You would think this would be the case, that it’s basically a frame that has the Zwift Play controllers built in. Is it not?
But, how much utility can you get with a smart trainer attached that you can’t shift at all? I guess you could relegate usage to erg based workouts and leave the chain on one of the trainer cassette’s gears.
It comes down to the fact that Zwift has chosen to implement a virtual gearing solution that requires specific firmware adaptations and that currently favours their own hardware and that of one of their partners. It could all have been so different/cheaper/more open.
I think he was asking though why (if this is true?) that the steering, braking, and any of the other controls, aside from virtual shifting, don’t work.
That’s right. As I said. When I bought it I was totally aware of the fact that I will have to wait for the (already announced) firmware update for my “old” elite direto xr which is supposed to be published within the next couple of months.
In the meantime I am happy with ERG mode and workouts. I still don’t get why it shouldn’t be possible to use the controllers without the shifting feature.
I agree that you should have access to the controllers, but if/when that firmware update is available to you is still unknown. It could easily be next year. The experience of Wahoo Kickr V5 owners was that Wahoo first said an update was coming and then said it will never come. Signs are looking positive that the Direto XR will not get that kind of shabby treatment but there has been no release date announced, just that it’s coming soon, coming this winter, etc. Personally if I were in your situation I would return it and buy it again when you can use it.
I’m having the same problems as everybody on there it sounds like, but nobody ever really answers the question of how do I fix it at least not in English. Can anybody explain this to me simply mind keeps reading no signal.
I’m about ready to send mine back. I’ve had enough and their technical support is terrible.
I’ve tried four different iPads. Had a friend bring over his kicker core. Nothing seems to help shut off everything 100 times and restarted it re-download the apps at least 10 times.
Hi @Kent_Gutches welcome to Zwift forums.
Please check which generation of Wahoo KICKR you own. Here’s how you can identify which model you own on Wahoo’s support site.
Virtual Shifting is supported on KICKR v6, KICKR Core and KICKR Move.
Additionally, those specific models must have firmware updates that support virtual shifting.
If your trainer’s firmware does not support virtual shifting - you will not be able to pair the Zwift Ride controllers. By all means contact Zwift support to return your Ride smart frame if this is the case for you.
Yes, I believe mine is the 2018 V4 kicker does that work on the Zwift ride?
I’m really frustrated. I’ve been working on this for several days. Thank you very much for taking the time to help me out.
The V4 is not compatible with virtual shifting
Thank you very much, Paul. I’ve been Battling this for a week finally the answer.
I’ve been having the very same issue with pairing the controllers on my new Zwift Ride. I have a Kickr v6, and discovered that the problem was actually just the Kickr needing the latest firmware update done through the Wahoo app. After doing so the pairing worked just as it should.
Worked on the first ride straight out of the box. On the next ride I had lots of controller dropouts where I couldn’t shift or use the controls consistently. Then same issue with the open box that can’t be selected and no virtual shifting at all. Suspecting it’s because I have the wahoo kicker core connected through ANT and not Bluetooth. Had serious problems with drop outs on Bluetooth with my last kicker (V1). Switched to ANT (on an “extension” USB cable) and it worked consistently without a single bdropout for 5 years straight. To bad everything except the controllers can be connected through ANT.
Virtual shifting requires pairing the trainer via Bluetooth. If your Bluetooth connection is unreliable we should talk about fixing that.
Hey Zwift Ride owners on PC!
Have you experienced poor bluetooth (BLE) connection to the Zwift Ride and trainer when using the motherboard (mobo) BLE signal?
This is a rather common fact as the mobo BLE is used predominately for input and media devices with close range of the PC. However, it does not have strong signal strength to deliver for bike trainers etc.
Hence, the current solution is getting the trainer to use Zwift Companion App as a bridge to Zwift.
Having received my inexpensive BLE version 5.4 dongle from Aliexpress (search for it), I immediately disabled the mobo BLE and plugged in the new device. The driver is automatically installed and ready to connect.
From within Zwift, I could connect the Zwift Ride and Wahoo KicKr Core directly to PC BLE, dispensed with the “pairing with phone” option. The Play controllers worked and the trainer FTMS/FE-C worked as expected. Happy days so try it if you have the same problem.
Ride On!
The issue that is not being stated directly (although it’s in the FAQ) is that you CANNOT pair your trainer (power, cadence, resistance) via ANT+ and the Zwift Ride over bluetooth. Everything must be over bluetooth, together, totally negating the fact that the trainer (that Zwift sells alongside their bikes) has fully functional ANT+ – the industry standard protocol – that you cannot use.
I don’t understand why, and I really am not a fan of the stability of bluetooth over ANT+. Yesterday my resistance stopped responding, meaning no matter how much I shifted the gear would change on screen but the trainer didn’t respond at all. A hard shutdown, a spindown and a restart, fixed the issue.
I tried leaving the trainer on ANT+ and then pairing Zwift Ride over the Companion App. Nope!!
It’d be really nice if Zwift were honest and transparent in that you can only use Bluetooth for EVERYTHING, despite having the industry standard ANT+ connection available to your trainer.
It’d be even better if Zwift gave a technical explanation for why this is so.
It’d be great if the Zwift Ride controller had a direct USB connection to the computer especially given that we can’t shift if there is an issue, and there are tons of issues. Though it’s technically not Zwift’s fault if my bluetooth drops out, it becomes Zwift’s fault if you’ve precluded me from using ANT+ and precluded me from connecting directly to my PC via a hard cable that would never have any of these issues and would allow PC/Mac users to circumvent the “everything must be bluetooth” limitation.
It’d also be great if you Zwift didn’t bury product reviews such that others can be warned. I reallly like the Zwift bike. It’s incredible with the exception of the most important piece, the Zwift Ride pairing.
Finally, it’d be best if Zwift popped up appropriate error messages instead of having a checkbox that becomes mysteriously unclickable. It’s really inexcusable imo. I am a programmer and I can tell you with 99.99999% certainty that there is logic that dictates whether that checkbox is clickable, all you’d have to do is eject a thoughtful message when the “is checkbox clickable” is false. “Dear beloved user who we cared about enough to craft this message, you have an incompatible mix of ANT+ and Bluetooth, connect ALL devices via Bluetooth while we work on allowing ANT+/Bluetooth mix and a hard USB cable in the future. Thank you for spending thousands of dollars with us!”
Loyal customer here, and Zwift enthusiast, generally very easy to satisfy and I’m willing to put up with a lot of BS to be able to train/race indoors, but it’s quite clear that Zwift’s priorities and internal processes are suspect.
The virtual shifting feature is a Bluetooth enhancement so I don’t think this can be resolved that way, but if you want to talk about achieving stable Bluetooth performance we could go that way with the discussion instead.
Hi Paul, just got my zwift ride before xmas but still no luck getting the controls to work up until now.
I have a kickr v6 trainer, all firmwares are updated. Im able to see and connect the handle bar control via Z-companion. But I am unable to select the controls when in Zwift app.
I did this on android phone, also on windows laptop, macbook pro laptop, and still no luck. Pleade advise.
Thanks in advance.
When you check the trainer firmware in the Wahoo app, is it 5.4.29?
So you’re saying the controllers connect fine if you pair via Companion.
When you say you can’t select the controls when in Zwift app, do you mean you can’t pair them if you’re doing so directly to the Zwift game app and not via Companion? Or do you mean they’re paired via Companion but the buttons on the controls don’t work in-game? Or something else?
