PSA: Zwift price increase

“still cheaper than Trainer Road”

It’s $20 – around £16pm.

I really like TrainerRoad, espcially their new red light/green light thing. But even at £16pm I’m thinking of binning that and doing it myself in Garmin or Golden Cheetah. I only ever did my own workouts in Zwift, I couldn’t gaf what all the cartoon bikes are doing.

I used GC years ago, and once you get your head around it, it is a pretty powerful platform.

…Or maybe take up running again through winter…

I’m guessing the UCI moving to mywhoosh for the official virtual cycling competition will have hit them financially

saved them money more like – the UCI doesn’t pay to host it, it’s the other way round. I’m guessing Mywoosh put in a massive bid that Zwift wouldn’t or couldn’t match!

molgrips

That’s all pretty meaningless though. What we really want is features that actually do stuff.

What are you on about? My response you quoted, was directly in relation to this statement from another poster:

“I wouldn’t mind if they were constantly developing new tracks, realistic scenery etc. but it hasn’t drastically changed since I started using it over 4 years ago.”

To which, I pointed out that actually there has been quite a lot of development in that area. I didn’t mention ‘features that actually do stuff’ as that wasn’t the gist of the sentence I was replying to.
And given that the main reason I signed up to Zwift back in 2016 was to stave off boredom through something moderately engaging to look at, I would say new routes & scenery is relatively important to me.

I do however agree that there’s lots of other stuff they could improve on. I’d like a proper training/workout environment within Zwift, for a start.

I only ever used Zwift once a week and very very ocasionally twice. For me even when it was 12.99 it was borderline value for money.

I wish they did a tiered pricing scheme depending how much you use it a month. £5 for 5 hours a month or something along those lines

I do however agree that there’s lots of other stuff they could improve on. I’d like a proper training/workout environment within Zwift, for a start.

I almost wish they’d buyout/integrate Xert – that combo would be very impressive – but only if allowed to hide your MPA as I don’t need to be seeing that as I’m getting ripped apart. Unfortunately in it’s current form Zwift isn’t even able to copy a lot of the ramps (up or down) that Xert uses

They’ve not learned from their last £5pcm hike backlash back around ’18, but back then, there weren’t many options.

Increasing the price by 5.5% per year since ’18 would have got less reaction than the ~38% hike in one hit announced yesterday.

Why didn’t they raise prices during the turbo training boom use during the early months of the pandemic? Were they afraid of RGT offering free use?

I do however agree that there’s lots of other stuff they could improve on. I’d like a proper training/workout environment within Zwift, for a start.

as even this thread proves, there’s loads of different “types” of Zwift users, they all want different things, so it’s a difficult balancing act for them! Whilst a velodrome would be quite fun, that’s a very niche feature request I think! I think it probably is true that the majority of users are very casual, and use Zwift as a replacement for road-riding due to bad weather or lack of confidence riding outdoors, so makes sense to concentrate on scenery and route expansion etc. But obviously there are people who want more hardcore training & racing features also.

Increasing the price by 5.5% per year since ’18 would have got less reaction than the ~38% hike in one hit announced yesterday.

yes a price hike after several years is not particularly outrageous, they just seem to have implemented it in the worse thought out way possible 😂

I was until last night a member since 2017, I never raced or group ride it was more of an encouragement to ride more through winter on my turbo and occasionally through summer when the weather was shit. I was contemplating on pausing membership over summer to save some money. If they did a tier membership where I could only free ride and not use the other features for about £10 a month i’d happily go back. But with limited funds and everything else on the increase things have had to go. I’ve already dumped my Netflix and Amazon prime and Disney caught me out with the auto renewal else that would have gone over summer.

As mentioned in the post above if the price went gradually up I probably wouldn’t have noticed as much. I’ll look more into the other options come winter but in the  meantime i’m happy cycling outside and doing the odd Garmin workout while watching YouTube.

I cancelled yesterday, and filled in the survey asking why. When I got to the page asking me to tick the features I’d never used, I ticked all but two. I’ve never entered a race, never ridden with a group, only once ridden with a mate. I used it purely to replace my road riding when the weather was bad, so only solo free riding, where I found the scenery and variety of virtual terrain to be less dull than my garage wall, and found some slight motivation in collecting route badges.

For me, the ideal pricing model would be pay per use with a cap, something under £2 a ride with a cap around £15 a month.

I believe there is a “Day Pass” option under development. Someone found some code in one of the pages related to this.

And you still get a minimum of 25km per month when out of subscription.

