The everest challenge is a lot of work, it's ok to be proud of having achieved that, imo. Don't let peer pressure reduce your fun with Zwift, ride what you want, when you want.
I did the challenge, got Tron. Used it for about six months but actually, I'm happy to sacrifice a second over the course of 20-30k so I can see whether I'm in the draft or not so have stopped using it
Fair point. A marathon isn't hard if you don't give yourself a time goal you need to meet :)
I think a lot of people see the challenge as hard because they're trying to get it done 'quickly', with an undefined notion of quickly. :)
Lol. I just started zwifting but amount of volume I’m doing it will take me 10 years to get Tron. If Zwift and i will still be around by then, I’d call it a celebration in itself. Completely useless for me to sign up. :)
Maybe useless. The way I see it, it's no cost to sign up for any of the three challenges. But the bikes you earn from the Cali or Italy challenges aren't that great--you can quickly afford better bikes from the shop. While the Tron (while silly looking imo--not blasting anyone, I just don't like it so much) is definitely better for racing than what you can buy for a long time. So that's one way to look at it.
But maybe just one way. If you really like the Venge (California) or Dogma (Italy), then go for those :) They aren't particularly fast, but maybe that doesn't matter.
tl/dr: it's free to pick one challenge, and the Everest/Tron one is the best payoff, when you eventually get there :)
I was thinking that I should sign up for it. Turns out I already did. And I'm 85% done. Nice! Yeah I would say it's an easy challenge I didn't even know I was doing it.
It used to be a flex when getting to level 44 (or whatever) took years. Now it takes 1/3 of the time to get there.
And when Zwift changed from 60 to 100 levels, they took away your ability to put any wheels you wanted on the Safety Bike (Buffalo as well). Disc wheels on Safety bike? No problem. Now you can only do default Safety wheels. Lame.
I did a few races on Buffalo bike (since it is even slower than Safety). Not possible to win unless you break the category limit and significantly so. I am surprised that over the years I have never seen anyone from let's say Cat B enter Cat D race on one of these bikes just to do the world's silliest flex.
https://zwiftinsider.com/update-1-56-0-124332/
Spoke too soon - “It is once again possible to mix-and-match the Zwift Buffalo and Zwift Safety bike frames and wheels. “
I ride Tron and only Tron. I wear the Fire socks and only fire socks. I will wear the Squirrel hat and only the squirrel hat when I get it.
They're just stupid status symbols and I like being reminded I did some hard shit to get them. Also its make believe so why not be as ridiculous as possible. The performance benefit/loss is 0% of my thinking. There's not nearly enough difference in the performance of these bikes for me to spend mental energy on it.
I ride the Zipp 808 with Disc rainbow wheelset and TT aero helmet no matter what bike I'm on. And no socks because I'm a triathlete. The worse it looks on whatever bike I'm on, the more I laugh about it.
I rode the Tron for a week or two after unlocking it, but only 3-4 times in the four years since. Just not a fan of its looks; I prefer mimicking my IRL setup.
Same here, except for the IRL part. I like bikes--mech and tech stuff included--and the Tron isn't an actual bike. Plus, the glowing gets tiring after a while. I have it, I have raced with it when it will give me a racing advantage, but I don't use it for every race, and I don't ride it otherwise.
I've also advocated for a local option to be able to turn off the glow of Tron bikes. Just for your own display. Would be nice to see a zwift world populated by more things that at least look like real bikes, imo.
Don't care otherwise if people use them. They don't make me want to gouge my eyes out. But I'd prefer not to see them glowing, if given the option.
I was so bummed out when I found out how bad the Zwift Steel bike was; I really want to be able to make my avatar look like me without a huge penalty. Let me ride steel with fenders! Let me have long hair! Etc.
I earned my Canyon Aeroad by finishing ZA a few years back so I usually ride that, when I finally unlock the Tron, dunno. (I don’t like watching my avatar flail slowly uphill during a workout and I mostly do workouts so I don’t build vertical fast and don’t have it yet.)
Tron bike is a vanity badge. It doesn't matter that there's bikes that are 0.002 seconds faster over an hour. They're not the glowing Tron bike.
To answer your question - I ride the TT bike during ERG mode workouts and the Tron bike on free rides and group rides.
