Zwift discontinues its highly rated Hub smart trainer
Wahoo has teamed up with Zwift to create the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One smart trainer.
This pairs the existing Wahoo Kickr Core smart trainer with the recently launched Zwift Cog – a single-speed freehub attachment that enables compatibility with “almost any 8- to 12-speed bike”.
The Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One costs £549 / $599 / €599 and includes a year’s subscription to Zwift, the popular virtual indoor cycling app.
Zwift has also announced it is discontinuing the Zwift Hub, its highly rated direct drive smart trainer.
This news comes off the back of the two brands announcing a partnership late last year, which saw the Kickr Core bundled with a year’s subscription to Zwift (and a cassette) at a reduced price.
What is the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One?
In a nutshell, the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One is the existing Wahoo Kickr Core smart trainer paired with the Zwift Cog.
This is then combined with the Zwift Click remote shifter or Zwift Play controllers (£99 / £99 / €99) to enable a wide-ranging virtual drivetrain in Zwift.
Until now, the Zwift Cog and virtual shifting in Zwift were only available for the Zwift Hub, the software brand’s first (and perhaps last) smart trainer.
Zwift says owners of existing Wahoo Kickr Core trainers can unlock virtual shifting in Zwift by using Zwift’s Play controllers, thanks to firmware updates coming at launch – no Zwift Cog is required.
At £549 / $599 / €599, the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One costs the same as the Wahoo Kickr Core plus cassette and Zwift subscription bundle, which will remain part of Wahoo’s product catalogue.
Is the Zwift Cog compatible with other Wahoo smart trainers?
In our first look at the Zwift Cog, we praised its simplicity and the performance of the Zwift Hub’s virtual drivetrain.
The virtual drivetrain enabled by the Zwift Click and Zwift Play controllers was also a welcome innovation borrowed from high-end smart indoor bikes.
We lamented the fact the Zwift Cog and virtual shifting were only compatible with the Zwift Hub, however.
Now, though, that’s set to change.
Though this initial announcement covers only the Wahoo Kickr Core, Zwift says it plans to bring virtual shifting to Wahoo’s other direct drive smart trainers, the Kickr V6 and Kickr Move, too.
This, Zwift says, will happen via firmware updates coming “soon after the launch of [the] Kickr Core Zwift One”.
Zwift also plans to make its virtual shifting protocol open to all smart trainer brands in the future.
According to Zwift, the Zwift Cog plus Click upgrade kit, which can be purchased separately for £79.99 / $79.99 / €79.99, is not compatible with existing Wahoo Kickr trainers (only the original Zwift Hub).
Riders will still be able to access virtual shifting on Wahoo Kickr trainers via Zwift Play, as noted earlier, once their trainer and app firmware have been updated.
Zwift says that while it’s technically possible to add a Zwift Cog to an existing Kickr trainer (for the expanded bike compatibility offered), it won’t be recommending this as an official upgrade path because it isn’t a plug-and-play option.
Riders would need to disassemble a Zwift Cog (the parts come mounted to a freehub, which is not compatible with the Kickr Core, with a cassette lockring holding everything in place) and mount just the single-speed cog and plastic bumpers on their existing Kickr freehub.
What’s happening to the Zwift Hub?
As part of this announcement, Zwift has confirmed the Zwift Hub and Zwift Hub One have been discontinued.
Zwift says warranties and customer support for owners of existing Zwift Hub trainers will not be affected, and the Hub will continue to receive firmware updates in the future.
Analysis | Zwift and Wahoo are now friends – is that good news for riders?
Less than six months ago, Zwift and Wahoo – two of the biggest brands in indoor cycling – were embroiled in a legal battle concerning alleged patent infringement by the Zwift Hub.
Now, though, the two companies appear to be the best of friends.
So who wins? For Wahoo and Zwift, the benefits are clear. If someone buys a Wahoo Kickr Core bundled with a Zwift subscription, both parties profit.
The immediate upside for riders is less clear, though.
As things stand, the offer of a Wahoo Kickr Core bundled with a year’s subscription to Zwift looks like a great deal – provided you like your indoor cycling to be gamified.
Yet while Zwift and Wahoo are keen to present the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One as a “new smart trainer”, it isn’t really – it’s an old smart trainer with a new firmware update.
Of course, the Kickr Core is a fantastic smart trainer and its recently lowered price and updated capabilities are meaningful improvements.
However, this isn’t the overhaul some were perhaps hoping for, and therein lies a potential issue.
This friendship likely spells the end (or at least the pause) of a key commercial rivalry within indoor cycling, and could result in less impetus for innovation going forward.
The launch of the Zwift Hub in 2022 also set off something of a price war among smart trainer manufacturers, at a time when the prices of bikes and other components were skyrocketing. This could signal the end of that, too.
For its part, Zwift says partnering with Wahoo brings a number of benefits for riders, including better power data accuracy from the Kickr Core (compared to the Zwift Hub), compatibility with the Wahoo Kickr Climb and other indoor cycling accessories, and expanded distribution capabilities.
Of course, it’s also fair to say Zwift, Wahoo and the wider cycling industry have faced challenging conditions in recent years, as the COVID-19-induced indoor cycling boom has petered out.
In this light, perhaps a greater focus on collaboration over competition is simply what’s necessary to keep both companies sustainably afloat.
Riders would undoubtedly be left worse off if either brand ceased to exist, after all.