tires - wont be needed until next season and a already have a spare pair bought 18 months ago when they were cheap
bike computer - already own so that’s out of the equation
medical bills - good job in the uk thats all free
train fare? no need as never use one when on the bike, I don’t see the need for them
club membership fees dont apply as i’m not a member of a club
as for the clothing - already own it the same as indoor riding bibs etc
that’s why I said for me, personally, riding outdoors is cheaper than indoors,
Is Zwift going out of business and expecting customers to bail them out? I see no benefit or justification to levy a 40% increase for a platform that looks like it has not developed much at all from looking like a game from 20 years ago. I presume this is a balanced risk from Zwift, a very risky one as many of see thus as price gouging at a time when everyone is is suffering financially. They seem to forget the competition that is overtaking them. Sorry Zwift but the lack of enhancement of your platform combined by this ridiculous 40% increase is a step too far, you will erode your key asset of an enormous membership and let the competition in through a wide open door. A very bad strategic and tactical decision that will backfire and has upset customers and will erode investor and market confidence, a bad decision.
indoors I have a Neo bike, acquired on sale, for 2300 euros, with almost no wear
outdoors, I have to change an ultegra chain, vittoria corsa pro tires, A LOT of brake pads, once a year the headset (a crap on canyon bikes), I already broke a high end carbon handbar, and so on. I spend a lot on my two most used bikes, even not using them when the conditions are the worst.
And before using Zwift in 2018 it was a lot worst.
There is of course a balance, but the racers will still pay the same as other customers. If the ratio of subscribers is 15/85 racers/others at any time, the effect of the racers will have to be very big.
I see that many who now cancel are in the non-racer group, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It will depend on if the competitors can fill the gap for those who cancel. I think many who now cancelled don’t know what the alternatives can provide. Many will come back after the summer and some will find that the free alternatives are good for them. How long they will stay free and what happens when they are not free anymore, will be interesting to see.
Biggest maybe but successful i really do question if it did more harm than good and put people off racing.
Sure it got lots of people to try racing but when you look at the stats closer i think it showed about 50% of racers that competed and registered on ZP only did one race. I suspect the non-zp racers the number was even higher.
Why after one race did they not want to come back and do more would be the question i’d be asking if i was in charge of zwift racing.
For me racing could be a huge tie to the platform if they developed it but it’s been overlooked for years that might come back to bite zwift.
We need a better experience for new racers along with more engaging experience for everyone.
For starters
Common results platform with everyone listed.
Ranking …getting radio silence on that front.
Points races in game.
Different game modes. e.g elimination.
Organisers access. allow us to manage our events without going round email cycles. (events team are great but it’s like its the year 2000 with the amount of manual work that goes on at ZHQ, similar reason i hear why we have no child accounts.)
Then if they really want to add value things like custom routes and velodrom would be really appealing to a lot of racers and also potentially drive the steering/hardware side
Get people involved in clubs that race and they will probably be your most loyal customer all year round. Not Jimmy that does 2 solo workouts a week will soon flip to another platform.
It should be borne in mind that this step was not taken voluntarily. Perhaps the management thinks that customers will now buy the cheaper annual subscription and that this will immediately bring a lot of cash into the coffers so that at least the short-term liabilities can be paid.
I was being generic due to the presumptive nature of the post I was replying to with little to actually back up the statements & numbers thrown around willy niily.
From the marketing bumpf I have seen, I think HQ would say it was successful due to coverage, attendance and in having people new to racing taking part - But that is marketing spin.
But yeah, when you get into the weeds of it, we are on the same page (and have been for years), CE doesnt provide a good experience for new racers or existing users imho, the what next conundrum has never been improved, and is racing in huge numbers actually the best form of racing.
No need to side track - Presuming that a rider who is free riding or with a pace partner doesnt race - Its not a either or action, presuming there is a 85/15 split yadda yadda.
