Announcing Virtual Shifting on the Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One

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Zwift’s innovative Click and Cog unlock virtual shifting on the proven Wahoo KICKR CORE

Zwift, the global online fitness platform, and Wahoo Fitness, the leading endurance athlete fitness technology company, are pleased to announce the Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One, a collaboration between both companies.

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The Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One delivers near-universal compatibility with 8- to 12-speed bikes, thanks to the pre-installed Zwift Cog and Virtual Shifting via the included Zwift Click.

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Thanks to the introduction of virtual shifting, the Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One means almost any 8- to 12-speed bike now has the potential to unlock the virtual world of Zwift. Riders can immerse themselves in Zwift’s virtual terrain, feeling every gradient change as they explore new roads and gain fitness while riding with a global community.

Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One is ready to ride from the box, making it easier than ever to get started on Zwift. Zwift Click and Cog allow users to change gears silently, and 24 virtual gears help cyclists conquer every climb in Zwift.

The Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One is now available to buy in the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union for $599/£549/€599, including one year of Zwift membership, on and wahoofitness.com.

For the first time, customers located in Australia and Canada will be able to access Zwift’s innovative virtual shifting. Customers in these locations will be able to purchase the Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One via wahoofitness.com from late March.

The Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One will be sold alongside the recently launched Wahoo KICKR CORE with choice of 8/9/10/11/12 speed cassette, also sold with a one-year Zwift subscription via zwift.com and wahoofitness.com.

From February 7th, all existing owners of Wahoo KICKR CORE trainers will be able to upgrade to virtual shifting using Zwift Play. Virtual shifting will be fully available to CORE + Play owners by February 9 - if you don’t have it immediately, don’t fret. In addition to virtual shifting, Zwift Play controllers put you in control of everything on Zwift from your handlebars and unlock new immersive gameplay, thanks to steering and braking controls. Zwift Plays can be bought from zwift.com in the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union for $99/£99/€99.

For more information, see our Wahoo KiCKR CORE Zwift One FAQ.

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If Zwift Cog now works with the Kickr Core… why wouldn’t it work with the Kickr? just wondering… LOL

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This is great news. Is this coming to the wahoo kickr also or just the core?

Thanks

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Will kickr v5 get a firmware/compatibility update?

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Firmware support is what is needed.

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is this identical to the core but with the cog or are there other hardware changes?

edit - ignore that - seems like it is

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@Neil_UK @Mantis_Toboggan
We are working with Wahoo on adding virtual shifting to the existing Wahoo KICKR range and expect to have more news later this year.

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Looking forward to Wahoo Kickr virtual shifting. Already have the Zwift Play.

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@XavierC
Wahoo KICKR and KICKR Core use different firmware. Virtual shifting is available on the CORE at this time, but as noted upstream - we’re working with Wahoo to add virtual shifting to the rest of the Wahoo KICKR models.

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Does the cog size on the Hub One/Kickr Core One matter for the virtual shifting? I cant run a 14t cog since the flywheel will vibrate too much. Will it change the virtual gear ratio if I a run bigger cog and/or switch between chain rings?
Thanks in advance!

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In the FAQ it says that you can’t buy a Zwift Cog and use it with a current kickr core. I that right? Was the Cog not designed to be able to swap out with a normal cogset on a Kickr Core? I have the play controllers and a kickr core, but it might be interesting to use the Zwift Cog and be able to swap bikes more easily.

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Hi @Jan_Singer
In general - we don’t recommend you swap out the 14 tooth cog that comes with the Zwift Cog for another one made by a different manufacturer. More on this later.

More information about virtual shifting on this FAQ., but in general - it should not matter what size front chainring is on your bike or what how many teeth are on the rear cog. The game will calculate what physical gears you have on your bike after you drop into a world and start pedaling by looking at flywheel speed vs. your pedal RPM. You will feel the resistance changes in the first few seconds as it settles you in to a virtual 12th gear - right in the middle of the 24 virtual gear range.

I’m curious to know why this is the case for you? If you need assistance troubleshooting a hardware issue specific to that individual trainer - please contact my Support colleagues so we can help diagnose it.

The reason we don’t advise you swap out the 14 tooth cog is because we have tested its compatibility extensively with hundreds of real peoples’ 8 - 12 speed bikes during its development. While there are single-speed Hyperglide cogs made for single-speed mountain bike / cyclocross / BMX use, they are usually designed for wider 8- 9-10 speed chains, and may be too thick for 11-12 speed chains. I tried myself with a Shimano CS-MX66 cog and it is not compatible with a Shimano-made 12 speed chain. Wasn’t designed for that use case, apparently…

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The Wolf Tooth single-speed cog claims 12 speed compatibility. I haven’t tested it myself. Their stuff is top quality and priced to match. Limited size choices as well.

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The current Zwift Cog is comprised of a steel cog and two plastic guide plates assembled onto a steel freehub body. That ratchet-y steel part with three pawl teeth fits only the Zwift Hub trainer, and will not physically fit on any Wahoo trainers. It’s also not useful on trainers that aren’t capable of virtual shifting.

If you already own a KICKR Core and Play controllers - you can use Virtual shifting without buying anything else. Update to the latest firmware on both of those things. As noted upstream - we’re enabling virtual shifting to this set of Zwifters over the next couple of days, so by Feb 9, you’ll all be able to pair your Play to Zwift, and use the outermost paddle buttons to change resistance. See this FAQ for the deets.

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Right, but there is value in having the cog with the kickr core to make swapping bikes with different numbers of gears more easily and still have virtual shifting via the play controllers.

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Can’t the cog be removed from the freehub body and installed on any other similar 11 speed Hyperglide freehub?

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f you’re bike-savvy and have the tools and know-how it is possible, and nobody’s going to stop you, but we don’t advise this particular path if you’re not an expert already on Hyperglide fitment issues.

This is to say we’d prefer to deliver a more elegant, user-friendly upgrade path. We’re working on it.

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Zwift Hub long term support

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Does this mean that the Zwift Cog is optional? Like if you have a CORE (or a Kickr, presumably if made available in the future) you could just keep your chain on a single gear of your cassette and just virtually shift with the trainer + Zwift Plays?

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I tried the Zwift Hub One but found it was too noisy - I need something as close to silent as possible due to neighbor issues (that includes shifting). I just bought the Kickr core instead and virtual shifting is wonderful news since the Core is very quiet, the only issue is with the shifting “clunks”.
My question is - do I need to use the play controllers or can I still use the Zwift click with the regular Kickr Core? And if so would I be able to purchase just the Click by itself in the future? I much prefer the button mount options to the Zwift Play.