Is this increase a hint for some big future updates coming soon because some features I really want are rowing and custom maps.
Putting one word in a paragraph in italics isnāt enough to convey sarcasm. So nobody is wrong to think that what you type is what you actually mean.
Regardless of my obviously unskilled attempt at humor and lightheartedness, this appears to not be the case of someone thinking I meant what I typed, but rather a case if someone thinking I meant something I didnāt type or say. So please donāt attribute to me, and letās please not argue about, something I never even said, ok?! Cheers!
I used a Peloton for a few years. It has a lot going for it, but one thing that it missed was the ability to simulate āreal terrainā. The original bike was a mess of inconsistency and mystery. There was no way to calibrate them to any standard so bikes at the studio and individual bikes would vary by quite a bit. My bike was odd. After hearing about the calibration issue, I got their kit and set out to recalibrate it, and went into a dark place. The bike got noticeably harder and I had to recalibrate it twice more to get it even close to where it was. I feel that calibration issue allowed for people to have āhotā bikes and always appear super-human on their ride leaderboards.
So I started looking for trainers and a better system, and ended up here, and TR with a hysterically loud H2, and felt like I arrived at nirvana. The bike, MY bike was torturing me and holding me accountable in a way never felt before.
That said, the new Peloton bike is a lot more accurate and calibrates itself and also is capable of adjusting the resistance along with their rides as opposed to the rider cranking a knob. Quite an improvement. So donāt count Peloton out, I hope it survives. Itās for a certain person. And they have brutal rides just as capable of causing suffering as any other system. And if it gets people into riding outdoors (or calming the f down), isnāt that a good thing?
And they raised their prices on almost everything.
Back to the subject, Zwift should rewrite the app to fix the issues, but thatās not likely to happen, and if it did, would be really expensive. Plus donāt people ride for the UI glitches? The flying riders, the wheels riding through in concrete, the wheels sunk in the asphalt, the bystanders walking stiffly, the gaps in the pavement, the trees growing out of buildings, etc? (JK)
Itās the punishment that we all come for, right?
Do they need to raise prices? Only they can answer that. As long as they are up front and reasonable, it will be received well. Iāve tried other apps, even ones with āreal videoā, and have been disappointed. Riding in a cartoon world sounds silly to outsiders, but it works really rather well.
For sure, I just think that there is a sort of person who will like Zwift and absolutely not be able to stand Peloton. Not that the workouts arenāt good, not that the equipment isnāt good. Itās the presentationāthat super-hyped āweāre all in this togetherā flashing lights and loud music sort of vibe (one commercial a couple of years ago featured one of the workout leaders singing along with the musicā¦thatās a big nope for me) is in my experience very polarizing. But itās also true that people who like Peloton for that sort of thing probably wonāt like Zwift as much.
Some people want big loud group workouts, thatās their jam. Thatās fine, do what works for you
I was on vaca and ran into a Soul Cycle that was open and had a class going on. I was horrified. The loud music, the dark room, the yelling and sweating andā¦ Reminded me of the Matrix movie āgroup dance thingā.
Not for me. Nope. Hell NO!!
Mat Wilpers and Christine DāErcole were Peloton dungeon masters. I have actually setup a few of their workouts based on their workouts from followers. I think one of their instructors is actually following me on Zwift. Itās all goodā¦
Peloton is stuck in the position of having to appeal to a much wider array of people, and that got them into some controversy while I was still riding them. āNaughty wordsā. I heard one instructor got in trouble for just saying āIf I canāt say it, yāall should be able to. Shout it to the ceiling. Itāll feel so much betterā. If you arenāt swearing even a little, you arenāt working hard enough.
Personally I donāt use the full features of zwift as it is. I just enjoy this as my cardio workout and am not an avid rider. Maybe 1-2 hours a week when working full time. So any price hike will make me leave the platform. If they donāt introduce a cheaper version for those of us not wanting the full experience I will ride elsewhere.
If they did not waste millions developing products they never brought to market they would be in a better position financially. They fell for the pandemic pump and over invested in a future that was not sustainable due to shutdowns ending and people going back to normal patterns. Itās not for us to pay for there poor spending choices and short sightedness. Take the loss and move on with a better more responsible plan or get sold to someone that will. Raising prices may or may not work out for them at this point but i for one wonāt continue to support a company that has proven for years they canāt make a profit.
The folks who set zwiftās prices five years ago must have done an amazing job. There seems to be a huge number of people who are paying now, but wonāt pay one penny more!
