With a good internet connection, a trainer and smartphone, tablet or computer, riders across the world can ride with and even race each other inside the Zwift videogame. Your pedal power propels your customized avatar around various courses. If you have a smart trainer, the game will control the resistance — hit a climb and it gets harder. With Workouts, you can pick specific training sessions instead of chasing avatar packs around. And Zwift recently launched a beta version of its mobile app.
Updated November 2016
While the graphics are far and away the best of any multiplayer cycling videogame (compared with the other online options such as Tour de Giro and Bkool), the primary hook is the interaction with other riders. Speed is based on watts per kilo (enter your weight honestly!), and the game's algorithm allows for drafting. When you start a session, you can choose to ride near other riders and at any point you can jump in with a group. Zwift's Facebook page has a healthy list of group rides and races, too, delineated by the approximate w/kg to give riders a sense of how hard the session will be.
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For comparison, Bkool, the Spanish simulation software, has scores of courses that you can ride solo or with others. The graphics aren’t as good, but the options are much more plentiful. CompuTrainer arguably pioneered this head-to-head format years ago, but within its own hardware and software ecosystem. The new style multiplayer games, like Zwift, only require conformity to the ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart wireless protocols.
Like a good modern videogame, there are numerous options for setting up how your avatar looks (skin tone, gender, socks or no socks, helmet or no helmet and so on). The more you ride, the more options you get for bikes or jerseys. To get a BikeRadar kit, press "P" after you sign in and enter the code "BIKERADAR".
Zwift Workouts
Mobile beta app
Bottom line — Zwift is a great winter tool
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