Hey all, new to Zwift, fat bloke in my 50’s trying to be less fat and more fit.
I have just started, am now level 9, with 600k drops saved, on the stock steel bike and wheels.
I have read loads on what to look at for a reasonably optimal upgrade route, but the issue is all the recent changes have essentially invalidated all the advice I can find.
The insider article shows an awesome set of wheels, the Mavic Cosmic Ultimate UST, unlocking at level 6 and costing 38,400 drops, but they now don’t unlock until level 18 and 525k drops.
The Canyon Aeroad 2024 unlocks at level 10 for 1.1 mill drops. will be unlocked probably on my next ride, won’t have the drops for a while.
My dilemma seems to be, do I just keep plugging along with the Zwift steel frame and ally wheels and keep saving, or do i accept i am not getting a decent frame and wheels soon, and buy something that will probably wipe out my drops balance, like the Zwift Aero frame for 250K drops with Shimano C40’s for 300K drops?
Cheaper option would be Zwift Carbon frame for 50K drops with Zwift 32mm carbon wheels for 100K drops.
I don’t think they are huge upgrades but every little helps?
Or does none of it really matter and I am slow and cant climb because I am heavy and not that powerful at the moment?
I’d say just keep pedaling on the Zwift bike. Make sure you have the everest challenge selected to work towards the tron bike. None of the seconds you could gain from a top level frame and wheel really matter. Especially if you arent racing. And lots of races have started to neutralize equipment now due to rampant “cheating” to get upgrades.
As it’s looks with the new Zwift features and bike upgrades, it’s easier for a new Zwift riders now to upgrade effectively from the start;
– While doing Tron bike challenge upgrade 3 zwift bikes (any of them, what ever you prefer, you will not use them later, probably at all…)
– by the time you’ll get 3 Zwift bikes fully upgraded, you should get the Tron - start riding it and upgrading;
– at lvl 30 you could get Specialized Aethos S-Works bike - at the moment it’s the best climbing bike - use it for any big climbs to upgrade it
– at lvl 40 you could get sl8 bike, best all arounder, but by that time you’ll have probably Tron bike with at least 1 upgrade,so it will be still faster than sl8
fully upgraded SL8 + Aethos + another Specialized bike will get you Halo Project 74 - if you would like to go this path
From LVL40 and on, your own decision, if you would like to go first and fully upgrade Tron , or go for another Halo bike
or, wait till lvl 12, buy Cannondale Synapse, fully upgrade it with 2 other Cannondale bikes and go for Halo Roller Blade