Well, if youāre not using much of the features then moving to another platform (or none at all) makes sense.
I wonder if that could possibly be due to disposable income dropping massively, Zwift subs not being essential, inflation going mad at least in the UK and inflation matching wage increases not happening?
Fair point!
I wouldnāt think that it would be about money theyāve lost on other venturesāthe Zwift bike, for example. Spending money unwisely is a different issue from profitāone is what youāre doing with the money you have, the other is whether money is coming in from the product or not. If Zwift was profitable as an operation, it would still be turning a profit even if a bunch of that money got thrown away.
Absolute disconnect with reality, Zwift leadership has never understood what users want but delivered but no one askedā¦ same thing was said when prices went from 10 to 15 bucksā¦ the platform hasnāt changed in 5 years!
Thatās true, I know the wages of a lot of people arenāt increasing,but their costs of living are going up so expenses like Zwift, gym memberships or others like that will probably get chopped to focus on things like mortgage repayments, etc.
In my country people are having huge increases in the cost of mortgage repayments.
In a way itās a little like Porsche in the early 90s, spent money to develop an entire 989 then didnāt sell it!
Though maybe not quite as desperate as Zwift isnāt hanging on by its fingernails yet.
Thatās the thing I hate about Peleton. All vids or images of it show some instructor doing cringeworthy poses on the bike. Iām more about āget on with it, get the workout done, stop messing aboutā.
I see more and more Strava friends switching to Rouby or leaving Zwift (indoor training) for outdoor ride only;
For me, the riding feel in Zwift hasnāt changed since 2018ā¦ when I started using TrainingRoad. I came back a few years later, same old same oldā¦ Zwift does do anything outstanding, I wouldnāt say I love Zwift, but overall it is just a bit above everyone elseā¦ Iāll stick to it regardless of the price until I find an alternative -which I am always actively searching LOL
I think it has changed, but, new worlds and the main screen aside, many of those changes have been in the support of racing/time trials, or āFuture Worksā type projects that havenāt resulted in widespread in-game changes or adoption (e.g. steering/Repack Ridge, or lane changing with the Sterzo). Pacer bots and PR ghosts are welcome additions.
What would you have liked to see added or changed? I certainly have several things Iād personally value.
I have a Rouvy subscription, but I still prefer Zwift. Rouvy offers variety and itās nice to look at the real world scenery. But the juxtaposition of video and average rider graphics always irks me a little; plus itās much more of an isolated experience.
Over the better months I tend to ride outside more, but I donāt much like riding in atrocious or dangerous weather, so Iām glad of indoor riding in the winter. I donāt think Iād ever go back to riding wholly outside; but if the price goes up ātoo muchā I might become on of those people who cancel over the summer.
If the price increase is substantial I will likely cancel it. Iāve already switched to a basic Strava account and cut some of the streaming apps that we donāt use often enough (Disney+, Netflix). All of those apps are raising their prices.
There just comes a point where people canāt just pay more for everything without cutting something out. Wages are stagnant yet the price of everything is skyrocketing.
ADZ was the last effective āgame changerā introduction to Zwift circa 2018ā¦ Sterzo was an awesome idea horribly delivered -pretty much no one other than myself uses it LOL
Even with all those new worlds good old Watopia is the most popular world because when you ride as much as I do: everything looks pretty much the same! Neokyo is just hideous only a computer geek would think itās motivating to ride around neon arcades (same goes for NY)ā¦
Anyway, there isnāt any better alternative out there, thatās why demand is pretty inelastic for the time beingā¦ 80% of my training will always be indoor, all my racing outdoorsā¦
Early 2000ās I was using Netathlon/WebRacing which were at least a decade ahead of their time, but they never figured out how to upgrade themselvesā¦ then, TrainerRoad, etc, etcā¦ now itās Zwift, sooner or later someone else will show up being better and cheaper
Iām a humanities guy who lives in the rural Midwest and I really enjoy Neokyo. I also enjoy the Makuri countryside. In fact, most days right now Iād choose Makuri over Watopia.
$15 is good price for me on a tight budget as freelancer and creative work. Any much more would have to cancel zwift. Love makuri for the long rolling/ flatter rides and Watopia for the longer climbing rides. The other maps really do not ride unless in a event/race now that I have the badges for those maps. Prefer free riding on my own routes which Makuri and Watopia allow easily long rides without repeating too much.