Fan of Zwift? You might have the chance to make your virtual riding experience all the more slick, with virtual gear shifting.
The cycling brand has launched the Zwift Ready program, which tells you a turbo trainer supports Zwift’s Click and Cog virtual gear shifting system.
This stops your bike needing to make physical changes to the position of the chain — like a fixie bike — instead emulating gear changes through the turbo trainer itself.
Zwift has offered virtual gear shifting since 2023, but until now it has only been available in the Zwift Hub trainer and the Wahoo Kickr Core. That trainer is used in the Zwift Ride smart bike.
Here’s the list of trainers getting in on the action this September:
- Wahoo Kickr v6
- Wahoo Kickr Core
- Wahoo Kickr Move
- JetBlack Victory
These brands are already closely affiliated with Zwift — the Zwift Hub was a tweaked and rebranded JetBlack Volt V2. But other brands will get support in “winter 2024.”
Just two additional models are on that list for now, the Elite Direto XR and the Van Rysel D100.
To get up to speed with virtual shifting, these trainers will need a Zwift Cog and Click (the Cog will be optional in some setups). The Zwift Cog attaches to the turbo trainer in place of a cassette. The Click is a little controller that attaches to your bike handlebars, in order to shift through virtual gears.
A Click uses a CR2032 coin cell battery that, according to Zwift, should last at least 100 hours of riding.
Zwift has also opened up its Zwift Ride smart bike, selling the frame without a turbo trainer for $799, down from $1299 for the full package. You can now effectively make your own setup, with more trainer options.
One point to note here, though, is the high-end Kickr Move can’t be used with the Smart Frame without disabling its headline-grabbing back and forwards natural motion. The Zwift Ride Frame’s front sits on a pair of steel forks, not a wheel.
