PepeM

And they also use the same trainer. The odds are 200:3 btw.

Seattle Forrest

Well, damn.

WhyFi

By confusing Strava and Zwift, you have outed yourself as a fist-shaking retro-grouch in the making. Condolences.

FlashBazbo

They quashed the rebellion by giving existing users a year's notice.


To me, the bigger deal would be requiring annual subscriptions. THAT would make me re-evaluate my usage. But so long as I can cancel and join and cancel again, anytime I want? I'm still in. And raising the price by 17 cents per day? That's nothing.

jordanair45

Zwift baffles me .would.never ever sit on a trainer. Nothing can mimic the joy real riding gives me. I'm in the gym when I can't ride

Sy Reene

Wow.. just good timing I guess. I signed up for the free week's trial, 1 week ago, which qualified me for grandfathered rate.

afonsogrf

So, I'm Brazilian, the increase for us is more significant, since the dollar costs about R $ 3.4. I'm going from 34 reais to 50 reais. In addition our wages are lower. I got lucky and started at Zwift this week, so I am within the 1-year period for $ 10. Having said that, I would like to know how many here who are criticizing actually use Zwift. Certainly a 50% increase is very high, however, if we evaluate only the value itself, the cost is not so high. A gym in my neighborhood costs at least 90 reais or 30 dollars, a cassette Shimano 105 costs the value of 6 months of zwift for Brazilians. Although I only have one week on Zwift I really enjoyed everything it gives me, and the total cost per year is not high, even with this increase. I think that we have to criticize certain things, but Zwift is something new and unique. For those who really like it, I think the value is within reasonable limits. So, my conclusion is, I wish there was no increase, but I think it's still worth it. Sorry for the long text.

caloso

I felt the same way. It's pretty immersive, and that's on a dumb trainer with an iPad. I bet with a smart trainer and a 70' monitor it's amazing. That said, it never gets that cold here and I decided I'd rather build up a rain bike instead.

When I do ride the trainer, I'll probably go back to my old method of watching GCN videos and watching the lines go up and down on Golden Cheetah.

f4rrest

You guys realize one of the co-founders is a long time BF member, right?

You could probably @ mention him or PM to get his attention.

Square Wheels

I'm not crazy about the trainer either, but cold temps, slush, snow, salt, potholes you can't see, narrow roads, no daylight... It's tough to ride outside in New England in the winter.

I put a lot of roller miles in. I just bought a Kickr and signed up for the Zwift trial last night. Looks like I missed the grandfather clause by a week. Oh well. It's not like it's food or water, it's a toy, a subscription toy, but a toy none the less. If I can't afford it, I'll drop it.

hubcyclist

I use zwift, I like zwift, but since I got my smart trainer this past winter (cycleops hammer) I've actually become more attached to trainerroad and their structured workouts. I had expected to find zwift even more enjoyable with a smart trainer, but erg mode with trainerroad is just magical for me. The quality of my workouts has increased dramatically.

I think the big thing that disappoints me with zwift and a smart trainer is the draft effect. I was under the impression that it behaved sort of like the real world, where you would have a drop in resistance if you had someone's wheel but that's not exactly how it works, apparently. I still jump on to zwift races but the appeal has sort of passed in favor of just doing focused workouts (also, while I have a B level ftp, I basically have nothing over threshold so those race starts kill me). I've had good success in regaining some lost watts with the trainerroad sweet spot base programs this past summer (from 230 back to 260ish), and hopefully next season I can actually follow a progression of base-build-specialty.

Also, i think my setup isn't really the best for an immersive experience, so I often find myself distracted or just listening to music while zwift runs. Maybe if I had a large monitor in front of the bike (right now it's like at a 2 o'clock position) I'd be more engrossed in the environment

DXchulo

So it's $15/month now? Not really my thing (I can easily ride outside year-round here), but it seems like a fair price to me.

People seem to love it. I doubt they'll lose many riders.

RPK79

The gym won't keep you in cycling shape through the winter. Maybe you can get away with that at your mom's house where it's hot all year long, but for those of us in the frozen north...

RPK79

The Sufferfest.

jordanair45

Didn't know there were so many pro level riders here lmao

RPK79

You have to be a pro to not want to lose your fitness over several cold wet dark months?

chaadster

Yeah, a 50% increase sounds major, but I reckon that, having been on Zwift since the beta days, that I'm in too deep to bail out over $5. I enjoy it, and am curious to see where the tech goes, so no complaints here.

Seattle Forrest

That's true, but how many important races do you have in late December?

The gym will keep you in shape, just not specific to outdoor cycling. It can also counteract the harm road cycling does to your body. I lift three days a week and swim two. They have bikes that report power at the gym, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

RPK79

None, but I don't cycle indoors in just December. I'm indoors from October-April due to weather, daylight, and or work schedule.

Sy Reene

I'm a bit surprised, (or maybe I'm missing it?), that Zwift doesn't have an annual 12-month subscription package on offer for exactly this reason. Ie. at the $10/month price, pricing an annual package at eg. $100.. making it not worth the hassle for cancelling for a few months out of every year. At $15/month, perhaps an annual package could sell for $140 or somesuch..

RPK79

They'll probably offer it at some point.

trainsktg

I'm going to keep it. I don't race and I don't have a coach, but I've been using it for the canned workouts lately, and have been getting good results, so in that respect its still relatively inexpensive even with the price increase. I still get as much outside riding in as I can as long as it isn't too nasty out, and I didn't touch Zwift at all this year from mid-March through mid-September.

Keith

BillyD

Amen brother!

kbarch

I know this will sound like heresy, but maybe cycling isn't the only thing I want to be in shape for, or the only thing I want to be reasonably good at. As observed in the thread about mishaps, as deleterious as it may be to my climbers physique, I'm thinking I need to spend more time in the gym working on my shoulders so they aren't so fragile.

ddub

I was in from the beta version and stayed loyal to it just for variety and winter workouts. But now I think I will bail on the auto pay and just do the winter weather months and suspend it the remainder of the year. $5 isn't a deal breaker but my spending the xtra $60 for the year is a poor choice.