I just signed up to post here to ask everyone’s advice on getting into cycling and Zwift. Please forgive my ignorance/lack of knowledge.
I’m a 27 year old male with not a lot of free time. I’m 6’ tall and 190 lbs and want to try to become more active and get into shape. I need to spend a lot of time around the house and came across Zwift on youtube. After watching a few videos I really enjoyed the idea of cycling mixed with the visuals and keeping track of everything that Zwift does all while doing it at home. Here’s the thing, I have no idea how proper cycling works.
I have toured the website and done a bit of research, but I’m very hesitant as I have no one I know who cycles, and therefore can’t really ask anyone, but figured I’d reach out here.
I have a 29" 21 Speed “Mountain Bike” (Very Cheap) that I use to tour around town the odd time. After looking at the Zwift site, I was looking at just the basic package with the Tacx Vortex. Apparently I can use my bike with it (would swap the rear wheel out to a road/trainer tire) but at the moment not sure of the details.
I guess the purpose of me posting is to ask, is it worth it? I don’t want to spend too much money, but due to my inexperience I don’t know exactly what can be done or if it’s worth it. Should I just look at saving up and getting a road bike just for Zwift, or can my cheapo mountain bike work with a different rear wheel.
Once again I apologize for my lack of knowledge. This seems like a really great program and I just want to see if it’s something I can get into without spending a ton of money.
Since Zwift is hardware agnostic, we don’t recommend one particular equipment brand or model, however, we do have a list of equipment we support on our website.
We also have a selection of supported trainers in the Zwift Shop, as well. If none of those are quite what you’re looking for, you may want to check out DC Rainmaker’s trainer reviews.
With that being said, if you’re going to use a PC, please note that using Native BLE is currently in beta for Zwift on Windows. Instead, you’d want to use the Zwift Companion app BLE bridge, or an ANT+ dongle to pair. Here’s more information on pairing to Zwift using BLE, and more information on ANT+ support.
I hope this helps point you in the right direction. If you need additional help along the way, please submit a support ticket and we’d be glad to assist you!
You can always look for used equipment in your area (facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc.) just make sure the trainer is supported by Zwift. Used road bikes are abundant as well if you want to switch out the mountain bike. Go to your local bike shop and tell them what you are looking to do, they might have other resources for you to check out.
The forums are a great place for information, tips, tricks, and troubleshooting so visit often and don’t be afraid to ask questions!
I bit the bullet and ordered the basic kit with the Tacx Vortex and was able to find a used road bike for cheap.
Can anyone recommend any work outs or how to get started. I’ve been watching pretty much every youtube video I can find but if anyone has anything specific I can take a look at I’d be thankful!
Welcome To Zwift, Dave!
Been biking most my life but I’m a newbie to zwift as well, just jump in and start riding. It can only benefit you to pick one of the “Basic Training Plans” and work/build up from there. One bit of advice I would offer is take your time and be patient with cycling, gains come after you put in a lot of work, over time, usually years. Don’t let that discourage you, pick what interests you and go for it! Zwifting has changed my biking life, I do it far more now than ever, lots of good people from all over the world here to help you out. Good luck Zwifting!
