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Zwift Now Does Outdoor Ride Tracking, Zwift Ride Gets More Crank Lengths

Zwift’s first-ever, and hopefully annual, Zwift Community Live (ZCL) began yesterday in Mallorca. This event aims to bring together the Zwift community with a paid four-day event packed full of outside riding. At first glance, that might seem weird for an indoor cycling company, but as you’ll see, that’s about to change starting next week. In addition to the main ZCL event, Zwift also had a short media event, as well as a slate of other indoor-focused sports tech companies that have been floating around. That includes Wahoo, Garmin, Elite, JetBlack, CORE, and undoubtedly more I’m forgetting. Even the head of ASO and the Tour de France is here (more on his Zwift level in a second).

This post isn’t about ZCL though, and instead, it’s about all the new software and hardware features Zwift has announced that are coming over the next few months. All the software features that are listed below will be turned on next Tuesday, the 8th, for all users. Though there is one feature that I note is more of an early preview, and is coming later this summer.

So with that, let’s dive into it!

Zwift Ride Adjustable Crank Length:

We’ll start off with the easiest one of the group here, which is the new adjustable crank length option for the Zwift Ride. Up till now, the Zwift Ride was only available with 170mm crank lengths, and was arguably the single biggest component that people complained about. However, that (sorta) changes in two weeks. Starting April 16th, you’ll be able to order an upgrade kit that has a bear claw style crank arm design. This has 5 different crank arm lengths on it (160/165/170/172.5/175), just like virtually all other consumer-focused indoor cycling bikes. Thus, you simply attach your pedals to whichever crank length you want:

Now, the upgrade kit won’t be standard-issue for Zwift Ride bikes. Instead, you’ll need to order it separately for $99USD/99GBP/99EUR. Shipping is free however.

It’s important to note that you will need a few tools to get the old crank arm removed and the new one installed. Most notably a square-taper bottom bracket puller tool (for removal), and a torque wrench that can show 45nm (for installation). You’ll also need an 8mm Allen key, adjustable wrench, and a small flat-blade screwdriver helps too. It’s the square-taper puller tool that’s going to trip most people up, though it is easily found online for $10.

(Torque wrench not pictured here).

The actual removal/installation process is silly simple, just like most other crank arms, and once you have the right tool, it will only take you about 5 minutes. Super easy. But it is also 100% impossible without that square-taper removal tool. I’ll stick the full install flow photos I took here in a couple hours at most, but in the video up above I show the swapping procedure.

In any event, for the time being, it doesn’t sound like Zwift is going to transition to the bear-claw design being standard on the Zwift Ride. That’s neither a short or medium term thing. On one hand, that seems like a bit of a mistake, though, on the other hand with people shifting towards smaller crank arms, 170mm is where many people are landing anyway. Ultimately, it sounds like this is mostly about component cost, more than anything else (hence the accessory/upgrade option).

Zwift Outdoor Ride Tracking:

Next is the headliner feature on the software side, which is that outdoor rides now count. Specifically, they count towards maintaining streaks, towards XP (which is how you increase your levels), and towards a new dashboard that tracks your rides. As part of that dashboard, Zwift will now be tracking your training status and training load.

At launch next week, it’ll import in your rides from Garmin & Wahoo devices/platforms. Thus, to get started you’ll need to *reconnect* your Garmin account to Zwift (or, do a first time connection to Wahoo). The reason you need to reconnect Garmin is to give Zwift additional permissions to receive the completed workout files from Garmin (whereas Wahoo is brand new). If you don’t do that, your outside rides won’t come in yet. On the Zwift Companion App, simply go to More > Settings > Connections, and deactivate and then re-activate your Garmin connection (or instantiate the Wahoo connection). It takes like 30 seconds:

I’d strongly recommend you reconnect your Garmin/Wahoo accounts now (before the 8th). It’s highly likely there will be a backlog of Garmin/Wahoo processing your previous 90-day historical files, which is the data it’ll pull into your dashboard. Zwift says Hammerhead connectivity will come this summer, and likely others as well over the course of the year.

Once that’s done, and once Tuesday the 8th comes along, you’ll see this new dashboard. At the top left, it’ll show your Training Score, which is your average training load, akin to CTL. Then, in the center you’ve got your current goal (default is time, more on that in a second), as well as your current streak.

