Zwift Ride x Garmin Tacx Neo

Hello,

maybe someone knows whether the Zwift Ride Fame fits on the Smarttrainer Garmin Tacx Neo 2T?

Thank You

No it doesn’t work with any Tacx trainers. Here is the list on the FAQ site:

It physically fits yes but as such you can’t take advantage of virtual gears.

Hi @Stefan_A1, welcome to the forums!
I’m Fernanda, from Zwift.

I couldn’t miss the chance to clarify the Zwift Ride Smart Frame compatibility for you, in this case, regarding the Tacx Neo 2T, it’s important to note that the trainer’s software does not support Zwift Virtual Shifting. Since the Zwift Ride is designed for virtual shifting using the Zwift Cog, the Tacx Neo 2T is not compatible as a result.

Hope this does not impact your enthusiasm! Keep enjoying your rides.

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Good to know. Could Zwift perhaps get it out of the way and publish the full list of trainers that could never be compatible with the Cog/Ride? It might be helpful to those considering purchasing some brand/model of trainer thinking that eventually it will work with Zwift Virtual shifting.

They don’t know which ones will never be compatible because that’s up to the trainer manufacturers, but they do publish a list of those currently supported

Well, the Zwift rep is saying the Neo will not be so there seem to be more tested than in that chart. It doesn’t seem farfetched that Zwift in its testing lab might not have already figured this all out, no?

You said “could never be compatible” but all that Zwift knows is “not compatible right now”. Garmin haven’t said if they will release a firmware update to support virtual shifting, so its future status is simply unknown. In any case all that a Neo user needs to do is look at that support page and they will know they can’t use virtual shifting at the moment.

I don’t know what you’re quoting in the “not compatible right now” bit. I read the below as pretty definitive, and it’s with no ‘unless
 this happens’ disclaimer:
the trainer’s software does not support Zwift Virtual Shifting. Since the Zwift Ride is designed for virtual shifting using the Zwift Cog, the Tacx Neo 2T is not compatible as a result.

I’m saying that’s what the answer means. It doesn’t work now but whether it might work later is unknown. It’s not a “could never be compatible” situation, unless Garmin says so, which they have not. What they told Zwift Insider is “Unfortunately, this is proprietary information at this time.” Given the very small list of trainers that support virtual shifting, there’s no point in making a list of hundreds of trainers that don’t. The current list is clear. What Zwift could probably do better is make sure that buyers see the list.

“Proprietary information at this time” means to me absolutely nothing. It’s either Yes it could, but we haven’t decided it’s in our interests to support this, or “no, it doesn’t, and we don’t want you stop buying our trainers”

The theory is that Zwift can’t figure out for themselves which trainers would or would not be compatible with the Ride? It’s possible I suppose; I gotta say it was a bit surprising that it took a while before anyone knew the Kickr models, pre-V6, weren’t going to be compatible. This is either incompetence in product design from both parties while working on this strategic partnership, or was intentional.

If Wahoo was truthful, then it’s not really a matter of whether or not firmware will be written by any trainer manufacturer that enables compatibility. It’s evidently more basic than that. So if it’s hardware, can’t Zwift figure this out?

It means “not compatible right now” and nothing more or less. Welcome to the uncertainty. That’s all you get, right now.

They know what is compatible, and they know what manufacturers have announced will be compatible soon, and perhaps they know some other things they haven’t mentioned because it can’t be shared. Again, you get uncertainty and nothing more or less. What is clear is what’s supported now.

It’s not for them to say what a trainer manufacturer can or can’t do with their hardware and firmware. It is really unfortunate (or you could say deplorable) that Wahoo said they were working on it and gave off a lot of signs that it was coming for some older trainers and then pulled the rug out. That sucks but it’s also a good reason why Zwift should not make any claims about it in advance.

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The great pity here is that Zwift chose a method for Virtual Gearing that required changes from the hardware manufacturers at all, when it was possible to have something more agnostic. I’m guessing that this was deliberate.

Is it only the Ride that’s the question though, right? In theory, couldn’t any trainer maker make a clicker/trainer combo where the clicker fundamentally only asks the trainer to add or lower resistance which each click in one direction or the other?

Sure but that would likely also require modification to the trainer or firmware because only one thing can control the trainer’s resistance. Otherwise you would need a solution like QZ that acts as a middleman. In theory I imagine a hardware device could be developed that did the same as QZ.

Hi,

I just created a post regarding the topic: “successful-zwift-ride-on-tacx-neo-t2800”

Hardware compatibility might be limited with the Tacx trainers

For me it’s a nice piece of equipment

It seems that @johannes_Schmitt your post on the neo on this isn’t visible. Could you please describe here your experience with the Neo t2800 with the Zwift Ride?

Hey - unfortunately they took it the post down.

You can Google for „ ZWIFT RIDE TO TACX NEO T2800 ADAPTER“. I designed a 3D printable adapter that would be needed (at least for the neo smart t2800). I’ll update the description there to reflect all the stuff I wrote on the post initially in the coming next days.

Here is the short form:
It won’t fit without adapters, the zwift ride controllers don‘t pair (I thought they would but they only pair if the trainer supports virtual shifting), the gear ratio is like you average 180W at a cadence of 75 on a flat „zwift“ road.

Using the QZFitness app in the newest beta you can pair the controllers and kind of use the shifting (it adds a gradient to the gradient received from zwift). Reducing the app gear to a negative value causes the tacx to accelerate itself at one point.

So up to now I can say: if you overcome the hardware mounting and use erg-mode it works great. For classical zwifting you may want to change the chainring (104 BCD) to something smaller for a more realistic „flat road“ feeling (I‘m going to give it a try).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best Johannes

Just installed a 36 tooth chainring - much better in my opinion.

Had to shorten the chain though.

Changing the chainring was pretty straight forward.

Removing the bike from the trainer is now only possible if I drop the chain from the chainring. I guess the 42 tooth ring is also used to make handling more easy.

Hi, so could you use the Neo and Zwift Ride solely in ERG mode without virtual shifting? [quote=“Fernanda, post:4, topic:634536, full:true, username:FernandaA”]
Hi @Stefan_A1, welcome to the forums!
I’m Fernanda, from Zwift.

I couldn’t miss the chance to clarify the Zwift Ride Smart Frame compatibility for you, in this case, regarding the Tacx Neo 2T, it’s important to note that the trainer’s software does not support Zwift Virtual Shifting. Since the Zwift Ride is designed for virtual shifting using the Zwift Cog, the Tacx Neo 2T is not compatible as a result.

Hope this does not impact your enthusiasm! Keep enjoying your rides.
[/quote]