If MyWhoosh is a rival to Zwift, and having read a couple of reviews it does look quite good, how is it free?!

If MyWhoosh is a rival to Zwift, and having read a couple of reviews it does look quite good, how is it free?!

Standard VC model when entering a market already well(ish) served. Take initial losses to build customer base and hopefully bankrupt the opposition and then start charging.

Well I’m sure their customer base is about grow significantly

MyWhoosh is free because it is part of  Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s sportswashing programme.

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/mywhoosh-your-complete-guide

‘MyWhoosh says that instead of charging users, it will look to generate income through other revenue streams such as in-game advertising.’

Standard VC model when entering a market already well(ish) served. Take initial losses to build customer base and hopefully bankrupt the opposition and then start charging.

the more cynical might suggest it’s actually part of a sports-washing campaign by certain nations (see also, World Cup 2022 & LIV golf) to improve their public image and distract from human rights abuses 🤔

where I found the scenery and variety of virtual terrain to be less dull than my garage wall

I don’t understand using Zwift but not racing. If you’ve got a tablet/device infront of you, why not watch TV?

Actually seeing an environment that changes according to the effort you put in is much better than just watching something else that doesn’t engage with your actions. However for what I use it for, and given the price increase, that is what I will start doing.

I don’t understand

clearly! 😂 But what is the implication here? You think others are wrong/stupid because they enjoy something in a different way to you? 🤔 Is it not just obvious that different people like different things?

“Is it not just obvious that different people like different things?”

Not a dig at anyone..

But I’ve found a suprising number of people don’t get this.

I wish they did a tiered pricing scheme depending how much you use it a month.

I’m not sure I’d be a fan of a tiered pricing scheme if I used it a lot but the current pricing is definitely not something justifiable for me.

I’ve gone for months without using it and I let the subscription run because I know I can jump on when I do want to use it.

Even when I do use it, it’s mostly just to log the miles on a flat route while I do Z2 or recovery, while watching a documentary or something.

I wouldn’t be too bothered if I was on 5 days a week, racing and following training plans. I’d already paused mine until next month but I’ll be cancelling it now.

But what is the implication here? You think others are wrong/stupid because they enjoy something in a different way to you?

No – when I say “I don’t understand” it’s not a value judgement, it just literally means I don’t understand.  I mean of course, like what they like, but I don’t see the attraction.  For me, watching the Zwift scenery is not enough to keep my interest.

I quite like riding round normally on zwift, especially on a pleasant route like sand and sequoias. It’s just like riding a familiar route outside as long as you’ve got a smart turbo only with no cars and no rain.

I like racing too, but some races are pointless, I’m never going to even bother the top half on a hilly route.

I like racing too, but some races are pointless, I’m never going to even bother the top half on a hilly route.

The best way, IMO, is to do the same races regularly each week. Then you can monitor your progress.  You also start remembering the names of people who just beat you, then you can start racing them – it’s way more fun.  Zwift also gives you the names of your nemesis.

prawny

I quite like riding round normally on zwift, especially on a pleasant route like sand and sequoias. It’s just like riding a familiar route outside as long as you’ve got a smart turbo only with no cars and no rain.

I like racing too, but some races are pointless, I’m never going to even bother the top half on a hilly route.

Yeah, I quite like a cruise round watching stuff go by when doing a Z2 slog in the winter or when the rain is pouring down.
Pacebots really help with this too, as you have to use a reasonable amount of concentration to stay within the group. I try to stay mentally alert by aiming to stay within +/-5m of the bot.

I used Zwift loads when training for the Dirty Reiver & even a 3 hour session was perfectly doable.
I tend to have music on as well, or get a load of podcasts ready & churn through them.

There’s a few of us from here who do regular meet-up workouts with the elastic band activated. That is another good aspect of Zwift. You can all do your own thing – completely different workouts at different fitness & power levels – but you all stay together on screen & can help/encourage/wind each other up, as applicable.

I enjoy the racing aspect, but seem to do it in fits & starts. It’s definitely good for sharpening your fitness up, or just realising how slug-like you currently are.

Anyway – in all likelihood I will keep my subscription going. Even through the summer I am normally on twice a week, so it still represents good value.

I like racing too, but some races are pointless, I’m never going to even bother the top half on a hilly route.