In the middle are the days of the week, and you can scroll back to previous weeks. You’ll see any XP gained on that same page as well (you tap on it, and it pops up). XP for outdoor rides is earned at a rate of 5XP per kilometer, up to a maximum of 200KM/1000XP per ride. Zwift says they may tweak that number down the road, but that they want to see how people might be ‘gaming the system’ (in a not-so-good way), before making adjustments. For reference, normally on indoor Zwift rides, you’re getting 20XP per KM (before any random bonuses). Additionally, you do NOT earn Drops (for the store) on rides, nor do you earn points towards bike upgrades. Also note, you must be a paying subscriber to continue to earn XP from outdoor rides (meaning, you can’t stop paying over the summer and get points).

Below, some historical weeks, and my ‘Just Me’ feed showing the activities coming in:

 

Note that in my screenshots, I’ve got a bunch of duplicate files coming in (since I’m recording/testing on multiple devices). Zwift says that by next week, you’ll be able to delete activities that come into the dashboard. And that at some point soonish, they’ll be doing de-duplication, to mitigate issues like this.

In any event, down at the bottom of that training dashboard screenshot you’ll see your current training status, roughly akin to what Garmin has:

Ready: Ready to start or return to Training
Fresh: Active and ready for a challenge
Productive: Consistently training and recovering well
Overreaching: Training heavily but in need of more recovery. Rest weeks are essential for recovery and peak performance.
Detraining: Loss of fitness due to reduced training.

When it comes to that middle section where your goal shows, you can adjust your goal to any of the following goal types:

– Time
– Distance (KM/Miles)
– Calories (kCal)
– Stress points (SP)
– Kilojoules

Note that there will be an expansion of this later this year (estimated summer), adding Fitness trends. Zwift showed a few screenshots of what this looks like, and in a nutshell it allows for more reports of your ride/fitness trends.

Likewise, while runners aren’t included in the launch of outdoor tracking, Zwift says that’ll come later this year as well. I’d guess that’ll probably launch at the same time as fitness trends tracking. Further, they doubled-down that their focus will be exclusively cycling and running going forward. Said differently, those that still might have hopes for rowing, should probably sink those hopes.

New Zwift France Routes:

584104 france expansion_02 2025_PR 5 875338 original 1743154367.

Zwift is adding 8 new routes to the France map. In addition they’re adding a bit of new pavement too. Err…I mean, new rocks. Not pavement, but cobbles. This new section is properly miserable looking if you have a Tacx NEO series device that’ll actually replicate that shaking feeling. All of which is meant to coincide with the upcoming Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift.

I did take the cobbles section for a brief ride (Zwift had Zwift Ride bikes set up in the hotel lobby at Zwift Community Live):

Vlcsnap 2025 04 04 08h21m04s740.

And here’s some fancier photos from Zwift:

584105 france expansion_02 2025_PR 4 846878 original 1743154367. 584107 france expansion_02 2025_PR 2 8b1472 original 1743154368. 584110 france expansion_02 2025_PR 7 0c3916 original 1743154382.

This goes live next week as well.

New Sensor & HUD Support:

584102 tsoz spring_2 2025_PR hud2 2423bb original 1743154331.

Next, a quickie. Zwift will be enabling support for CORE body temp sensors. You can see this in the screenshot below. The CORE sensors will pair within Zwift, and record your body temp data & heat strain index data to the .FIT file (allowing other platforms to see the data, same as Garmin/Wahoo/etc…).

Further, that upper left corner dashboard (HUD) now has additional custom data fields, including:

– Added Left/Right balance (from left/right power meters, if paired in Zwift), also recorded to the .FIT file
– Added average watts/KG
– Added average speed
– Added weighted power

Here are the updated fields in that drop-down box:

But, this isn’t the only area you’re seeing additional data metric fields, on to the next item!

Added Lap Support:

Next, another quickie. I’m a fan of quickies. Zwift is adding a lap/split button. This allows you to create/take laps and show metrics based on those laps. The button is on the action dashboard (and can be triggered from the Zwift Ride/Play handlebars), and looks kinda like a recycling icon:

584100 tsoz spring_2 2025_PR hud1 d1eb35 original 1743154248.

Zwift will write the lap/split markers to the .FIT file, so any apps/platforms that see/use the .FIT file (e.g., Garmin, TrainingPeaks, etc…) will see those lap/split markers.

