What to spend drops on?

General Discussion
1

No doubt it probably gets asked time and time again, so I am sorry for the long time zwifters.

I’m level 13, just over half way towards the Tron bike.

I’ve unlocked the Trek Emonda and purchased the Specialized Tarmac Pro. Only other bikes are the basic Trek ones.

Wheels wise I have the ENVE SES 3.4 (IRC) the DT Swiss ARC 1100 dicut 62 and today I won the lightweight meilenstein wheels.

I’ve just been climbing the Alpe for the wheels and associated meters, but having got the wheels today I can give it a break and switch to the Uber Pretzel with the really steep hill.

I was going to by the Canyon Aeroad but just wonder if it’s worth waiting for new bikes (2021/22) to be added?

I have 901k drops.

Any help appreciated. I’m 6"4 and 93kg so I’m never going to be the fastest zwifter (unless I chop my legs off and lose like 30kg).

Cheers

Adam

2

As usual, Zwift Insider to the rescue:

I think the drops you accumulate by any given level should be plenty for the “must buy” items plus a few more just for style. And yeah, the Aeroad is a “must buy” item.

3 Likes
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The key is to only buy what you really need or want. The garage gets full of stuff you’ll never use if you don’t manage your purchases. DAMHIK…

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Yes, this is another reason I’m questioning the canyon purchase.

I’m just climbing Alpe and Uber Pretzel at the moment for the Tron bike (which I believe is the best all-round). Will I need the canyon once I have it?

I now have some of the lightest frames and wheels for my level, but zwift doesn’t like riders my height and weight so I don’t really notice any difference lol.

5

Not according to Zwift Insider: “Scott Addict RC : strongest all-arounder (852,000 Drops, level 33).”

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I wish you could gift other riders things (birthdays christmas etc) using your drops, i have millions of the things and really don’t care about wheels or frames or anything so they just keep adding up for seemingly no reason.

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@Happy_Slugger
All of the above is great information and advice, IMO. The Zwift Insider reference articles are by far the best source of useful information about bikes and wheels in this ‘game’, and to which I return constantly. Eric Schlange does great work there for all of us avid zwifters trying to eke the most out of our experience.

Apologies in advance for the long post, but here’s my personal perspective, for what it’s worth.

I started using Zwift in April 2019 – still a newbie compared to many here – but having reached level 44 and acquired a lot of virtual bikes and wheels, I have to admit that it’s best to not overthink any of this. (Which doesn’t come naturally to me, I assure you.)

In the time I’ve been on the platform, a large number of bikes and wheels have been added, quite regularly, to what was then the recently launched Drop Shop (Feb 2019). Not infrequently, these additions have superseded previous ‘greatest ever’ or ‘must buy’ frames or wheels, for which I’d saved up. Some of these new-and-better items have also been unlockable at lower levels than the previous holy grail items, which is a bit disconcerting if you’ve already bought the previous must-have. :neutral_face: :roll_eyes:
But we accumulate drops very quickly and can soon afford more stuff. (And it’s not as if we can earn interest on them by saving them up!)

The thing is, when you get down to it, the difference in performance between what is already available to you now and the absolute best-in-category is really very small. Unless you’re trying to shave a few seconds off PBs or win highly competitive races, it doesn’t matter.

Looking back, I have enjoyed far more the act of working towards acquiring a bike (especially the Tron, like you are now) or wheels – having that carrot dangling in front of me – than actually having and using them. Half of the things in my virtual garage have never even been taken for a spin!

I now find it a little sad that there are hardly any shiny new things left for me to look forward to getting. In that respect, I reckon that @Chris_Holton has the healthiest attitude: it’s the riding that counts. :+1:
But more power to you in getting your Tron in the meantime, Adam! :smiley:

8 Likes
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Best thing would be to save your drops for another few months because the Scott Addict will inevitably be nerfed and go back to middle of pack performance.

Having too many items in your virtual garage makes it difficult to change between them on Apple TV.

9

Thanks everyone.

Yes I’m not going to be racing on here anytime soon, my body doesn’t fit the zwift code for speed lol.

Think I’ll just keep using the Specialized bike I have with my new lightweight wheels, and just keep climbing the Uber Pretzel and drop in the Alpe now and then.

I’m only level 13 so some of the higher bikes like the above mentioned Scott are of no use to me anyway. Besides I’ll only get over taken by someone smaller and lighter on lesser equipment anyway :rofl:

2 Likes
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Yeah, tbh I prefer the approach of some other platform(s) where bike choice is only stylistic and has no impact on performance. I’m level 42 and I don’t think I have even half the “must buy” frames. I used to use the Tron everywhere but since the pack dynamics changes last spring, I switched to the Aeroad just to get visual feedback on drafting.

(Rant about people concerned about IRL “marginal gains” at average speeds well below 30 km/h and upgrading their old crabon wheels to new crabon wheels accordingly and what else goes here.)

3 Likes
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Exactly So! :rofl: