With a good internet connection, a trainer and an ANT+ device, riders across the world can ride with and even race each other inside the Zwift videogame, with their pedal power propelling their customized avatar around either the virtual world of Zwift island or a surprisingly good recreation of the 2015 UCI road worlds course. Recently, Zwift added Workouts, where you can pick specific training sessions instead of chasing avatar packs around.
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 races, too, delineated by the approximate w/kg to give riders a sense of how hard the session will be.
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+ wireless protocol, which is what's used by the majority of power meters and speed/cadence sensors anyhow, plus a growing list of smart trainers.
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- Highs: Multiplayer engagement; quality graphics; sophisticated calculations for climbing, drafting and accelerating; ease of connection to ANT+ devices; videogame-style rewards such as climbing/drafting boosts; auto-upload to Strava; Workout mode for interval training
- Lows: Only two courses; nearly impossible to do an easy ride with the constant buzz of riders flying by
Like a good modern videogame, there are lots of visual 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 sigin in and enter the code "BIKERADAR".
Initial setup is pretty easy: Zwift searches for ANT+ devices, which you select with a click of your mouse. A speed/cadence sensor and a trainer on Zwift’s approved list (Kinetic, Elite, CycleOps) is the basic requirement, but a trainer and a power meter is better. The best option is a smart trainer like Wahoo Kickr or Tacx Neo Smart, which not only measure your power and relay that to Zwift, but also change the resistance to simulate hills, accelerations, drafting and the like.
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
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