Perhaps it would be a waste since you couldn’t use the Cog (yet), but could you purchase the Cog and Click bundle and use just the Click for shifting without the Cog on a Wahoo Kickr Core or Kickr v6 that has been updated with latest firmware? Or, would only the Zwift Play units work?
Sure, I could just buy the cog+click and never use the cog or sell it (to play owners). I just don’t get why they don’t just sell it. Is it to squeeze some extra profit by giving the illusion of selling something more than simply two buttons? We are all paying the subscription payments to Zwift and I would say we can expect some software work.
That Wahoo is upgrading old units is awesome (I have the kickr v4) and is a different issue to me. Adding the feature to new units is part of the market battle! But I definitely wouldn’t mind paying for an upgrade of an older unit that didn’t have this feature when I bought it. So some payment to Wahoo is justified for giving my v4 new life.
Anyways, let’s see what happens “in the near future,” since I will have to wait for the v4 software upgrade regardless.
GPLama says in the video that Paul posted (and which I can’t quote somehow) [Post 58] at 1:25min that the chain must be on the 14t cog for the virtual gearing ratio to be calculated correctly.
@shooj can you confirm that the cogsize does not matter for the virutal gearing ratio? Or has anyone else with a cassette tried virtual shifiting with different cogsizes and does the virtual gearing ratio change?
Thanks
14 because for it the gear changes were calculated and close to real ones. However, for the power to be correctly calculated, it does not have to be 14.
If this were the case, the front crank would also have to be precisely defined, which makes no sense.
14 because it is universal for laying the chain in a straight line for a large chainring. Not too big for a good flywheel speed and not too small. Simply the golden mean of application.
@Artur_Kub_Grupetto_W thanks!
Does that mean that the jumps between gears would be bigger or I might even run out of virtual gears when using e.g. a 30t cog?
Unfortunately in my case the high flywheel speed causes too many vibrations 
This is similar behavior to riding an ERG. Do you see the difference between small and large? The difference is the rotational speed of the flywheel. The smaller it is, the more power the trainer must generate against its resistance. The power you need to spin is the same. Otherwise it must be regulated by the trainer. Small revolutions, much greater load on the trainer. Less stability of power measurement, etc. However, I also prefer to drive at low speeds.
Does turning virtual shifting off and on again in the settings during the middle of a ride reset the “real gearing calculation”? Or do you have to finish the ride and start another? I’ve been trying to play with what cassette cog I prefer and I’m not quite satisfied with how it feels with a straight chainline on the inner chainring. It feels like there’s much bigger jumps in resistance than what I would get with my ordinary gearing. Especially initially with each gear change, and then it seems to calm down after a few seconds? Maybe that’s a bug on the kickr firmware side.
Does the feel of virtual shifting change if you use a different combination, or a 1X?
I use Zwift for workouts all winter, and I use ERG with the small (34t) chain ring, and a straight line to a cog of ~23. I like the lack of flywheel effect that I get wit the 50t, it’s also much quieter. Will I be able to use the 34t up front and the 23t in back for virtual shifting and get the same effect as if I had used the 50/14?
Has anyone else tried using Zwift play or click in races for virtual shifting? I find it’s just too flaky for racing, possibly due to them being wireless bluetooth devices with low power and maybe power saving feature that puts them to sleep. Mapping to real keyboard shortcuts would take the wireless out of the equation. The shortcut approach works perfectly for other functions like power up.
The other problem I mentioned earlier is the virtual gear spacing being too wide. Ideally it would be equivalent to a 12sp 11-23 cassette because that’s the tightest gearing that feels “real-world”. Right now a single jump from virtual gear 12 in either direction feels too big. I end up still using real shifting for this reason.
I’d love to see these issues addressed so I can avoid real shifting during races. My setup is very quiet apart from the mechanical shifting so it would help reduce the noise level that the neighbors are hearing.
@Jan_Singer
Correct. It does not matter.
What matters is the trainer reads your pedal cadence and the trainer’s flywheel velocity to determine the real gear ratio i.e. physical size of the chainring and the cog size on the trainer. This happens ONE TIME when your Zwift avatar spawns in game, and sets the trainer’s resistance level to the middle of its range - this is the virtual 12th gear out of 24.