I’m not a masochist so don’t enter single races that clearly don’t suit me (like very hilly ones!) but I do quite like the challenge of that kind of course within a race series e.g. where there are 4 or 5 races say on different types of course (because some of those courses are bound to play to your strengths). I’m unlikely to trouble the podium on most races anyway and am equally happy with a decent scrap for 19th place instead of 20th 😂

Anyway – in all likelihood I will keep my subscription going. Even through the summer I am normally on twice a week, so it still represents good value.

be interesting to see how Zwift react (if at all) but I suspect that, outside of a lot of bluster from fairly few individuals on social media, most customers are going to quietly sigh and carry on paying anyway!

It’s a pity you can’t link those Smart Trainers up to any game. I’d love to cycle around the old west in Red Dead Redemption 2. You could have bits where you have to outsprint a pack of Wolves, or hunt down the Pinkertons in a gang of MAMILs.

Cancelled mine. Might restart in winter. Seems a silly time of year to do a price hike.

Ha, I keep returning to an idea of hosting in-person turbo nights at a local studio.

I know a few people have done this in cycling clubs pre-zwift. I think if you wanted it to be popular I’d look into getting accredited as a spin instructor, then rent a local gym’s studio and advertising that you’re doing specific structured classes.

How about a velodrome? That would be great.

I’m not sure how well it would work. It could be done, but a lot of the tactics in a velodrome rely on it being crowded and easy to get blocked in. They’d have to re-write the game engine to stop it just being a case of just accelerating to ride over the avatar in front.

Solo events like pursuits, time trials and flying laps would work.

Devils, and scratches would need some new modeling. I guess you could do it with “lanes”, divide the track into 10 lanes and give a speed boost/drop each time you have to move up and down the banking.

Sprints would never work. They’d just have to be done as a flying lap.

The price hike now allows “northern” Zwifters to perhaps calm down over the summer before their usual return to the turbo over the winter, plus allows Zwift some time to bring in new features before the “northern” masses stop riding outdoors.

But it also allows Zwift competitors time to lure unhappy Zwifters away.

Zwift nerds – I did a race last night (‘B’ category, enforced) and averaged 4.0w/kg. That was higher than everyone who placed higher than me according to the summary at the end, but I was 49th! What’s that about?

Average power doesn’t really determine the race, sit in the bunch and then sprint for the finish.

Your choice of frame and wheels can affect things too.

That was higher than everyone who placed higher than me according to the summary at the end, but I was 49th! What’s that about?

I am but a lowly C but often outperform those with a higher power output or w/kg which is very satisfying! Racecraft/strategy/deployment of powerups (if allowed) can make a huge difference to the outcome.

Ah, well, I’ve got until Jun 5th to improve before my last £12.99 month runs out…

It’s a pity you can’t link those Smart Trainers up to any game. I’d love to cycle around the old west in Red Dead Redemption 2

You can if you know how:

I can’t find the original video I saw which included typical GTA style hilarity.

I’m not a masochist so don’t enter single races that clearly don’t suit me (like very hilly ones!)

It’s a big issue (and to be fair, one they’ve tried to work on) that you can be a much higher standard for hilly races than flat ones or vice versa. As a ‘sprint athlete’ (putting it generously) I select the crit races, which are the most fun IMO.  You get tactical races and skinny climbers do win some by being clever.

I’ve also tried this which has some built in Zwift workouts. You can add your own workouts (Google  “ZWO workout creator”)

https://flux-web.vercel.app/

👍

That’ll do for what I need.

The price hike now allows “northern” Zwifters to perhaps calm down over the summer before their usual return to the turbo over the winter, plus allows Zwift some time to bring in new features before the “northern” masses stop riding outdoors.

Maybe, I can see myself re-subscribing next winter for a couple of months if the weather was as bad as this winter.

But £180/year is taking the piss for a videogame.

As a ‘sprint athlete’ (putting it generously) I select the crit races, which are the most fun IMO.

yeah the crit races are great. My favourite format at the moment is Sprint racing (points awarded for being first under one of several arches, which are totted up at the end) as it’s like interval training and similarly rewards the “sprinty” racer. Normally do the Bullseye one on a Wednesday but it’s so sunny today I’ll probably be out for a real ride instead tonight! (I’m also a big fan of power-ups in races as I think it helps level the playing field a bit if you can use them strategically, and you tend to get a lot in multi-lap races like crits & sprints)

I’ll check that out.. in October.

I’ve thought this over through the day.  I very rarely race and just need a platform to handle my training work outs.  Ordinarily I don’t interact with zwift using the chat, I don’t race, I don’t complete the challenges.   I use zwift as there was more of less only one option.  Now there appear to be several which will fit my requirement, I guess this means I’m heading down the route of binning it.