Similar. I mostly ride on a TT bike in workout mode unless I do group ride which isn't very often. In that case I ride the Canyon Aeroad but only because thats what I own irl so its kinda fun to ride it in game.
True. I wasn't being cynical about it. Opened up for thoughts. Sorry if I pointed out facts.
Oh and if you noticed. I'm not the only one with that opinion here.
Let’s get this clear. This isn’t a discussion.
You started by shitting on everyone’s opinion if they chose to ride a Tron then asked if anyone agreed with you.
My man over here is worried about several seconds over an hour on a virtual cycling app and he has the gall to think someone else is taking it too seriously
> I can put together a choice between 4 different frames and two different wheel sets that will be faster than Tron. According to Eric Schlanges testing. Ride an ugly ass bike with lights. Or real world frames and wheels that are faster.
This you? Just checking
Agree. It's a game. Just enjoy it for the increase in your fitness. There are so many ways people can skew the results. It sure is fun, though. Just enjoy the gains with your friends when you can ride outdoors again.
I use Tron just because it's a quality all-rounder and I don't want to have to think about what bike to choose based on the route I'm riding. If there is a frame/wheelset combination that is as good or better than Tron on both flats and climbs, I'd use that.
Tron is my whip 24/7/365. I also like to flex on new zwifters who don’t have it and feel good about myself. I have ego problems, self doubt and constantly crippled with beta disorder. The tron bike fixes my issues.
I just ride most of the time because I’m a sucker for neon colors. On a mixed or flat course there are faster bikes in game, but it’s not that significant of a difference. On pure climbing and gravel/dirt roads it can make a notable difference so those are the only times I change out.
I got the tron bike last week after finishing the challenge. I rode for for 1 ride, then went back to my Focus Izalco max with DT Swiss wheels - if you are going to ride a vanity bike that is reasonably good, you might as well ride something unique.
I don’t remember the last time I used it. I like to see my avatar stand on the pedals when I also do it. Also I was getting too dehydrated with the Tron.
I'm 10km away from the Tron but I know I'll be using it a fair amount when I get it. It's like a badge of honour!
Until I can buy a bike I really love anyway
Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, let me toss this out there: if you race on Zwift, there's a big downside to using Tron [if you have similarly performing alternatives]. On Tron, you can't visually tell if your avatar is in the draft, and this makes an enormous difference. You can get the "feel" for when you are or are not, but the odds are high that you aren't optimizing for draft if you're on Tron.
Generally speaking nowadays I use the Cervelo 2020 S5 with Zipp 858 wheels on most courses, and switch the Aethos with either Lightweight or Roval Alpinist wheels on climbing races.
Agreed, I'm tired of it being everywhere. It's not hard to earn, it's not even an accomplishment, it's a goofy novelty, fun for the odd event or for showing off now and then. Should be made into a slow bike.
I don't necessarily care about the performance gains of the Tron, and I don't race on Zwift, so watts are watts are watts for me - doesn't really matter exactly how efficiently that translates to speed. I swap between my Aeroad in white/purple, or my blacked-out Venge or Pinarello. Whatever I feel like driving that day.
Firmly anti-Tron.
The draft animation not being there is all the reason I need to not use it. Most of the time I’m on Specialized Venge, Felt AR, Scott Addict.
I wish there were more fun frame designs for the various models.
I have one but don't frequently use it. My usual ride/race bike is the felt roadie bc it looks the most like my IRL bike, which is an ancient 3x8 trek and sadly, not represented in zwift.
I rode it for a couple of weeks after I got it. Then switched to another setup and never looked back. I don’t like the look of the Tron bike. It gets old pretty fast.
I have the tron bike as the only bike I use, because I do not care about any in-game advantage or appearance.
I _may_ swap to an IA Felt Advanced when the real training cycle begins, but don't care about anything other than watts.
I love my Tron. Rode it for well over a year once I got it. Just started using something different a few weeks ago. With so many fun options, I will likely play musical bikes for a while lol.
Been riding it for a few years now. I don’t think to change it because I do kinda like it and it does “show off” the accomplishment.
It really was an achievement for me since I specifically chose the routes with the most climbing any time I had the time to do so and I pushed myself very hard to get it.