Races and Group rides are basically the same thing technically, they need to be considered in the same boat
I go to mywhoosh from time to time… (I’m on IMAC retina 5k) and I find it’s not yet at the top, there’s still work to be done… we risk eating up the update… I thought that they were going with their briefcases full of dollars to give Zwift a good slap, for the moment that is not the case… for my part I am disappointed!!!
I think you’re missing the point on racers. They are very active evangelical bunch. I know as I am one, and I captains 2 teams.
I have preached to my IRL and that has resulted in members joining to Zwift to race. That fact that I know it so well and how ZP and ZR.app work etc has driven adoption.
I’ve had enough of the none existent racing development and left zwift last week before the hike to race on IndieVelo. I already have my club and kit set up in game.
And guess what, those IRl club members are coming with me and have cancelled zwift.
Zwift may see racing as a minority, but they are the most dedicated users and shouldn’t be ignored.
Racing is the only thing keeping me on zwift.
Workouts I can do anywhere, virtual group rides don’t hugely interest me, etc.
Even though other platforms support racing far better, the racing community is on zwift. And as such, community level racing is on zwift.
If something changes - say a big price bump that encourages people to explore other options - then the racing community will move away, and I’ll move with it.
Dunno, in my IRL club of 32 members - The 5 that were on zwift all cancelled this week.
They may return in Autumn but would previously let their subscriptions run through summer.
Others are on trainerroad or Rouvy
Sure, not going to kill zwift, but with a little care for racing it could have been avoided.
Who knows how it will play out and perhaps zwift will actually be happy to get rid of the vocal community race organisers, then do their spammy races and double down on things like big spin.
No surprise that many cancel now. All the anger over 5$ that is equal to an accumulated general price increase over 7 years since last increase. And the outrageous 38% increase argument. 38% of a small number is a small number. Also, it is outside season. They cancel just to make a statement, but would cancel for the summer anyway.
I think it is healthy that some subscribers go to competitors, so Zwift will have to take more notice of what they are doing and improve.
I created my Zwift account in 2018 & have used both running and cycling but primarily cycling. After six years, things were starting to become a little stale, but I’m comfortable with Zwift & it gives me what I need to motivate me to exercise.
I tried both Mywoosh and Rouvy again last night. Haven’t used Rouvy for several years.
Mywoosh - issues pairing with my bluetooth HR monitor and my Apple TV. Routes seem decent but the (new) Apple TV app is definitely a work in progress & doesn’t use the built in Apple keyboard implementation so lots of time spent typing with the remote vs. using my phone. Wasted ages just creating an account. You also have to have the remote touchpad active to be able to select some user interface buttons. The physical remote buttons don’t work - weird.
Rouvy - very slick indeed, nice user interface & a whole pile of routes for me to ride. Lots of famous routes and rides in places I’d like to visit. Not all that many real riders, however, suspect the number will grow a lot in the coming weeks. Enough content to keep me busy for a long time & the May Italian Challenge has some nice looking routes. The AR and video graphics feel like a big upgrade on Zwift.
Hopefully Mywoosh will work on their Apple TV app and, as the service costs nothing at present, I can keep trying it out in the coming months to see if it improves.
Rouvy is keenly priced and there’s enough there that having now ridden all of the Zwift routes I’m likely to (PRL full not likely to be completed any time soon!) Rouvy will give me enough indoor cycling to go at for the foreseeable future. I’ll test out some of the other offerings, but at the moment, my subscription money will be going to Rouvy.
In summary, it’s a good time for me to cancel Zwift to try something fresh and the price hike is the perfect nudge to do it. I’ll save a little money (over what I’m spending today) in the process & can always switch back to Zwift if they release some killer new features in future. I feel a bit sad about cancelling something that helps me to keep fit, but there’s other options out there that will serve just as well.
Nonsense. The argument that ‘$5 is nothing’ is the worst of the lot. Perception of value is purely individual. If you think it’s still good value great, but it doesn’t mean other people are wrong.