle of the road product offering that I donât really know what their actual strategy is here, because it doesnât make any sense.
I completely disagree. People spend months collecting elevation just to get the Tron bike in game. I think there will be a huge demand for it irl. I also think they may not add NEW users, but they have a massive built in customer base and every single unit sold is profit over selling a Neo or KICKR. Assuming itâs even close to reliable, I could see them going straight to the top of the market.
Thatâs the key question for me. I think the bike actually looks sick, but Iâd be very, very hesitant to drop two grand, if not more, on first-generation hardware from Zwift.
Snooping the latest ZwiftApp binaries thereâs reference to the Wahoo mDNS record, so theyâre either working on Direct Connect support or at least detecting it on the local network⌠and âzapâ which I can only assume is their own TCP/IP based connection for these products.