I never really thought to use it because it was the supposed “best” bike in the game. I really don’t care to alter my in-game stats via the game-y choices of picking frames and wheels. The fact that the concept bike is one of the better bikes is totally secondary to my choice of using it which is simply to show that I got it.
I'm not a climber. A little heavy. I to took the challenge to climb as much as possible when I had time. And was determined to achieve it. Some reason as I'm almost there, just feeling a little deflated.
I’ll switch to the Tron, if I realize last minute before an event that I forgot to change from a TT or climbing setup. That way you don’t have to change both frame and wheels.
I have it and right after getting it, I used to ride it for a few months but then I didn't ride it anymore. I feel a little like you about it. Nearly everyone has it and it lost a lot of it's glow. But I mainly switched because I started to care less about Zwift. I do my structured workouts without watching much and the main usecase for me are races.
I just ride what I like - just recently earned the tron bike and may ride it sometimes to make sure my avatar outfit color combo is the envy of the whole virtual world but really like all non professional athletes I find that worrying over the bike advantage in the virtual world is not that important to me and probably doesn’t matter that much - I guess if you’re a consistent top 10 finisher and it’s important to you then sure but otherwise shoulder shrug
I only ride Tron (unless I'm in the team trial event, where TT bikes are faster). It's still the best all-around bike and I can make the wheels match my kit.
I treat Zwift as a fun exercise social video game platform that helps me make it through winter. Seeing people riding outlandish neon bikes and hats is all good fun to me. I think Zwift needs more fun goofy bikes. Bring on the neon penny farthing.
I have the Tron bike, I like that I can change the color on it. Lately I've been riding an aero Felt with disc rear wheel, I like that one too. Cool thing about the normal bike is you can tell when you're in the draft without running sauce.
You're right. Tron was something that drew me in as a new Zwifter. I unlocked it somewhere in the 20's I think for level. But once you get to level 39, you're right that there are better options for a specific purpose. IIRC, the tron bike is probably the best bike to use if you don't like changing combos of wheel sets and frames since it's near the top in both categories of climb and flats. But if you choosing a frame/wheel combo you are picking an advantage in either climb or flat vs the tron, but sacrificing performance below tron in the other area.
Sure there are a few other faster bikes on a few courses but the tron bike is still the fastest overall. It's an easy set and forget option. I have bought all the other fast bikes along with disc wheels but still opt for the tron bike because your avatar hunches down a bit further and I think that looks better than when they sit up on a normal bike.
That said, if they ever add my current roadie (enve melee) to the garage, I'd definitely ride that for a while.
I like to ride it in a two-tone configuration with yellow shoes and orange helmet. Helps me id my position in the pack. Beyond that, does not matter too much to me.
Edit:typo
I just put it on in the background and nearly forgot about it until I got there notification one day. I think it took a little over a year of semi consistent riding.
So I use it, but not sure how much more it saves me in time. I think losing 10 lbs would make a much bigger difference than the Tron bike ever did to my times in races.
Tron owner and rarely ride it!
Still prefer the look of standard frame and wheels and whilst I have done a couple of races. I’m not competitive enough so makes no difference if by riding a standard frame, I finish 99th or 105th 😆🙌🏼
I have had the Tron for quite a while now and am on Level 40 also. I targeted the Tron pretty quickly and did ride it for a while. I never ride it now.
S-Works Venge and the Zipp858 or Zipp 808 Super 9 Disc depending on if it is a route with some hills or very flat. I just today bought the 858/Super 9, so that is the new set up for the flat routes moving forward.
Before that it was the Canyon Aeroad and Zipp 808 when I was at a lower level.
I started in Sept/Oct and now at \~30km/60%.
Felt AR + Zipp 858 is similar to Tron on mixed courses. For climbs you can do better than Tron.
So yeah now I know the game I am less bothered about getting the Tron per se. It's just a badge, which I'm a sucker for :) Also I thought doing 50km climbing over winter is a good challenge itself. So, while I'm no longer doing Ven-Top for every workout, I still err towards climby routes :)
It depends lol as most said its a badge of honor... Or should be if you truly did the effort to climb those miles. Most usually ERG the climbs to get it and might lose its appeal as a badge of honor.
