I’m currently level 48 with about 1.3 M in drops. A while ago, I accidentally bought the wrong Pinarello frame and ended up with the Dogma 2021 instead of the faster option I was aiming for. I have a few other frames too, though nothing super notable right now — a Specialized Venge S-Works 2019, a Trek Émonda (which I mainly use for climbing events), and the Uranium Nuclear (which used to be my favorite).
For wheels, I ride the ENVE SES 4.5 PRO and DT Swiss.
My question is: once I hit ~1.75 M drops, should I go ahead and get the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 frame, or would I be better off upgrading some of my current frames/wheels first?
Apologies if this is the wrong forum—let me know if I should move it elsewhere. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Are you on a path to get one of the Halo bikes? Is so, you need to pick one the brands that will have a Halo bike and start upgrading those. For more info about Halo Bikes check out this article at Zwiftinsder. All About Halo Bikes in Zwift | Zwift Insider
Dave, Yeah, get your Tron bike it is a Zwift milestone for sure. Earning a Halo bike is a relatively new challenge but one you shouldn’t lose sight of. Checking in on Zwift Insider is a good way to keep up with the ever developing landscape that is called Zwift.
I’ve recently acquired the Specialized concept bike after many, many kms , upgrades, spent drops etc. The one thing I have found out is that the bikes used don’t make a single bit of difference to any ride I’m on, not one. There’s doesn’t seem to be any boost in speed or performance in general & to be fair I wasn’t expecting any, having set myself the target of getting three bikes of the same make, upgrading them all 5 times & using millions of drops to pay for the upgrades, then start accumulating the 10million required for the concept bike. The reward is seeing the back end of the bike that could be anything, but I do have a light now when it gets dark, so there’s that. Oh, and the other reward? The chance to upgrade the bike 5 times, again, with the first available after 550kms! Lovely.
Earn the Tron. Get the SL8 and upgrade. Then upgrade three Zwift bikes to start the Tron upgrade (where I am at…800KM to go for #2). HALO bikes have no real interest to me.
This will keep you busy for a couple of years. Make sure any outdoor rides count. I did a bike tour across Missouri (Katy Trail) and that got me most of the SL8 upgrades.
Thanks, then I am all set, as I already connected my wahoo account with Zwift. Too bad there is no way to „connect“ with STRAVA in order to also include rides I tracked with the app as opposed to the wahoo.
I manually upload outdoor rides from my Lezyne Super Pro head unit to Garmin and these get uploaded to Zwift, having paired Zwift to my Connect account (mainly used to play with their maps for route ideas).
Totally agree with this plan since you don’t have the Canyon Aeroad 2024 already fully upgraded. The Tron bike challenge happens independently of whatever bike you are riding, so you might as well double up. The S-works SL8 is the best overall bike in the game when fully upgraded, so if you are going to do any racing at all, you want that. They only change you might make is working on the Aethos before the Cadex if you still need more elevation to unlock the Tron after fully upgrading the SL8, again double up on your efforts.
Also, look at Zwift Insider for the best wheel options, probably start with the ENVE 4.5’s(?) as they are the only 4 star Aero/weight wheels in the game and the best overall, then get the DT Swiss wheels if you want.
All I can say is Pacer rides will become your friends since you are going to need lots of drops. Find one that is a good Z2 pace for you, find a good movie or TV series and cruise along for 2-3hrs for a nice long enduro ride.
Yeah I guess that’s a way to do it, but in general just uploading normal outdoor rides (not running Zwift at the same time as the outdoor ride) will get you XP but no distance towards upgrades.
I don’t know, I didn’t think there was any “spirit” for bike upgrades given all the 3-4 hour rides done in the early days at 70km/h average speed teleporting to the top of Ventop, coast down, teleport, coast down, etc.
Yes, that’s blocked now, but IMO if you were running Zwift on a phone, paired the power meter from your real bike and rode outside 3-4 hours, that’s a lot more honest, you are at least riding and putting in the effort.
Mind you people still do the teleport to the top of mountains and coast, I watched one of the “regulars” do that yesterday. For what purpose it is done I don’t know, maybe it’s important to have 80,000km in a year.