In addition, there’s another new dashboard showing your critical power display for 5-second, 60-second, 5-minute, and 20-minute, that you an see at the left (above).

Scotty Streaks:

584099 streak cycle_03 2025 dce624 original 1743154162.

Next, as you maintain your streak (through either inside or outside rides), you’ll gain a squirrel:

4 Weeks: Get a Scotty medallion
12 weeks: get a Scotty key chain
24 weeks: Get a waving Scotty in your back jersey pocket

Additionally, if you’ve got something against squirrels, you can turn this off in the settings. I don’t know who dislikes cartoon squirrels, but Zwift said those people made themselves quite vocal on April 1st, when they turned on pocket-Scotty for everyone as their annual April Fool’s joke.

Totally Random Zwift Tidbits:

Over the course of the media day/event, there were various random Zwift-ish tidbits. In no particular order, here we go:

– The head of ASO (and owner of the Tour de France) is a very avid Zwifter. That’s him, above, Yann Le Moenner. He noted that he’s Level 75 on Zwift (and I confirmed he ticked over to Level 76 via the companion app, shortly after he made these comments). However, based on some of his off-the-cuff wording around the level limits, I’m pretty sure he really is. In any event, he was there during part of a presentation on the impact on women’s cycling, of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

– Here’s some stats from the last 30 days on Zwift:

– 2.2M free rides
– 632K group rides
– 483K robopacer Rides
– 282K races
– 106K climb portal rides

– Structured workouts are clearly going to be a key part of Zwift’s forward-looking strategy. They also shared these tidbits:

– There are 2,400 structured workouts offered in Zwift
– There were 2.3M solo structured workouts completed on Zwift in last 30 days
– There were 104,000 workouts completed via Zwift Link (that’s the new Zwift Training API that companies like TrainerRoad, Final Surge, Xert, etc… use, but TrainingPeaks is using old API and not included in this number, which is *massive* secondary number)
– There are currently 8 partners using Zwift Link today

I’ll probably add some more tidbits here into this post over time, but for now, that’s it!

With that, thanks for reading!

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106 Comments

  1. qriozum

    Sensational change, development.
    Now it’s Zwift gone wild :)

  2. Stu

    Thanks as always for the updates Ray!

    How well is Garmin True up working these days? I don’t link Zwift to Garmin, because I prefer dual recording and only letting my Garmin device (FR955) write to Garmin so that the watch can keep my metrics.

    If I only record on Zwift and connect it to Garmin can I expect all Garmin metrics on Connect and the watch to be updated correctly?

    • CWP

      i do same on my edge. my understanding was that garmin stats are calculated on device only (want more stats buy a newer/more expensive device) – anything imported or manually entered effectively has no stat impact. i already delete the dual record on strava, so guess you could delete the dual record off connect as well?

    • JB

      My Zwift workouts contribute to stats on Garmin and I don’t use a head unit indoors and take my Fenix off. Garmin doesn’t crunch the numbers until the Fenix and Connect sync though.

  3. John Tomac

    If I understand correctly, from now on there will be a two-way synchronisation between Zwift and Garmin. Zwift workouts will be uploaded to Garmin as before and Garmin outdoor workouts will be imported into Zwift.

    Initially, only cycling workouts will be imported and in the future also running workouts will be imported. As a triathlete, it would be interesting if swimming workouts could also be imported into Zwift in order to control the total training load, which is something that Garmin users can already do in Connect.

    I’m curious about the ability to set laps in a Zwift workout. Currently if you program an interval workout in Connect and do it in the Tacx app, the fit file that is generated does not show the laps for each interval. I find it incredible that Garmin/Tacx have not been able to solve something so simple and useful to analyse the watts and/or pulse of each interval.

    The cranks are even interesting for bikefit analysis.

    • I’d agree that eventually, if Zwift wants to be a training hub, they need to account for all activity types, at least at a basic time/distance/calories/whatever goal-setting level. I don’t think they need to dive into analytics of all those aside from bike/run, but at least cover consumption of it (just like TrainerRoad does).

  4. James Eastwood

    They some biiggg cobbles.

  5. James Eastwood

    The most interesting piece of information here for me, is that there were more solo structured workouts in the last 30 days, than there were free rides.