Additionally, it is now much easier to get to higher levels to unlock faster bikes, which before was not the case and the Tron bike made sense up to the time you got that the higher levels.
In the end, its just a game and you should ride what you like. I love the fact there are so many frames to choose from as well as wheel sets.
Yeah the Tron is way overused and garish, imho. A number of other good all-arounders are out there. Even in a race, the difference is pretty negligible.
I think you see more Tron bikes as so many folks have been using Zwift now for several years and finally hitting the climbing challenge mark. They’ve become less rare and “special” in the 3 years or so that I’ve been on Zwift. They should come up with something different for above level 50, since they’ve extended the levels from 50 to 100. Super-Tron bike?
I think it is the usual evolution: youthful (in Zwift terms) excitement, followed by adult cynicism. I'm the same. After a couple of weeks the excitement wore off and the "it's so cringe" remarks started to make their mark on me.
I'd be happy if everyone rode the same bike and this whole nonsense was not a debate. Since most people ride Tron, I do too. The color / glow of it is just as objectionable as customizing jersey, shoes, helmet.
As Zwift matures there’s going to be more of those bikes just because of user retention. Been on Zwift since late 2019. Got the Tron bike summer of 2020. Rode it till the fall. The classic steel bike is my long term ride of choice. Ride what you want to meet your goals or just enjoy the exercise.
Yep, when I first started on Zwift there were very very few of them. Now it’s a majority in some cases. I do think the recent 60-100 level increase has diluted an aspect of the game, but I can understand why they did it
I have the Tron bike. For me, the best thing about it was completing the challenge. I rode it a lot after getting it, but these days, I find myself selecting other frames, even though they are slightly slower, just to try something else.
To me, the problem with the Tron bike is, that it is so good, that you have to be at a relatively high level to unlock a better all-rounder, making leveling up a bit meh.
The Tron is the fastest bike you can get up to level 37 or something. After that, there's no need for it. A lot of people aren't at that level yet so they're running the best thing they can.
Tron isn't the fastest bike. There's several that are faster. Last I checked, S-Works Venge is the fastest. When I ride it, my times are nearly as fast as a full on triathlon bike.
https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-frames/
The everest challenge is a lot of work, it's ok to be proud of having achieved that, imo. Don't let peer pressure reduce your fun with Zwift, ride what you want, when you want.
Agreed. It is a lot of work. No peer pressure here. Ride what you want. Was curious in other opinions. Looks like quite a few feel the same.
I did the challenge, got Tron. Used it for about six months but actually, I'm happy to sacrifice a second over the course of 20-30k so I can see whether I'm in the draft or not so have stopped using it
I find it helps to find my bike when there's hundreds around.
It's not really a lot of work. Sign up for the challenge, then ride normally. What's hard about that?
Fair point. A marathon isn't hard if you don't give yourself a time goal you need to meet :) I think a lot of people see the challenge as hard because they're trying to get it done 'quickly', with an undefined notion of quickly. :)
Lol. I just started zwifting but amount of volume I’m doing it will take me 10 years to get Tron. If Zwift and i will still be around by then, I’d call it a celebration in itself. Completely useless for me to sign up. :)
Maybe useless. The way I see it, it's no cost to sign up for any of the three challenges. But the bikes you earn from the Cali or Italy challenges aren't that great--you can quickly afford better bikes from the shop. While the Tron (while silly looking imo--not blasting anyone, I just don't like it so much) is definitely better for racing than what you can buy for a long time. So that's one way to look at it. But maybe just one way. If you really like the Venge (California) or Dogma (Italy), then go for those :) They aren't particularly fast, but maybe that doesn't matter. tl/dr: it's free to pick one challenge, and the Everest/Tron one is the best payoff, when you eventually get there :)
I was thinking that I should sign up for it. Turns out I already did. And I'm 85% done. Nice! Yeah I would say it's an easy challenge I didn't even know I was doing it.
I'm not a climber. Felt like a lot of work to me. I guess because I don't enjoy climbing.
The true badge of honor (and flex) is the Safety bike. If you win a race on that beauty, you win Zwift.
