Full Bike Component Customisation & Progression in Zwift

Racing
1

Dear Zwift Team,

Firstly, I’d like to thank you for creating a platform that has transformed indoor cycling. Zwift has become much more than a training app—it’s a place where cyclists can train, race, explore and achieve long-term goals. Every major update continues to improve the experience, and I appreciate the passion and innovation your team brings to the platform.

I’d like to propose a feature that I believe could become one of Zwift’s most engaging long-term additions: full bike component customisation and progression.

Build Your Dream Bike

Currently, riders can purchase complete bikes and wheelsets in the Drop Shop. While this is a great feature, many cyclists enjoy building a bike one component at a time rather than simply buying a complete bike.

Imagine if riders could purchase and equip individual components to create a bike that’s truly their own.

Components could include:

  • Handlebars
  • Stems
  • Bar tape
  • Headsets
  • Saddles
  • Seatposts
  • Dropper posts (for mountain bikes)
  • Pedals
  • Bottle cages
  • Bike computers and mounts
  • Power meters
  • Groupsets
    • Cranksets
    • Chainrings
    • Bottom brackets
    • Chains
    • Cassettes
    • Front derailleurs
    • Rear derailleurs
    • Shifters
  • Brake calipers and rotors
  • Tyres
  • Mountain bike suspension forks and rear shocks
  • Gravel accessories and frame bags
  • Cosmetic accessories to personalise every bike

Component Progression

A progression system similar to Zwift’s current bike upgrades would fit perfectly with this feature.

Instead of continually replacing components, riders could purchase a component once and level it up simply by riding.

For example:

  • Entry Level
  • Sport
  • Mid-Level
  • Performance
  • Race
  • Pro
  • Elite
  • World Tour

As components progress, they could unlock:

  • Updated visual designs
  • New colours and finishes
  • Brand-specific styling
  • Small, balanced performance improvements

This would make every ride feel like meaningful progress towards building your perfect bike while keeping racing fair and enjoyable.

Meaningful Choices

Rather than having one “best” component, riders could choose equipment that matches their riding style.

For example:

  • Lightweight climbing cranksets
  • Aero handlebars for flat races
  • Stiffer sprint-focused components
  • Comfortable endurance saddles
  • Gravel-specific handlebars and tyres
  • Mountain bike suspension setups

Each component could offer small trade-offs between weight, aerodynamics, rolling resistance and comfort, creating more strategic bike builds without affecting game balance.

Save Multiple Bike Builds

Another valuable feature would be the ability to save complete bike builds.

For example:

  • Climbing Bike
  • Aero Race Bike
  • Time Trial Bike
  • Endurance Bike
  • Gravel Bike
  • Mountain Bike
  • Recovery Ride Bike

With one click, riders could switch between saved builds depending on the event or route.

Bike Garage

To complement this system, Zwift could introduce a Bike Garage.

The Bike Garage would store every unlocked frame, wheelset and component, allowing riders to experiment with different builds, compare performance and create bikes that suit every discipline.

Building bikes would become another enjoyable part of the Zwift experience, just like riding them.

More Reasons to Earn Drops

Many long-term Zwifters eventually purchase the bikes and wheels they want. This feature would give Drops a much greater purpose by creating continuous progression.

Drops could be used to unlock:

  • New components
  • Higher component levels
  • Cosmetic upgrades
  • Limited-edition paint finishes
  • Event-exclusive components
  • Anniversary collections
  • Historic component sets
  • Brand collaborations

There would always be another goal to work towards.

Opportunities for Brand Partnerships

This system would also create exciting opportunities for partnerships with cycling brands, including:

  • Shimano
  • SRAM
  • Campagnolo
  • ENVE
  • Zipp
  • PRO
  • Fizik
  • Selle Italia
  • Deda
  • Hope
  • Cane Creek
  • Fox
  • RockShox
  • Race Face
  • Burgtec
  • PNW Components

Authentic virtual components would allow riders to represent the brands they already ride and love in the real world.

Why This Would Benefit Zwift

I believe this feature would:

  • Increase long-term rider engagement.
  • Give Drops significantly more value.
  • Allow every rider to build a unique bike.
  • Add another rewarding progression system.
  • Encourage riders to continue riding even after unlocking their favourite bike.
  • Create almost endless customisation possibilities.
  • Strengthen partnerships with cycling brands.
  • Make every rider’s bike feel personal and unique.

Cyclists love the details. For many of us, building a bike is just as enjoyable as riding it.

Bringing that experience into Zwift would make every kilometre, every climb and every Drop feel more rewarding. It would give riders another reason to keep coming back—not just to ride, but to continue building, improving and personalising the bikes they love.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this proposal. I genuinely believe a bike component customisation and progression system would become one of Zwift’s most exciting and enduring features, adding another level of immersion that riders of all abilities could enjoy for years to come.

Kind regards,

Oaklan Marwood

1 Like
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Bikes are already too expensive in Zwift and people are resorting to drops farming methods (or bots which are forbidden by Zwift terms of use) to be able to afford what is currently there in a reasonable time frame.

Given the the current rampant inflation in the Zwift Drops Economy, how would they afford these things?

Also think of the difficulty for Zwift Insider - even with the bots he uses, imagine the effort it will take him to test all the different component combinations. :face_with_peeking_eye:

I think it’s probably getting over complex. Maybe if these customisations were just visual and didn’t cost anything, that would be reasonable. Even just allowing bike colour customisations would be great.