    Workouts are still the majority use case for indoor cycling, and yet the experience has basically not changed in years. There’s really no need to glance at the screen as the terrain is irrelevant, it’s just background graphics whilst you churn away at a workout in the same way you always have.

    I truly believe that the platform that gamifies workouts will come to dominate the space. I have loads of ideas for how this can be achieved, but I’m waiting on tenterhooks to see which platform takes it on and innovates.

  6. Thom

    Crank lengths but no 0 setback seat post? Make it make sense Zwift

  7. Robert

    It sure sounds like Zwift is looking for ways to convince people to keep their accounts active during the summer in the northern hemisphere.

  8. David

    Hands up if you’ve ridden that bit of road that is pictured near the top

  9. Mike

    Well done Zwift, you just made a sale of your bike with the new crank lengths, sadly I still can’t get excited about the streak, we need a pause when on vacations, I never ride, so I know I will never get more than say 25 to 30 weeks before it gets reset, so I have no interest.

    • James Eastwood

      It’s not a streak if you can pause it.

    • Alex

      Isn’t that like telling people at an AA meeting that you’ve been sober for 17 years, just to casually add that you’re always taking off 2 weeks in December for your Christmas bender and another week in the summer for a mandatory-drug-trip to Ibiza?

    • SG

      Agree with James and Alex. It is the same with Apple’s silliness of allowing breaks during from streaks of closing the rings.
      It might not be a self-inflicted failure to achieve the target (instead, maybe it is because of work travel or an injury) but neverthelss it is a break in the streak.
      X consecutive days of achieving the goal(s) =/= X consecutive days of achieving the goal(s) when it is possible/convenient to do so

  10. Kemal

    Ooh Zwift is coming for Strava *popcorn*

  11. thrawed

    re: The zwift cranks, it seems a bit wasteful to make you buy the additional crankset with a new zwift ride. Everyone is going to want it, it has no downsides another than the extra cost. So thousands of those 170mm cranksets are going to be lying around peoples garages they can never do anything with? Why can’t they just update the ride with the adjustable crankset and increase the price accounting for the difference in manufacturing costs.

    • Matthias

      People would complain they cant upgrade their old bike then. Cant please them all.

    • thrawed

      Well it would be quite easy to please them all, and do both. Just like zwift does with the cog and click, it comes both with trainers and available separately in their shop.

  12. Georgi

    I got excited for a second that I’ll get the Tron bike, before realizing that outdoor rides only benefit will be XP. Oh, well, time to grind the Alpe 10 more times.

  13. Ronald

    Curious to see how people respond to the outdoor rides.. Seems like they’re trying to become a training hub, a la Garmin Connect, Strava, Training Peaks, etc.
    I use Zwift every week without fail, but have no desire to change where and how I’ve reviewed my activities for years, and no trust that Zwift has the knowledge to implement this better than current players – and additional XP doesn’t motivate to connect the 2 accounts and delete the duplicate activities
    An interesting development for sure, but more for the COVID class that started cycling on Zwift maybe 🤔

    • Ultimately, I suspect a portion of this is that they know people want to continue leveling up. It’s highly likely this will drive people to keep subscriptions in the warmer months that might have otherwise cancelled (since you only get outside XP if you have an active subscription).

      As for the other bits, perhaps one day it’ll compete with TrainingPeaks at a basic level, but certainly, they’re a long-long-long way from that. Likewise, while some have alluded to Strava as a competitor, I don’t really see that at this point. Strava is far more a social platform (and route planning/etc platform).

    • Mike H

      For me this would make sense if they offered a really cheap xp only subscription. Just process my metrics and give me up, but I won’t be actually riding on the platform. It’s become too expensive to maintain for an odd rainy day ride in the summer

  14. Tyler Loewens

    Also a fan of quickies

  15. Giles

    As the Zwift ecosystem grows, myvelofit is going to be a prime candidate for acquisition there.

  16. Paul Himes

    Showing right/left balance and importing data from bike computers that could lead to data duplication…This seems like the perfect time for Zwift to include native support for dual recording of rides.

    I’m not powerful enough to need it for races (yet, I hope), but it would be cool to have (and would be the only reason I’d see right/left balance while riding since I (probably like most people) pair my trainer for resistance/power/cadence even though I have power pedals.