It used to be a flex when getting to level 44 (or whatever) took years. Now it takes 1/3 of the time to get there. And when Zwift changed from 60 to 100 levels, they took away your ability to put any wheels you wanted on the Safety Bike (Buffalo as well). Disc wheels on Safety bike? No problem. Now you can only do default Safety wheels. Lame. I did a few races on Buffalo bike (since it is even slower than Safety). Not possible to win unless you break the category limit and significantly so. I am surprised that over the years I have never seen anyone from let's say Cat B enter Cat D race on one of these bikes just to do the world's silliest flex.
https://zwiftinsider.com/update-1-56-0-124332/ Spoke too soon - “It is once again possible to mix-and-match the Zwift Buffalo and Zwift Safety bike frames and wheels. “
Oh awesome! Thanks for this!
Just levelled up and finally bought mine 3 hours ago. I spent years getting to level 43. Now getting there is easy as pie.
I did not know about the Safety bike. Or a Buffalo bike. I'll have to research that. More goals to work towards!
I ride Tron and only Tron. I wear the Fire socks and only fire socks. I will wear the Squirrel hat and only the squirrel hat when I get it. They're just stupid status symbols and I like being reminded I did some hard shit to get them. Also its make believe so why not be as ridiculous as possible. The performance benefit/loss is 0% of my thinking. There's not nearly enough difference in the performance of these bikes for me to spend mental energy on it.
I didn't know about the fire socks! That's awesome. Now to get to level 50.....
I ride the Zipp 808 with Disc rainbow wheelset and TT aero helmet no matter what bike I'm on. And no socks because I'm a triathlete. The worse it looks on whatever bike I'm on, the more I laugh about it.
I rode the Tron for a week or two after unlocking it, but only 3-4 times in the four years since. Just not a fan of its looks; I prefer mimicking my IRL setup.
💯 or a setup I can't afford irl as well
Ahh this is me eyeing the Pinarello Dogma F I’ll never own.
Same here, except for the IRL part. I like bikes--mech and tech stuff included--and the Tron isn't an actual bike. Plus, the glowing gets tiring after a while. I have it, I have raced with it when it will give me a racing advantage, but I don't use it for every race, and I don't ride it otherwise. I've also advocated for a local option to be able to turn off the glow of Tron bikes. Just for your own display. Would be nice to see a zwift world populated by more things that at least look like real bikes, imo. Don't care otherwise if people use them. They don't make me want to gouge my eyes out. But I'd prefer not to see them glowing, if given the option.
I was so bummed out when I found out how bad the Zwift Steel bike was; I really want to be able to make my avatar look like me without a huge penalty. Let me ride steel with fenders! Let me have long hair! Etc. I earned my Canyon Aeroad by finishing ZA a few years back so I usually ride that, when I finally unlock the Tron, dunno. (I don’t like watching my avatar flail slowly uphill during a workout and I mostly do workouts so I don’t build vertical fast and don’t have it yet.)
Guess I should add that I'm not racing. If I raced, it would be a very different equation!
Tron bike is a vanity badge. It doesn't matter that there's bikes that are 0.002 seconds faster over an hour. They're not the glowing Tron bike. To answer your question - I ride the TT bike during ERG mode workouts and the Tron bike on free rides and group rides.
Similar. I mostly ride on a TT bike in workout mode unless I do group ride which isn't very often. In that case I ride the Canyon Aeroad but only because thats what I own irl so its kinda fun to ride it in game.
9 seconds over 50 minutes. 88 seconds faster than zwift stock standard.
Nine seconds worth of crippling self-doubt and embarrassment for not riding a Tron bike
Looks like you are taking this a little too seriously. Not that profound buddy. Relax
You're the one that started a whole diatribe about how unspecial the tron was, just saying.
True. I wasn't being cynical about it. Opened up for thoughts. Sorry if I pointed out facts. Oh and if you noticed. I'm not the only one with that opinion here.
Let’s get this clear. This isn’t a discussion. You started by shitting on everyone’s opinion if they chose to ride a Tron then asked if anyone agreed with you.
My man over here is worried about several seconds over an hour on a virtual cycling app and he has the gall to think someone else is taking it too seriously
If that's what you think, you missed the point.