The real gear calculation does not happen again during your session. If you shift your front derailleur from the large chainring to the small or vice versa - the trainer does not reset you to the virtual 12th gear.
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I just got the Zwift Play to enable virtual shifting with my KICKR CORE and I must say I like it so far.
However, one thing I noticed is that the power numbers are oscillating with a constant period of ~5s when doing a constant effort:
Is this a known issue with virtual shifting? I never noticed that kind of behavior when using mechanical shifting.
UPDATE: Just performed a manual spindown (because I read in another thread that the newly introduced automatic spindown doesn’t work). Now the power curve looks a lot smoother:
Highlighted part was done with mechanical shifting, then I connected the Play controllers.
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Doesn’t seem like there’s any interest from Zwift in supporting tighter gearing or keyboard shortcuts. That’s all right. I got the Kickr Core through Amazon so going to return that for now. Hopefully these issues will be addressed in the future and then I’ll consider getting a Kickr again. Without virtual shifting I prefer my Elite Suito.
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I have the same issues.
Hopefully the new kickr core fw does fix that
I recently purchased the Play Controllers and got virtual shifting working with my Kickr Core. Before virtual shifting, I had the trainer difficulty set below the 50% mark (to the left) and would stay in the big ring for most roads (I had to use the small chain ring for anything over 10%). Anyway, when I switch to virtual shifting, it felt like there was a large gap between gears. On a hunch, I adjusted the trainer difficulty upwards (to the right) and I get a better gapping between gears, but I’m finding that I have to shift quite often. Is this just me or are others experiencing the same thing?
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I’m quite confused. The trainer difficulty setting shifts your entire gear set up and down such that for any given power output, you will be using a higher or lower gear (consistently depending on the difficulty level).
However, with virtual shifting using only one cog and always starting in “gear 12”, what is the effect of the trainer difficulty setting in Zwift? For that matter, other than pedalling comfort, what difference does it make which chainring and rear cog are used?
That’s not how Trainer Difficulty works. It adjusts the gradient sent to the trainer, so it’s not consistent. Lower Trainer Difficulty means less resistance on climbs, more resistance on descents, no change on flat roads. It does not simply increase or decrease resistance.
I am having major issues with skipping, slipping, stuttering, call it what you will, when on hills. My set up is hybrid 2 x 10 bike on a Kickr Core, using Zwift Click. I am on the smallest chainring, middle cog on the cassette to get the straightest chain line. Gear shifters are moved out of the way to avoid accidentally changing gear. I have game version 1.67, and all firmware for the Click and the Core is up to date.
I notice that you said everything depends partly on the cadence signal. My experience with the Kickr Core is that it has ALWAYS struggled to give correct cadence on hills. Could that be why I keep getting varied resistance when on hills? I can be slipping quickly and then all of a sudden there’s a surge of resistance such that I can hardly keep pedalling, and then all of a sudden resistance reduces violently so the pedals skip a half-revolution. This is at about 9% gradient, Gears 3 and 4, Trainer Difficulty set at 100%. It’s been happening for about 6 weeks, ever since I started using the Click controller.
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Assuming this is something affecting the trainer resistance and not actually chain skipping on the cog, I suggest asking Zwift support to look at your log files. They may be able to tell you if you’re experiencing Bluetooth connectivity problems. If you are not using Apple TV you can also upload a log file to zwiftalizer.com and it will visualize connection problems for you. You could also try pairing via the Companion app and see if you get a different result, since that would use Bluetooth in your phone and bridge the connection to the game via WiFi.
It’s definitely not chain slippage, as I’m familiar with how that feels in real life. I saved the most recent log files and Zwiftalizer analysis and sent a ticket to Wahoo, but haven’t heard back from them. I’ll send to Zwift Support and see if they can help. As far as I can see from the Zwiftalizer analysis, there are no BT drops. As far as Companion is concerned, that’s never worked reliably for me.
Now I can’t even get support chat to work. I have pop-ups and cookies enabled for the site, but when I click the button, nothing happens.