    Also, I’d imagine that most data duplication would come from people doing dual recording. Just having Zwift grab them both rather than doing one on Zwift and one on the trainer should alleviate some of that load.

  17. Dustin

    So only outdoor rides from Garmin and Wahoo devices will upload to Zwift?

    • For now. As noted, Hammerhead is coming this summer, and it sounds like some other companies are in the works. I’d assume that the most logical ones would be Polar/Suunto/COROS/Apple, but Zwift doesn’t have any connections with those at present.

    • This looks like Zwift wants to stay very far away from the new Strava API Agreement, since that would have been an easy first integration. Doing it one-on-one definitely takes a lot more dev time, but makes it so those activities can be shown on a follower feed, and analyzed (how dare they?!)
      Speaking of, when these activities show up on feeds, what is the privacy situation? Hopefully we’ll be able to set privacy zones for maps (or they’ll be transferred from the connected device)?

    • Indeed. Word got out, nobody in the industry wants to deal with Strava’s API at this point unless they have to. Or, Strava’s unpredictability.

      As for privacy, right now it doesn’t show your outside rides at all to others (in any capacity). Only you see your own.

  18. Jeremy

    Any chance the HUD is going to increase the number of visible fields? 4 is very limited. You should be able to select how many fields you want to see. Because there is only 4, I have to use Sauce for Zwift to overlay the rest of the data that I want to see.

  19. Paul S.

    I’m curious as to what they’re going to count for XP. Road miles obviously, but gravel and mountain? How about e-bikes? I disconnected/reconnected, so I guess I’ll find out soon. And my streak isn’t going to end next week (the weather forecast looks pretty good).

  20. MikeH13

    If I record a ride with my Wahoo device and manually upload the .fit file to Garmin (as we know Garmin doesn’t import from Strava or anything useful other than Zwift), I don’t get the training effect metric… It’s just Garmin being difficult (if I edit the file and change the recording device to a Garmin manually, it will give me training effect… But anyway).
    Virtual rides imported directly from Zwift to Garmin DO have training effect…

    So what I’m wondering is, as Zwift will now import my ride from my wahoo device will it also export to my Garmin connect account with training effect, or are they still going to block it because the .fit file contains a non-Garmin recording device?

    If I want to use Garmin connect as a fitness and training load tracker, but don’t want to use my Fenix to record my rides, not do I want a Garmin head unit, this is a real pain in the butt.

    • Zwift won’t re-pass files outbound again (Garmin, Wahoo, or otherwise). Just like TrainerRoad doesn’t transmit files from partners outbound to Garmin/etc… Else, things can quickly get into a nasty loop.

  21. Do we need to run the Zwift Companion App on our phone for the outdoor rides? Or is everything done by the backend connection between Garmin/Wahoo/etc to Zwift servers?

    Obviously looks like Zwift wanting to reduce their “seasonal” subscriptions. My fear is the membership cancel/pause option will go away now and we’ll be facing full-year costs. I only use it 4-5 months a year, and the outdoor features aren’t meaningful to me, so any big fee increase means re-evaluating other options.

    Alert: possible lost Lama sighting at 3:00! 😄

    • I think you astutely hit the nail on reducing seasonal subscriptions. Definitely keeps Zwift relevant during our outside months. Further concern however that this set of feature adds could add to future sub pricing hikes. RIP the days of $10/mo.

  22. Jon Jensen

    Thank you for the informative and well written articles.

  23. Ash

    Wild Zwift is finally adding extra sensor l/r support, laps. Fundamental features that have been requested since beta. Feels like an April fools joke at this point

  24. Tim

    I find it hilarious that Zwift is concerned that people might game the outdoor rides to gain 1/4 of your in-game xp, when the real xp gaming is that you can already just take your phone with you and run Zwift as you ride outside. I suppose you could create fake GPS tracks and say they were done outside, but at that point you might as well just use a bot if you were that concerned about video game points.

    More seriously, any idea if the XP bonus is going to move over to running?

    • The core thing in your scenario, though is that you still have to pedal, since it’s tied to a power meter (or, I suppose a speed sensor, which has a magnet/etc…). In that Zwift game scenario, it’s not tied to GPS.

      Whereas this is. You don’t need a power meter to get XP while riding. And since it just looks at a GPS ride track, that could easily be a plane flight across the Atlantic, or your car commute to work. Hence the limits. Seems pretty logical to me.