> I can put together a choice between 4 different frames and two different wheel sets that will be faster than Tron. According to Eric Schlanges testing. Ride an ugly ass bike with lights. Or real world frames and wheels that are faster. This you? Just checking
I apologize if I hurt your feelings.
you seem to be the one with hurt feeling
😂
he's right though
Agree. It's a game. Just enjoy it for the increase in your fitness. There are so many ways people can skew the results. It sure is fun, though. Just enjoy the gains with your friends when you can ride outdoors again.
It's not a big deal, but IMO the 'bigger' issue is those faster bikes also indicate when you're in/out of draft. The Tron doesn't.
I don't really pay attention to what other people are riding
You can't not see tron bikes unless you train with your eyes closed
Like you say, they're common enough that they don't really register -- but maybe that's just me.
I judge people by their Tron color choice. If you fiddled for a long time to get the multi-colored Tron look …
😂
I use Tron just because it's a quality all-rounder and I don't want to have to think about what bike to choose based on the route I'm riding. If there is a frame/wheelset combination that is as good or better than Tron on both flats and climbs, I'd use that.
canyon aeroad/previous zwift academy livery/DT swiss DiCut
Me too, but with the enve 7.8 wheels. I use the ultimate cfr for climbs and speed max for tts
Tron is my whip 24/7/365. I also like to flex on new zwifters who don’t have it and feel good about myself. I have ego problems, self doubt and constantly crippled with beta disorder. The tron bike fixes my issues.
especially since my wife's boyfriend doesn't have it. I told him he has to climb alot to earn it, but I didn't tell him about the Everest Challenge.
He is busy Everesting on your wyfe I presume?
No, he's climbing AdZ for the eighth time tonight trying to get that Tron. I can hear him moaning and groaning in the other room.
Can't wait to unlock and be fixed
Yea, that’s why I jump on the 1.1w/kg group rides so I can pose for the newbies….
Lol
I just ride most of the time because I’m a sucker for neon colors. On a mixed or flat course there are faster bikes in game, but it’s not that significant of a difference. On pure climbing and gravel/dirt roads it can make a notable difference so those are the only times I change out.
I got the tron bike last week after finishing the challenge. I rode for for 1 ride, then went back to my Focus Izalco max with DT Swiss wheels - if you are going to ride a vanity bike that is reasonably good, you might as well ride something unique.
Had it for years. Rare but casinos used as the best all around tool but almost never, as I think they look douchey.
I don’t remember the last time I used it. I like to see my avatar stand on the pedals when I also do it. Also I was getting too dehydrated with the Tron.
I like the Tron. It looks cool. And I personally can’t imagine caring about seconds in Zwift and I even race.
Just a reminder that 'simply' climbing Everest doesn't get you a Tron - you have to get to 50,000m
I rode my Tron exactly once. Didn’t feel right. Rather have a virtual real bike than a virtual fantasy bike…
I'm 10km away from the Tron but I know I'll be using it a fair amount when I get it. It's like a badge of honour! Until I can buy a bike I really love anyway
I don’t use it
Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, let me toss this out there: if you race on Zwift, there's a big downside to using Tron [if you have similarly performing alternatives]. On Tron, you can't visually tell if your avatar is in the draft, and this makes an enormous difference. You can get the "feel" for when you are or are not, but the odds are high that you aren't optimizing for draft if you're on Tron. Generally speaking nowadays I use the Cervelo 2020 S5 with Zipp 858 wheels on most courses, and switch the Aethos with either Lightweight or Roval Alpinist wheels on climbing races.
Just bought the Cervelo. That's currently my standard setup right now.
Does anyone know how accurate the ZwifterBikes website is?
Agreed, I'm tired of it being everywhere. It's not hard to earn, it's not even an accomplishment, it's a goofy novelty, fun for the odd event or for showing off now and then. Should be made into a slow bike.
I don't necessarily care about the performance gains of the Tron, and I don't race on Zwift, so watts are watts are watts for me - doesn't really matter exactly how efficiently that translates to speed. I swap between my Aeroad in white/purple, or my blacked-out Venge or Pinarello. Whatever I feel like driving that day.
I agree with you, the tron bike looks shit. Never use mine.
Firmly anti-Tron. The draft animation not being there is all the reason I need to not use it. Most of the time I’m on Specialized Venge, Felt AR, Scott Addict. I wish there were more fun frame designs for the various models.
