That’s a big assumption. Not everyone wants to win races simply because they have an in game feature that others don’t have access to. Zwift should aim to more accessible, not less, and adding an additional financial barrier to participation goes against that.
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Requiring someone to buy a new bike isn’t really a rational solution to someone who is upset about steering. So, I think the Sterzo is the one option that you can argue is “affordable” for people complaining about steering.
Is the Wahoo Kickr Steer vaporware?
If there’s a market for steering options, is the interface/protocals open that anyone could design and sell a device?
The Wahoo Kickr Steer just pivots the phone correct? That won’t steer in Zwift. I mean they could make that work, but that would take effort from Zwift to help sell Wahoo steering hardware, so not sure we’ll see that. It would be nice to see some extensibility, and keyboard hotkeys for steering though.
That’s what I’m getting at. Is it an open interface. Could any enterprising asian tech company (there a lot that make aftermarket gaming controllers) simply design a couple of small handlebar buttons for left and right that you push to move in either direction?
Zwift did say that the steering code would be made available to other manufacturers so I expect to see a number of options appearing over the next year or so. However, it would be foolish for anyone to consider designing something while Zwift Play is still in beta.
Interesting. So they made it available privately(?) to the bikes and companies that already have steering devices (Elite, etc)?
I don’t think we are going anywhere with this.
You seemingly don’t agree that there are also downsides and that you are over-stating the advantages.
We aren’t going to agree.
Hope you can still find ways to enjoy zwifting.
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Just buy a Sterzo. Cheaper, available worldwide, and IMHO a better experience for steering.
Zwift Play has some other interesting features. But mine are in a storage bin as I prefer the Sterzo sufficiently to forego the other slightly interesting features the Zwift Play offers.
Not quite sure what “steering code” means.
But presumably just a written spec on how the Zwift Play communicates over Bluetooth. I had a look and there does not appear to be anything that cannot be decoded and figured out in a few hours if you are familiar with GATT protocols. It was trivial to do a quick Python script to connect and start getting data back for button presses.
The Sterzo Bluetooth protocol was hacked several years ago. There is a GitHub project to build your own using a Raspberry PI if I recall.
just an aside as i’m generally OK with steering (needs some minor fixes maybe) but how do people sprint on those things? i pull on the bars super hard. i ended up nailing a couple of small strips of wood into my shed floor just to hold my normal wheel riser in place
I have Sterzo and love using it in Zwift as it feels more natural but I guess it will be useless if I purchase the Wahoo Move. I hope someone comes up with a fix to use with the Move or I’ll be left with only one option to continue using steering.
Quite interesting. Thanks!
So in a nutshell, an outside company would need to hack their way to develop an aftermarket controller? Anyone who already offers a steering capability (eg. Wahoo) was probably given the instruction manual by Zwift?
Looking at the headaches driven by trying to become a hardware company (half of the “features” in 1.48 are addressing Play problems, plus inability to figure out global distribution), maybe Zwift should consider opening up the code to others?
Agree, but Sterzo also selects direction at intersections.
So when following a RP and coming up to junctions, if you happen to be steering to keep the draft but in the wrong direction to the RP routing, you can accidentally turn off the route and need to teleport back. I was doing that routinely until I discovered the issue. Now it happens less often because I’m very aware of it, but occasionally when I’m very focused on the drafting. I haven’t found a foolproof solution yet.
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For steering Sterzo is equivalent to Zwift Play (IMHO better.)
Zwift Play offers some other functions that have nothing to do with steering. But if I recall correctly the complaint was about the extraordinary benefit steering confers in races, not the dubious pleasure of doing the send everyone a ride on etc.
Of course, depending on your setup, the one button to do a power-up perhaps counts as a race benefit as well.
Don’t get me wrong, I own both a Sterzo and Zwift Play, and hope that Zwift does allow both to be used just so I CAN get the additional functions that the Zwift Play offers. But personally, I prefer Sterzo for steering. And pretty much anyone can get Sterzo at a lower price point. So IF you want steering for racing that is an option if you can’t afford or don’t live where you can buy a Zwift Play.
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Interesting, I have been caught out by that, thought it might be a bug. So it appears to be a bug, or possibly a feature, but with steering!
Thanks, I’ll pay more attention when using pace partners at intersections 
Steering give an advantage. It cost from 50$ (Sterzo) to 100$ (Zwit Play). IMHO having a fan give a greater adavantage It’s often more expensive. Having a rocker plate also give an advantage and it’s much more expensive. Having a cool and fresh pain cave give an advantage too… S4Z also give an important advantage…
Like IRL, the material give you an advantage. Unless you make it compulsory for all of us to have exactly the same set up, unfair competition will remain. But none of these factors give you a decisive advantage in every race. The only real problem is HT which give an “optimistic” evaluation of watts (i am not speaking about cheaters).
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It’s true that better equipment gives you an advantage IRL but that’s not the point. Zwift racing is not IRL racing and it can be more inclusive and accessible than IRL racing. Before steering, any setup with an accurate trainer was about the same (with some minor differences). As others have said, the issue isn’t that there is some advantage, it’s that there is a decisive advantage in certain situations. If Zwift fixed the pack dynamics so that users without steering can follow the draft and lines of those with steering, it would go a long way to level playing field. Until then, there really should be an asterisk beside any win using steering.
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Then everyone should have to ride the exact same bike and tires, while we’re at it, also take away powerups.
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