I don’t know about others, but there must be some other desirable things the 3D artists could do, like expansions of existing worlds like Innsbruck (making it into a larger sized world taking in the roads and climbs in the surrounding areas of Innsbruck) or Bologna for that matter. Those get asked for a bit.

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3

Years ago we had the Ceramicspeed Mission which once completed unlocked an OSPW for the duration of the mission, and which did make the bikes slightly faster. There was a data leak showing that showed various frame components had individual weights. We also had the Dura Ace 9100 bug, where bikes with that groupset were heavier as the groupset weight was seemingly being double counted.

From all that, we know that the bike selection system allows for individualisation approaching this level. Or at least it used to.

Whether it is desirable or not is another matter, it is would certainly appeal to some but could be seen as over-complicating things by others.

It could be tied into the current bike levelling system, changing the visuals to match the performance improvements. Aero upgrades could be swapping round handlebars for aero bars, then integrated bar and stem for the next stage. Weight upgrades could be swapping metal bottle cages for carbon, and maybe something with the saddle. Drivetrain efficiency upgrades could see the groupset upgraded from mid tier to top of the range.

1 Like
4

Also multiplies the chances of weight glitches given it has occurred before. Everyone rushes for the new fastest thing then next release it is nerfed.

5

As fun as a lot of this stuff would be, a lot of it is pretty excessive and a lot of effort for some minority to do that much customization.

Things like bar tape colors, choosing tires, chain colors, things that don’t really move, would be plenty for everyone. Being able to have bottle cages on/off would be cool as well but, potentially a lot of work on the back end to make snap points on frames.

Genuinely though I think most people just want the dang color slider back and there to be red.

Chris already said it though; the individual parts stuff might still be around but I think they’re trying to get away from it due to those ‘mistakes,’ which even just recently happened again with one of the gravel bikes that had the wrong weight for a week (Aspero if I recall?).

But at the going rate it seems like ZHQ is trying to kill off the color slider too…

That said; the color slider does it for me personally. Having different color chains would be cool but so rare to really notice.. I’d rather just see a sea of unique shapes and color frames; which we don’t even get that again/anymore. All of the new bikes releasing don’t have color sliders.

After a few years of dry spells for new bikes we’re now in a dry spell for new routes/worlds.
I’d rather have new routes/worlds and a color slider than a slightly more tweakable bike that requires 4x the amount of workload for a designer to set up going forward.

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6

I imagine the user experience would be all the worse for the added complexity and end-point processing power and data transfer rate that would take for all the other riders to see your individualised bike, given all the potential viewing angles and frame/component configurations.

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7

I agree with @Andrew_Nuse, it would be a bit more fun for us cycling enthusiasts, but certainly way too excessive for Zwift to implement, and from a user’s Zwift garage management standpoint of view, more complication is not needed - look, we can’t even get features like user selected/dersired frame sorting or “sell/retire” frames/wheelsets that the user doesn’t want anymore, let alone a sticky color slider (ever notice when you switch to a frame that doesn’t allow the color slider, it resets the previous setting for the slider for a frame that does?!?). These days, Zwift management has a user requested feature list 200km+ long, and they can’t/won’t/just ignore implementation of 99% of that, even ones that have been requested for so long that any mentions of such features on the forums here has been reduced to the level of an internet trope…

Just implement the color slider universally for all frames, give us the red part of the color spectrum, and enable a button to lock the color slider too! Oops, I just added another kilometer onto that 200k feach list LOL :rofl:

2 Likes
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The Bugatti Factor One would be nice to have as a new super halo bike in Zwift. Only 250 being made IRL, looks stunning.

9

I wouldn’t mind the Factor One or a Y1RS in game to be honest; I’d like to see either in person.. to me like looking at a Ducati, just cool looking, and always find something new about them each time I look.

Skip the Bugatti part… give us one with a color slider pleeeeeeeeeease we’re not asking for much :joy:

10

You have given a lot of thought to this. I think we’ve had two items before. Zipp tires ( it was super fast ride ) and also the derailleurs (the big ones) gave some watt reduction ( but mostly looks).

To avoid numerous complications, let’s just pick what’s most beneficial in real life, aero helmets. Would I like a big bubble helmet? No but some would wear it. Red Bull, 1984 USA Olympic style, anything if it will make me faster.

I would think most people would want Zwift to focus on other routes and climbs than all the time these other projects would consume.

Bottom line: No to all.

Huge Yes to aero helmets challenge.

11

In my riding group there is already a Y1RS. No new Factor Ones yet, but a few older ones. None of us are wealthy enough for the UCI illegal Bugatti version. :wink:

I am the only one with the illegal bike at the moment. Wish I had it in zwift. Give those heavy Aethos bikes some trouble. :wink:

12

Imagine what Zwift would look like in terms of different bikes being used if ZI did NOT do speed tests on all the different bikes.
I imagine those tests are done in a sterile environment - Conditions that simply do not exist in a race.
I doubt that races would have riders all using a Tarmac SL8 or P74 bike since no one would really know what was the fastest/best bike to use.
Too many people chasing those in game marginal gains when it often won’t really matter given the chaotic environment of a race.

13

I think people would just run their own tests with bots, with AI these days it isn’t all that difficult to get started.

Some folks have called for races to have standard bike performance so it does not matter what bike you use or what level it is at.

I would not have cared if bike upgrades didn’t exist at all.