All about Zwift - virtual indoor cycling

Zwift is a turbo trainer game that enables you to link your turbo trainer or Wattbike to your computer, iPad, iPhone or Apple TV. Zwift lets you ride with other cyclists in a virtual environment. It allows you to free-ride, race and chat with other 'Zwifters', making indoor cycling engaging, fun and great for building your fitness levels.

For those seeking specific training sessions you can access workouts designed by professional coaches, and these can be completed in groups or on your own. 

There’s several virtual worlds to choose from – including Watopia (a cross between Hawaiian, jungle and desert landscapes), New York, London, Richmond, Bologna and Innsbruck, with various routes available for each.

In a word, no. Zwift costs around £12 a month but you cancel at any time and you get a free 7 day trial.

The most obvious thing you need to use Zwift is a turbo trainer. If you want an immersive experience, are going to be using Zwift regularly, and don’t mind the extra outlay, then a smart turbo trainer such as the Wahoo Kickr or Tacx Neo Smart would be a good option, if you don’t want to use one of your bikes, you could consider a Wattbike Atom.

These trainers all have a built in power meter and variable resistance, they will measure your power output and send this data to your online Avatar in Zwift, the variable resistance will make it feel as if you’re actually riding in the online world, so when you are going uphill, the in-game resistance will increase, and when you're going downhill, it will decrease, so you need to remember to change gears.

However, you don’t have to splash out on an expensive smart turbo trainer to be able to use Zwift. At the most basic level you can use any old turbo trainer combined with an ANT+ or Bluetooth speed sensor.

To make your Zwift experience as good as possible we’d also recommend a fan, a towel and plenty of water!

Once you’ve got all the equipment, it’s time to get riding. The first step is to download the Zwift app onto your device. You are then prompted to set up an account, and give details such as your gender, height, and weight, which will be used to create your avatar and to give an accurate measurement of your speed in the game.

The next step is to set up your avatar to give him or her some nice kit and your dream bike. Zwift gives you plenty of options to make your avatar look as cool or as pro as possible. If you’re new to the game then you won’t have that many jerseys and bikes to choose from, but as you ride more you will gain achievements and move up through the levels, letting you unlock more outfits, bikes and wheels.
Once that’s done, you’re ready to ride.

To ride we’d recommend downloading the Zwift Companion app to your phone, this allows you to see your current ride dashboard and the other Zwifters that are close to you, there is in game chat which is great for giving encouragement or having a bit of a laugh, very useful for organised rides and meet-ups.

There are a few ways you can ride with friends on Zwift – you can agree to meet at a certain point on the map (make sure you choose the same route). You can use the 'Ride With'  feature to join someone already riding when you log into Zwift. You can join an organised group ride, or you can create or join a MeetUp.

MeetUp is the most effective way of riding with a group and it’s what Neilson will be running over the next few months.

Here at Neilson, we will be running weekly organised meet-ups for our customers, we can only invite people to a MeetUp if they’re following us and the maximum number of riders you can invite is 100. The meet-up will be scheduled 7 days in advance.

Make sure to follow Neilson Active Holidays Cycling Club, by searching for us in the Zwift or Zwift Companion App.

Answer a meet-up invitation when you receive notification in the game or on the home screen of the Zwift Companion app – click “Going” or “Not Going.”

The route, distance and duration will be clear, and we can keep the group together throughout the ride, regardless of how hard or easy everyone rides.

While you’re in the meet-up, you’ll still see everyone on the course, but the names of your riding companions will be highlighted in green in the rider list, this will make it much easier to give each other a ride on - the Zwift way giving a high 5!

If you want to upload your rides to Strava then there is an option to connect Zwift with your Strava account on your Zwift dashboard. This will mean that all rides you do on Zwift will be automatically uploaded to Strava.

Races on Zwift are published and listed in two places on the main menu screen before starting your ride and in the companion app. To join a race, you fire up your Zwift app, join the race – just as you would any group ride on Zwift – and away you go. Race results are published on ZwiftPower.com. 

In light of recent events, British Cycling launched an eight-week schedule of races, time trials and workouts. Find the full list of sessions available here.