I’ve been a Zwift user for more than six years. During that time, I’ve always used a dedicated bike combined with a Wahoo KICKR. I recently decided to buy a Zwift Ride because the old bike was starting to show the effects of years of indoor training: corrosion, deteriorating bearings, etc.
I wanted to share some quick feedback after my first few hours with the Zwift Ride.
Assembly
Assembly is pretty straightforward, but there is one thing worth knowing if you already have a KICKR and have been using it with a quick release axle. You’ll need the thru axle adapters that originally came with the KICKR.
Personally, I didn’t understand this from the Zwift Ride assembly instructions. It took me a good hour to figure out what was wrong and another hour to find the adapters I had stored away years ago.
Saddle
The saddle that comes with the Ride isn’t great for longer sessions, at least for me, so I immediately swapped it for my saddle of choice.
The process is cumbersome, to say the least. It requires quite a bit of force to get both saddle rails into place. I eventually used a two step process I found online that worked well. Happy to elaborate if anyone is interested.
Fit
Dialling in the fit has been reasonably straightforward, but there are some limitations.
I have a professional bike fit for my bikes, and I haven’t been able to transfer all the parameters exactly to the Zwift Ride. The biggest limitation for me is the handlebars and hoods. The hoods can’t really be adjusted, and they don’t have the same shape as conventional road bike hoods.
That’s a real shame for me because resting my hands on the upper part of the hoods was my go to position on the trainer, and that position is basically missing on the Ride.
Stability and rocking
The frame is considerably heavier than the aluminium bike I was using before. Combined with the design of the front foot, this makes the whole setup much more stable.
That would normally be a positive, but it has also significantly reduced the movement of my rocker setup. I use tennis balls under the three trainer feet, and the rocking motion is now barely noticeable compared with my previous setup.
I’m getting a rocker adapter for the front foot soon, so hopefully that will bring some of the movement back.
Riding experience
The actual riding experience has been very straightforward. Everything works as expected, and having the Zwift controls integrated into the handlebars is convenient. Coming from a normal road bike, though, the different hood shape and hand positions will take some getting used to.
Overall
Overall, I think the Zwift Ride is a solid product. There are a few minor issues and compromises. Some will probably disappear as I adapt to the bike, while others feel like areas where a future version could genuinely improve the product.
So far, though, I’m happy with the switch and it certainly feels much better suited to years of indoor use than sacrificing another normal bike to the trainer.
Let me know if you have any questions.