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Zwift celebrates 10 years with a new Smart Frame, new roads, customizable displays and more

September 4, 2024
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Triathletes were amongst the first adopters of the Zwift platform way back when – I can still remember some of the first displays going up during race week of the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Zwift got started. While there are other indoor training platforms available, Zwift remains the go-to app for many triathletes. Determined to keep things that way, Zwift continues to build out its software and announced a number of new updates today. In addition to the software improvements, there’s also a new Smart Frame and more compatible Zwift Ready Trainers.

Watopia Expansion

In November Zwift will expand the virtual world Watopia, with new roads becoming available during Stage 5 of the Tour of Watopia. There will be additional expansions during the Tour of Watopia stages, with racers having a variety of distance options and the ability to earn XP rewards.

Revamped Heads Up Display (HUD)

The new HUD will offer seven customizable metrics including cadence, heart rate, average watts, and watts per kilogram. There’s also an updated to the running HUD, too. Those using the Wahoo KICKR Run will also be able to see the new Dynamic Elevation display when they’re using the Incline Control.

New Smart Frame

The Zwift Ride Smart Frame is available in the US (US$800), EU (€800) and UK (£750) through Zwift.com. (In Canada it’s available as a bundle with the KICKR Core for C$2,000.) The Zwift Ready Program makes virtual shifting available on more trainers, which will also be compatible with other Zwift equipment including Zwift Cog, Click, Play and the Smart Frame.

You can find a list of Zwift Ready Trainers and upgradeable Zwift Ready trainers here.

Zwift Ride is the virtual training platform’s new smart bike

New Challenges

There are a new set of challenges that are available including:

  • Cardio Crusher (Available from Sept. 9) – five new workouts that are all under an hour
  • Route Chaser: The Grade (Available from Oct. 3) – you need to complete five routes, three of which are new, to complete the challenge
  • More challenges are coming over the next few months, too.

Zwift Racing Score

Zwift enthusiasts really love to race. Over 300,000 people raced on the platform last season, with 27,000 people doing at least 25 races. The new Zwift Racing Score will “ensure that racers are placed in the right category from the beginning of their racing journey, making races more competitive and enjoyable,” today’s press release states.

The Zwift Racing Calendar includes:

  • zRacing Monthly – Year-round racing with new racing routes landing each month.
  • Zwift Racing League – The largest team event in cycling with 2,610 teams participating in the 23/24 Season, the league brings Zwifters together offering 3 rounds consisting of 6 races each between Sept and Feb.
  • Zwift World Series – Five races spanning from Sept to Jan,  the tailor-made courses offer three tiers of monthly monument racing challenges.
  • Zwift Games – Launching in March, the Zwift Championships will return for a second year, offering Zwifters the chance to race for Community and Elite levels with more to be revealed in the coming months.

Garage upgrades

Later this year Zwift users will be able to upgrade their virtual bikes by completing Upgrade Challenges. All bikes will have five stages of upgrades.