      As for XP outdoors running, all of this will come later this year to running.

  25. Never thought I would say: Zwift is adding some good features! Bear claw cranks are long overdue. Outdoor data import from Garmin is also very good – especially since Garmin seems headed toward a subscription model.

    Wireless shifting locked to Zwift is still a red flag for me. I know Rouvy and QZ offer support for shifting in other apps. Zwift still hasn’t said whether they will sue these developers so I still can’t buy the Zwift Ride Bike.

  26. Chris B

    Some good stuff from Zwift here. Wish they’d fix issues brought about by recent (months long now) issues with pack dynamics, especially for those with Zwift Rides being steered out of packs, etc. But, fwiw, Zwift dev has been looking good lately compared to Strava or Garmin. Strava lost my sub and Garmin’s premium offering is hilariously bad. Zwift’s still getting my $.

  27. Chris

    What’s the privacy of imported rides? Are they just visible to yourself or followers, teams, etc as well?

  28. This is great! What a great collection of features. I do like the outdoor sync for streaks. I honestly keep my subs year round because during the week, if I’m getting a quick ride in, its going to be indoors. But there are still the odd weeks here or there where I might only ride outdoors. And then I lose my streak.

    I don’t necessarily care as much about the unified training status since I rely on Connect & Training Peaks for that but I don’t dislike another place for it! Especially with Connect going subscription based.

    And I just bought a Core sensor yesterday so this is great timing 8)

    • Alex

      Connect is not going subscription-based. It stays the same as always, they only added some new features for those who wish to pay for it. To me, that is a major difference…

  29. Alex

    While the gang is there (you, Des and Shane) you could try to put some sense into the Zwift people and make them see that opening their hardware (the Zwift Ride/Play controllers) to other platforms is a win-win situation for everyone.

    Fingers cross for that to happen during this Maiorca event.

  30. Paul S.

    What about Zwift challenges like the Factory Tour? Since the only bike I ride outdoors that has power is my e-bike I don’t expect to make much progress in the Factory Tour until November. What about distance/elevation challenges? Can someone earn their Tron bike entirely outdoors?

  31. Simon mills

    Not that makes garmin connect + even more pointless

  32. Nick

    Hi Ray,

    Do you know how the Core sensor is connected to Zwift? On the device page?

  33. Marc Savage

    What in the world is taking so long for Garmin and Zwift to bring virtual shifting to the Neo!

    • SG

      Garmin has been very clear (and adamant) that they do not want to support virtual shifting as a closed protocol/proprietary implementation.

  34. Rob Eyre

    Too much to hope for that this new ability for Garmin to write data to Zwift would allow weight measurements in Connect to auto update the weight setting in Zwift without hacks and workarounds?

  35. Pavel Vishniakov

    Road Feel feature on my Tacx is basically the only reason I still own it instead of getting a KICKR and a Zwift Ride. Though, given that I’ve recently (yes, I know, I should’ve done it long time ago) switched to ERG for structural trainings (which disables road feel), I’m not sure if it still brings any value.

  36. Steve

    Probably an aside, but will Zwift ever make a Ride that works with Kickr Climb?

  37. Boris

    Neither their announcement nor this post makes it clear whether one needs to be a *paying* subscriber to earn XPs from outdoor rides.

    • I had repeated in the video numerous times, but apparently not in the text above. Updated.

      Their announcement also made it clear, saying twice paying members: “To make things truly fun and Zwifty, paying Zwift members will earn additional XP for their outdoor rides, at a rate of 5XP per kilometre. Additionally, paying Zwift members can also keep their streaks alive with outdoor riding.”

    • Boris

      Got you, thanks. It’s not worth 20 euro/month, as I’m only using Zwift 6 months a year and strongly prefer riding outside, but might be an attractive offer for someone looking at annual Zwift subscription.

  38. Do we need to run the Zwift Companion App on our phone during the outdoor activity (read: non-Zwift activities) or pair/sync it with our head unit?

    Parts of Zwift’s announcement seem to imply that the data is synced server-to-server from Garmin/Wahoo to Zwift (after the connection is authorized). But the Companion App is also mentioned a few times in the announcement so it’s a bit fuzzy to me whether it needs to be running during the activity, or paired with our head unit.

