Pedaling in a virtual world can take us to Watopia, an impossible race or a road that doesn’t exist. But there is something that Zwift cannot virtualize: the body. The distance to the handlebars, the position of the saddle or the length of a crank remain as physical as on a conventional bicycle. And that is where Zwift has put the focus of its second generation of stationary bikes.
The Zwift Ride V2 maintains the philosophy of the company’s first smart bike, but corrects one of its main limitations: the adjustment possibilities. The frame is now somewhat more compact and allows it to be adapted to cyclists between 146 and 198 centimeters. It also comes standard with adjustable cranks in five lengths: 160, 165, 170, 172.5 and 175 millimeters. The seat post also adds 50 millimeters of margin to modify its longitudinal position.
It may seem like a minor improvement, almost a matter of ergonomics. It is not. On a bicycle, a few millimeters can change the position of the hip, the extension of the knee, the cadence or the way we distribute force on the pedals. In other words, Before Zwift can turn the living room into a road, it needs to make the bike behave like a bike for the rider.
And there is another interesting detail: the price does not change. The Ride V2 maintains the 1,199.99 euros, including the Wahoo Kickr Core 2 smart trainer. For those who already have the first generation, both the new cranks and the post will be available separately, so that part of the evolution can also reach the bikes already at home.
But Zwift is not just renewing the device that takes us to Watopia. The bicycle comes accompanied by a season in which the company wants to make virtual training increasingly personal. Integration with WHOOP will allow the recovery score to be used to adjust training recommendations: On days when the body is not ready for great efforts, Zwift will be able to adapt the session to avoid overloading it.
The scene also grows. Watopia will incorporate some 18 kilometers of new roads and a connection between Jarvis and the Jungle, with new areas designed for both riding and racing. The Ride V2, therefore, does not aim to transform the indoor bicycle. It does something perhaps more useful: it eliminates one of the boundaries between the cyclist and the virtual world. Because for a digital road to be convincing, you first have to make every pedal stroke feel real. Thus, just as literature takes us to Oz, Macondo, Lilliput, Westeros or Rivendell, the Ride V2 allows us to explore Watopia.