so I’m going to start this out and say I don’t do group rides or races on Zwift, I’M slow and unfit and that is ok, I’m not competitive at all in bicycling but i would like to unlock the kits without having it to be a group ride? why can’t I ride the same route at my own pace and get the same kits?
Which kits specifically? They’re not all event unlocks. Loads are level unlocks.
You can do a group ride at your own pace, just let the guys racing go off the front and ride at your pace.
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Some group ride or event kits get unlocked even if you just ride a little bit and don’t finish, iirc.
Most of the unlocked kits you get from group rides are managed by the club that operates the ride, and Zwift doesn’t interfere in the process the club has for granting the kit. If you join a club, the club manager can ask Zwift to unlock the kit for you.
Other ideas for easily getting various kits:
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If you have a PC or Mac to run Zwift (required for keyboard shortcuts) you can peruse this gallery of jerseys and pick from the ones that say “Code”
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You can review the events that offer jersey unlocks and choose from the ones that match your pace. Most of these rides are not competitive so it’s just a matter of understanding your preferred pace and choosing accordingly. Most group rides can be joined up to 30 minutes late and you’ll still get the kit, so that might be a way to limit your effort.
IHMO it doesn’t matter if you’re slow. Join whatever event/race you wish, and ride at your pace.
You are not on Zwift to impress anyone, and neither am I.
Starting an event sure as heck beats sitting on a couch.
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Lots of kit unlock rides are banded. All you need to do, keep the pedals turning.
(10 watts is all the effort you need to put in)
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Tbh the only kit I care about is the imperial century. Maybe if everesting will earn a kit I’ll try and get that one too
Correct opinion 
One nice unlock was this one:
Cannot be unlocked anymore. The bike was slow…
You still see people using that kit in Zwift, so it obviously has a lot of value to people. I didn’t do those events. But I’ve got IRL Haute Route kit (Mavic, Santini and Le Col) from the IRL events.
Only thing I dislike is when events with special unlocks aren’t available for everyone in the world to possibly get without quitting their day job. (Most recent being the Canyon SRAM Zondacrypto event just the other day).
Meanwhile, I’d still love to get the Abus Gamechanger helmet, but there’s… no way to get it.
I wonder how many items exist in Zwift now that nobody has the ability to unlock, that list must be quite large now.
I wouldn’t be opposed to Zwift putting some of these items in the drop garage for people to ‘buy’ with drops, say a month or two after the event; so items aren’t lost to the void of time.
(Perhaps not EVERYTHING, but… things that make sense, like the Gamechanger helmet, or that Colnago Chris shared, for example)
I didn’t even know about that one. Any more events or it’s just gone forever?
Surely these could be promoted a lot more - like on the forums for instance.
Some events are never in my time zone so I’ll never be unlocking the kit associated with them.
I guess I need to work out setting up a bot to ride those events slowly for the unlocks then scrap the ride afterwards.
I think it’s gone forever. I don’t even remember how I found out about it to be honest. Maybe by one of the emails?
I tried cheating it by loading up on my phone while at work and joining it without any sensors paired… sadly I did not get it 
Here was the event:
1:30am time is when I’m sleeping, certainly not riding on Zwift.
I suspect that ride didn’t offer a kit unlock. 99%+ of the “pro” rides don’t. The event doesn’t say it will unlock it.
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Ahh, reading it now again you may be correct. I likely misinterpreted as “new kit ride” as a ride where the kit is enabled for the group ride, but not an unlock.
Oops! Probably explains a few things haha.
I still stand by my wishes for one day some of the outdated stuff gets chucked into a drop shop, old bikes, helmets, etc.
I know that ride Eric and James held (did they already end it??), James was even doing some of the unlocks from the big spin from last year.
Stuff like that, I can’t see why it can’t be on the dropshop these days (like the previous Big Spin bike, and wheels, etc., a year later)
It’s fun for sure when you get stuff other people don’t have, but, that doesn’t last forever.
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If I go out of my way (change my schedule, take a day off, miss my weekly group ride, Whatever) or it could have been just by chance. To get a kit, helmet, whatever (my award for doing something).
I would be totally pissed, if it was available to everyone, a couple months later, for a few drops.
That applies to anything in life. If you make it easy for anyone to obtain. The said prize or award, is extremely devalued. JMO
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Some rides are just badly scheduled for people in different time zones.
Anything with unlocks should have ample opportunities for everyone to be able to do the ride and a filter inside the Zwift application to show all events have an unlock available would also work well.
These are simple obvious things to do going forward.
Sure; I get how feels when someone like James waives his magic wand around and gives it to folks who can join HIS group ride that was in the middle of the day in the middle of the week.
But I’d rather see folks using items out in the wild than being the only one…
Point is, at some point things will disappear from being public because they won’t be accessible anymore because they haven’t been unlocks for literal ages.
Do you think the last person on an Atomic Cruiser in Zwift will be happy or mad the day they see it show up to buy in the drop shop, and folks around them start using it?
IMO if an entire year has passed, and the item is no longer available… there’s zero reason for it to be tucked away forever, despite the file and textures etc. still remaining on everyone’s installation device.
Unlocks from the James and Eric Ride so far for anyone curious:
(It appears the ride is still ongoing)
Pizza Socks (I think this was a one day event from years ago)
Gravel Party Jersey (Level 87)
Out of This World Socks (Level 93)
Specialized Mixtape Jersey (event only 2019)
Zwift Head Band (Level 3 unlock?)
Union Jack Bucket Hat (Big Spin 2024)
Watch The Femmes 2023 Cap
Tour de Zwift 2022 Jersey
Roval Alpinist CLX (that’s for this week)
So yeah, meanwhile, just saying, some of those like the Union Jack Bucket hat which was from the Big Spin last year are giveaways James is doing on a weekly ride at random.
Frustrated yet? That an employee is just doing a randomizer of item giveaways?
Or again… how about this stuff just go into the Drop Shop where everyone has access to it; instead of being forced to quit their job in FOMO of digital assets.
My point stands.
My take is I personally would rather see more stuff out and about, than finding it in old posts on Zwift Insider about an event from 10 years ago.
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I didn’t know their events had exclusive unlocks, that hardly seems fair to the hundreds of event organizers that will never be given that option to entice people to their rides.