Having read a few articles on the subject, I’ve decided to use a MTB for TDZ stage 7 in the jungle later this week, which will be my first Zwift session on anything other than a road bike. Had I got 60,000 more drops in the bank I could have afforded, and would have bought, the Specialized S Works Epic. Obviously I have the Zwift MTB, and could afford the Scott Spark RC or the Canyon Lux, but would I really feel the difference between the first one and the latter two? If the answer to that is yes, then is there much difference between the Spark and the Lux? Or, for the long term benefit, would I be better advised to just do stage 7 on the Zwift bike and buy the Spesh in a few days when I have sufficient drops?
According to one of the articles that I read (Zwift Insider iirc), gravel bikes aren’t anywhere near as close to MTB performance on a fully off road course as you might hope or expect.
From what I remember reading the zwiftinsider article, there is hardly any difference in speed around the jungle for the Specialized, Canyon, or the Scott, there is basically no advantage to either of them.
Save your Drops and stick with the Zwift MTB. You won’t notice any difference at all, so only get a different MTB is you want it for aesthetic purposes.
3 seconds, you’re right, logically best to save them, but with a tron unlock due next week I’ll have no use of drops soon anyway, so maybe I’ll just get one to look the part. As I have more mountain bikes than road bikes IRL, it doesn’t feel right not having one.
The summary of the ZwiftInsider tests: a lap of Jungle Circuit = 15:00 on the best road bike, 14:11 on the gravel bike, and 13:56 to 13:58 on the various MTBs. Clear choice… pick the MTB you have/like.
Fair comments Steve and Ian. Based on the article that David linked to, it is probably a waste of drops as I’m not going to notice those 3 seconds (and I’m certainly not going to be riding at 300 watts for a quarter of an hour).