    (Edit: I should say I’m referring to the post on Zwift Insider, not Zwift directly: link to zwiftinsider.com )

    Thanks!

  39. Paul S.

    ” I don’t know who dislikes cartoon squirrels…” I don’t know, Ray, how much does it add to my weight? And those ears don’t exactly look aero. And the little sucker is going to start waving its arm around in my airflow next week?

    (Yes, I turned it on. Didn’t see many other people with the squirrel in their pocket today, though.)

  40. FG

    Zwift building momentum at impressive pace but… not much has really changed on the engine since creation.

    1- Is there any indication that Zwift will add “gamified workouts” to the mix?
    Give me scenarios of racing where I need to chase a peloton of avatars, possibly on a terrain that mimics the intensities required, and give me tasks and missions to make it look like a game rather than a workout.
    Surely there is something to blur the lines between boring (workouts) and fun (rides).

    2- Is there any indication that Zwift will make indoor riding truly smart? I want a crash mode for users who have smart indoor bikes that can now virtually break (ride too fast round a corner, crash…). Surely it’s time to start working on that sort of stuff as well now.

  41. Gilbert

    It boggles my mind how much Strava has floundered since the mid-2010s.

    Strava, your value proposition is simple:
    – Social place for active people
    – Help us organize group activities with mates
    – Map our routes
    – Leaderboards are fun IF they’re not polluted with bad data
    – Yes, AI overlay could be neat if implemented thoughtfully
    – Keep Mobile and Web UI feature parity
    – Tell me how I’m doing. How are my mates doing? How do I compare now against my younger self and adjust it based on age? Help me stay motivated with “thoughtful” reviews or overlays.
    – I don’t want you to be a training app, but help me dig through my data. See above. Don’t re-create the wheel…
    – Keep things simple and focused. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Go back to the basics and get things back on track.
    – We understand you need revenue to sustain your operations. Help us help you
    – Honestly, all of us are over you.

  42. Flanders

    I’ve authorized zwift to get my wahoo data. Will the outdoor xp work if I record on my cheap cateye device and then import the fit file to my wahoo app? Or does it have to be directly recorded on a wahoo device? Thanks

  43. Pleasure meeting you, Shane and Des this week, and thanks for signing my zwift shirt.

    Now, for those of us that don’t really have space for tools, is the bear claw something we could take the frame to the bike shop to get done? Also, didn’t know if you answered this already, but couldn’t zwift attach it to your frame if you ordered both and asked for pre-delivery installation?

  44. Stu

    Thanks. Will give it a test run,

  45. JB

    Hi, this was going to be live on the 8th of April? Updated the companion app, re-connected with Garmin a couple of days ago… there’s nothing? Was curious to see how it would compare with Garmin training status.
    I’m on IOS.

    • It is the 8th, though generally in Zwift lingo, the date is roughly tied to when folks at Zwift HQ in California wake up, typically aligned to 6-9AM release windows.

    • JB

      Thanks Ray, so some people have to “press” the button when they wake up… so they’re less of a global company then they pretend to be. Not being negative here…

    • Every company has to have a HQ somewhere where most IT people live, specifically the senior engineers. Every company has specific times they launch products/features, and every company manually triggers big releases/launches (so they have people on standby in case something goes wrong.

      Other companies times for launches:

      Apple: 8AM Eastern
      Garmin: 7AM Eastern
      GoPro: 9AM Eastern
      DJI: 9AM Eastern
      Polar: 6AM Eastern
      Suunto: 5AM Eastern
      Wahoo: 8AM Eastern

      Most of these are tied to when people are actually in the office in their respective companies, to troubleshoot issues.

    • JB

      Thanks Ray – that clarifies.

    • Paul S.

      I just checked, and it’s working for me now. 6:15 pm EDT. I actually got XP for an outdoor ride I did last week, but not for the previous weeks.

    • JB

      9th of April, still not live for me, latest companion app version. On IOS.

    • CSH

      It went live for me by pointing my VPN to the US. It goes back to the legacy version when I turn off the VPN.

    • Kevin

      Same with me. I also was hoping that the “streak” would carry over also from outside rides as I have at least a year of combo outside and indoor weekly rides but for indoor it’s still at four weeks.

  46. David Ehrlich

    Will this change allow Zwift activities to count towards the Garmin training status without having to separately record the Zwift session as an indoor ride on the Garmin Edge device?

  47. Paul S.

    I just realized that they really ought to sell a stuffed pocket Scotty in their store, so we can ride with one in a jersey pocket IRL.

  48. Hi Ray, you are also welcome to drive around Mallorca with the icTrainer crew and have interesting conversations…. and there is a paid coca cola ;-)

  49. Jeremy

    Just curious if I level up from outdoor rides, will I still receive drops in Zwift?

  50. Harry Roberts

    “You’ll see any XP gained on that same page as well (you tap on it, and it pops up).”

    I’m not seeing the XP for each ride or those little smiley faces. I tried clicking everything I could to find the XP but nothing worked.

    Can you confirm that it’s available in what they released and how we “Turn it On”? Seems like it should just be above each ride.

    • So in my case, if I tap on the bar graph thing, and hold, then the sun pops up and shows the XP.

      (Fun tidbit I just noticed, other cycling rides that are marked as indoor on Garmin, but not on Zwift, don’t get XP).

    • Harry Roberts

      I might need a video showing how you are doing this. Most likely thing is that it just doesn’t work on my App. Are you running the “Release” version of the app?

      I’ve had a few friends try and they can’t get it to work either.

    • Paul S.

      I’m running 3.68.3 here in the US. This is what I see.

      I haven’t had any outdoor rides this week (weather decided it was winter again) but the one I did a week ago showed up and I got XP for it

    • Harry Roberts

      Is it only going to show XP for outdoor rides or for all rides? Would be strange not to do it for all rides.

      I’m running 3.68.3 (2105)

    • Paul S.

      Apparently only for outdoor rides. On the one outdoor ride that I got XP for, there’s a little sun sticking above the bar. Click on it, and it “rises” and shows you the XP. Earlier outdoor rides I’ve done in March don’t show XP, and none of my Zwift rides do. A little weird, but there’s never been a way to find out how many XP you got for a particular Zwift ride that I know of. Next week looks good weather wise, so I’ll have multiple outdoor rides to see what happens, including probably an eMTB ride.

  51. Claus van der Goot

    Subscribe me to the newsletter

  52. Matthias Wolf

    Still no rollout for Europe/Germany?

    • Matthias Rabus

      What was not released yet? I have ridden the new roads on Monday and my companion app was updated yesterday. I‘m also from Germany. Which plattform are you using?

  53. Chris

    Anyone can help me with setting up the Bolt V2?

    I can only link the standard wahoo app with zwift companion; but the wahoo app doesn’t connect to the Bolt V2, stating “device not yet supported”

  54. Anders G

    Since this morning i can see my outdoor rides in zc, based in Sweden.
    Zwift enabled this on the server side this midnight.

  55. David Ehrlich

    I did my first outdoor ride since the update and the outdoor ride showed in the companion app. However, when I view my activity feed on zwift.com, the outdoor ride is not shown. This results in zwift.com and the companion app having two different total miles towards my weekly goal.

  56. DC Painmaker

    Anyone can help me with setting up the Bolt V2?

    I can only link the standard wahoo app with zwift companion; but the wahoo app doesn’t connect to the Bolt V2, stating “device not yet supported”

  57. Stu Crooks

    Not sure about you but I only got XP for outdoor rides in the last week. The other outdoor rides have uploaded, but no XP above them. See screenshots. 2 rides with XP, one without and all prior to this week are without as well.

  58. DM

    What is that White box between the Fan and the Zwift ride bikes?

  59. Joel

    Great new feature. However, it has a bug. If you ride Zwift and use a separate device at the same time (i.e., a Garmin Forerunner watch to broadcast your heart rate to Zwift during the indoor ride), it will also count toward the ride total. For example, a 1 hour ride on Zwift for 20 miles will show up twice if you also record the ride using your other device. I will track as both the Zwift ride and an “outdoor cycling ride.” I have found this while riding using my Garmin 965 to track heart rate.

    • It doesn’t seem to, unless you actually did the indoor ride as an outdoor ride. If you select ‘indoor ride’ from your Garmin, it won’t duplicate it. Plus, that has the bonus of not burning your battery much, compared to a GPS ride inside. :)

      Or, if on your Garmin, you do standard broadcasting (without starting an activity), it won’t do it either.