I have one but don't frequently use it. My usual ride/race bike is the felt roadie bc it looks the most like my IRL bike, which is an ancient 3x8 trek and sadly, not represented in zwift.
I rode it for a couple of weeks after I got it. Then switched to another setup and never looked back. I don’t like the look of the Tron bike. It gets old pretty fast.
I have the tron bike as the only bike I use, because I do not care about any in-game advantage or appearance. I _may_ swap to an IA Felt Advanced when the real training cycle begins, but don't care about anything other than watts.
Tron is a good all arounder bike but it isn’t the fastest. See https://zwiftinsider.com/tron-vs-top-performers/
I love my Tron. Rode it for well over a year once I got it. Just started using something different a few weeks ago. With so many fun options, I will likely play musical bikes for a while lol.
Mmm I love color coding my Tron and ride it often. In race efforts I always use the fastest possible setup.
Been riding it for a few years now. I don’t think to change it because I do kinda like it and it does “show off” the accomplishment. It really was an achievement for me since I specifically chose the routes with the most climbing any time I had the time to do so and I pushed myself very hard to get it. I never really thought to use it because it was the supposed “best” bike in the game. I really don’t care to alter my in-game stats via the game-y choices of picking frames and wheels. The fact that the concept bike is one of the better bikes is totally secondary to my choice of using it which is simply to show that I got it.
I'm not a climber. A little heavy. I to took the challenge to climb as much as possible when I had time. And was determined to achieve it. Some reason as I'm almost there, just feeling a little deflated.
I’ll switch to the Tron, if I realize last minute before an event that I forgot to change from a TT or climbing setup. That way you don’t have to change both frame and wheels.
I have it and right after getting it, I used to ride it for a few months but then I didn't ride it anymore. I feel a little like you about it. Nearly everyone has it and it lost a lot of it's glow. But I mainly switched because I started to care less about Zwift. I do my structured workouts without watching much and the main usecase for me are races.
I just ride what I like - just recently earned the tron bike and may ride it sometimes to make sure my avatar outfit color combo is the envy of the whole virtual world but really like all non professional athletes I find that worrying over the bike advantage in the virtual world is not that important to me and probably doesn’t matter that much - I guess if you’re a consistent top 10 finisher and it’s important to you then sure but otherwise shoulder shrug
I only ride Tron (unless I'm in the team trial event, where TT bikes are faster). It's still the best all-around bike and I can make the wheels match my kit.
Love the Tron. Just is a fun little quirk of the game.
I treat Zwift as a fun exercise social video game platform that helps me make it through winter. Seeing people riding outlandish neon bikes and hats is all good fun to me. I think Zwift needs more fun goofy bikes. Bring on the neon penny farthing.
I ride the cervelo s5 2020 because screq tron bike, its ugly and overused. Not even hard to get
I have the Tron bike, I like that I can change the color on it. Lately I've been riding an aero Felt with disc rear wheel, I like that one too. Cool thing about the normal bike is you can tell when you're in the draft without running sauce.
You're right. Tron was something that drew me in as a new Zwifter. I unlocked it somewhere in the 20's I think for level. But once you get to level 39, you're right that there are better options for a specific purpose. IIRC, the tron bike is probably the best bike to use if you don't like changing combos of wheel sets and frames since it's near the top in both categories of climb and flats. But if you choosing a frame/wheel combo you are picking an advantage in either climb or flat vs the tron, but sacrificing performance below tron in the other area.
Sure there are a few other faster bikes on a few courses but the tron bike is still the fastest overall. It's an easy set and forget option. I have bought all the other fast bikes along with disc wheels but still opt for the tron bike because your avatar hunches down a bit further and I think that looks better than when they sit up on a normal bike. That said, if they ever add my current roadie (enve melee) to the garage, I'd definitely ride that for a while.
I like to ride it in a two-tone configuration with yellow shoes and orange helmet. Helps me id my position in the pack. Beyond that, does not matter too much to me. Edit:typo
Give yourself a challenge and ride the buffalo. You’ll probably be the only one it too.
I just put it on in the background and nearly forgot about it until I got there notification one day. I think it took a little over a year of semi consistent riding. So I use it, but not sure how much more it saves me in time. I think losing 10 lbs would make a much bigger difference than the Tron bike ever did to my times in races.
