I’ve bene on Zwift since like 2018. I used to Zwift all the time. In winter, when it rained, when it was dark out, the usual. I obviously zwifted during the pandemic. Now, Zwifting is the LAST thing I want to do. If it rains, I just grab my rain/wind jacket and hope it won’t be too bad. If it’s night time, I just grab bigger lights. In winter, I just get on my fatbike. If it’s -40C, I just double up on layers. If I’m bored of my local routes, I get on the MTB.
As fun as Zwift used to be, the new roads for the last 2 years have just been more of the same beginner style short routes on uninspiring roads. Makuri, Scotland, sigh, so boring.
There used to be so much to look forward to. New UCI routes, new big climbs, new big expansions. Now, it’s just so stagnant.
Is this is it? Is anything substantial planned? I kind of want to unsubscribe. I keep paying every month and I barely use this thing anymore.
This decision is one only you can make, of course, but is Zwift really any less boring than riding all of the same routes in your area over and over again? In the end, I suppose it all depends on what you want out of Zwift. While it would be great to have more (and more) roads and routes, I think that can become memory-inhibitive (not to mention that they’d never be able to please everyone). Some of the new features (robopacers, holo-replays, upcoming climb portal, etc.) certainly offer some new functionalities, but are only worthwhile if those are things that motivate you to use Zwift. There are even some things that are out of Zwift’s control that appeal to me, like being able to step off at whatever point I feel ‘done’ (no matter what my intentions were at the outset), and already be home, and also not having to put on sunscreen for every ride.
For me personally it is not having new roads, any new road gets old very quickly. What I would want is new and exciting ways to interact with the game. Something to take my focus back to the screen and make the hours fly by quickly. Games like Gold rush and Zwift Quest on Zwiftgps.com
Also things that can change the current roads, like wind or if you need to hold the optimal speed before entering a corner.
I used to be like you, hated the idea of indoor training but after years of freezing extremities, spills on ice etc… I’m content to class myself as a fair weather rider.
Scotland is just just another Makuri-like meh route.
As for the fair weather rider, I used to be one, then Zwift became so boring that I just got better kit so I could ride 12 months out of the year here in Canada.
Echoing what @Gerrie_Delport_ODZ suggested, when I find myself becoming bored of riding the same roads/routes on Zwift I gravitate toward events - races, group rides, the Zwift tours and fondos, etc. Even my most hated routes can be very fun and engaging when I’m pushing myself to the limit to try to not get dropped!
I’ve done TONS of group rides, events, etc. I’ve done races, but those just do not appeal to me at all. Events get old after a while. There are just so many Fondos and tours you can do before it gets real old. I think I’m just absolutely done. Everyone I know IRL that started Zwifting after me has already completely given up on it.
You could always try out one of the other virtual apps to see how you like that. I use FulGaz, in addition to Zwift. It is not interactive, like Zwift, but there are a large number of routes to ride, and they use actual video (instead of the ‘video game’ look), so I sort of feel like I have actually visited another part of the world. There are also new videos added regularly.
The things I don’t like about it are that many of the videos are short, and there aren’t a lot of ‘loop’ routes (to allow me to ride for as long as I want, without having to select another route), and that it isn’t interactive (even if there are other riders in some of the videos, you can only catch them - or be caught by them - if the videographer passes - or is passed by - them. Also a bit frustrating that most of the climbing routes end at the top of the climb: no freewheeling back down to the start!!
I could not agree more. After a good few years of being a super passionate Zwifter, I find it super boring these days and will do anything I can to ride outside instead.
The single thing I want the most from the development team is new roads. And especially new roads that include a new climb. We haven’t gotten a new major climb since the Mt Ventoux. How is it possible that Makuri doesn’t have a climb of any significant length?
I used to love the UCI world releases. Yorkshire is perfection. Richmond is super fun and Innsbruck has a cool city circuit for racing and a killer climb. Why oh why did the Glasgow/Scotland release have to include a totally gutted version of the world? The Men’s and Women’s route in real life includes a 144m climb on the final circuit. That was apparently too big for the modern Zwifter and we got this absurdity called the Sgurr. I’m sorry but if a 144m climb is too much for you and it ruins a world, you are doing the wrong sport. Honestly I wish Scotland had been added to Yorkshire. Think of the possibilities!
I don’t race much because I find the weight doping to be ridiculous. I still do all the multi-stage tours like Tour de Zwift or Tour of Watopia.
My biggest request would be PLEASE don’t forget about Watopia. Watopia is amazing and allows for really cool loops to be done. Expanding Watopia by a few kms is the best bang for the buck expansion that Zwift can do.
Either way - I canceled for the summer. For years I would stay subscribed just to support what the company was doing. After seeing them blow through €450m of investor money on a failed hardware division and barely any development that I care about, I don’t care enough to keep an active subscription that I am not using.
The biggest disappointment for me is the number of stand alone small worlds with no way of seemlessly going from one to the other.
Paris, scotland, innsbruck, richmond, etc are okay for like 30 to 45 minutes but then just repetitive and boring.
let me select a route just like you select an event then it ends your ride and ports you over to the new route. riding before an event in a different world before it starts is no different.
I’m not paid to ride my bike, I’m 100% fair weather riders outside now days. With that said I’m even questioning my weekend warrior status because I’m so bored or Zwift that I pick not to ride or lift over seeing a potentially new half arsed 10km loop or the same roads that I’ve seen since 2016 ish onwards.
I suppose a person’s interest here depends on perspective or necessity. I won’t know what my view will be 5 years on, because I’ve only really used Zwift since early 2022. My cycling is a mix of road and Zwift. Presently I have no desire to ride all the routes on Zwift. I’ve done routes flats, hills and mixed. The thing I need Zwift for is an environment that keeps me interested enough that working on my trainer doesn’t feel like work. So far it’s fit the bill.
In addition to my comment above, I have to add that most of what I do on Zwift is either a recovery ride, or a structured workout. To add to this, I have a GCN+ subscription, which provides more race coverage than I can possibly watch each year. So, I am generally watching some race while Zwifting. Combine this with a structured workout or recovery ride and the roads/terrain become unimportant. I just like that I can get in some good exercise at convenient times. Add in the occasional event, and I feel I’m getting my money’s worth.
I think new features take creativity. I would like to be able to read bicycle news feed on the right side of the screen. I am not interested in racing or winning, just not my approach to athletics. With feed comes advertising dollars, it is a very normal and healthy part of all businesses for those who opt in, and without financial performance, there is no mission for any company. I think there can be new features to the user interface while riding that offer users preferences. If they do not want to see 20 people’s wattages, but would rather see 5 people on course, and know something about those five people, that can be done with excellent programmers.
I like all the different environments. I use Zwift weekly just to keep riding. I prefer a variety of riding, mostly gravel biking on mountain bike single track. I think the platform needs additional features. I think a rehabilitation feature would be profitable. It would take work, and developing a mature network of providers, and delivery within the configuration of specialist and generalized needs, but that is a very important and neglected market.