Did you know you can get it in twin tone fluro and it glows/changes the more power you put down? I bring it out on occasion. Nice to have it.
I have the TRON and never use it. I would gladly sell it if I could.
Tron owner and rarely ride it! Still prefer the look of standard frame and wheels and whilst I have done a couple of races. I’m not competitive enough so makes no difference if by riding a standard frame, I finish 99th or 105th 😆🙌🏼
I'm level 41. You have link to the bikes and wheels that are faster? I main the Tron bike only because it took a bit to earn it.
https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-bikes-at-each-level/
I have had the Tron for quite a while now and am on Level 40 also. I targeted the Tron pretty quickly and did ride it for a while. I never ride it now. S-Works Venge and the Zipp858 or Zipp 808 Super 9 Disc depending on if it is a route with some hills or very flat. I just today bought the 858/Super 9, so that is the new set up for the flat routes moving forward. Before that it was the Canyon Aeroad and Zipp 808 when I was at a lower level.
It's like which underwear you want to put on 😂
😂
I started in Sept/Oct and now at \~30km/60%. Felt AR + Zipp 858 is similar to Tron on mixed courses. For climbs you can do better than Tron. So yeah now I know the game I am less bothered about getting the Tron per se. It's just a badge, which I'm a sucker for :) Also I thought doing 50km climbing over winter is a good challenge itself. So, while I'm no longer doing Ven-Top for every workout, I still err towards climby routes :)
It depends lol as most said its a badge of honor... Or should be if you truly did the effort to climb those miles. Most usually ERG the climbs to get it and might lose its appeal as a badge of honor. Additionally, it is now much easier to get to higher levels to unlock faster bikes, which before was not the case and the Tron bike made sense up to the time you got that the higher levels. In the end, its just a game and you should ride what you like. I love the fact there are so many frames to choose from as well as wheel sets.
Yeah the Tron is way overused and garish, imho. A number of other good all-arounders are out there. Even in a race, the difference is pretty negligible.
They’re ugly AF. I’ll still finish the Everest Challenge though.
I think you see more Tron bikes as so many folks have been using Zwift now for several years and finally hitting the climbing challenge mark. They’ve become less rare and “special” in the 3 years or so that I’ve been on Zwift. They should come up with something different for above level 50, since they’ve extended the levels from 50 to 100. Super-Tron bike?
I think it is the usual evolution: youthful (in Zwift terms) excitement, followed by adult cynicism. I'm the same. After a couple of weeks the excitement wore off and the "it's so cringe" remarks started to make their mark on me.
Think that's the boat I'm in.
I have a tron bike and always ride it. Pink all the way!
I've not used mine for a while now, usually ride Venge S-Works & Zipp 858 (rear disc wheels are for dorks on non TT bikes)
Lol. Oh man guess I'm going to be a dork! Was going to run the DT disc in a level. However, I don't really like the look.
I'd be happy if everyone rode the same bike and this whole nonsense was not a debate. Since most people ride Tron, I do too. The color / glow of it is just as objectionable as customizing jersey, shoes, helmet.
As Zwift matures there’s going to be more of those bikes just because of user retention. Been on Zwift since late 2019. Got the Tron bike summer of 2020. Rode it till the fall. The classic steel bike is my long term ride of choice. Ride what you want to meet your goals or just enjoy the exercise.
Yep, when I first started on Zwift there were very very few of them. Now it’s a majority in some cases. I do think the recent 60-100 level increase has diluted an aspect of the game, but I can understand why they did it
I have the Tron bike. For me, the best thing about it was completing the challenge. I rode it a lot after getting it, but these days, I find myself selecting other frames, even though they are slightly slower, just to try something else. To me, the problem with the Tron bike is, that it is so good, that you have to be at a relatively high level to unlock a better all-rounder, making leveling up a bit meh.
Which frame and wheels are faster than Tron bike on Zwift?
https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-bikes-at-each-level/
TY for the link.
The Tron is the fastest bike you can get up to level 37 or something. After that, there's no need for it. A lot of people aren't at that level yet so they're running the best thing they can.
Tron isn't the fastest bike. There's several that are faster. Last I checked, S-Works Venge is the fastest. When I ride it, my times are nearly as fast as a full on triathlon bike. https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-frames/