‘It’s a little taste of where we’re going’: Zwift’s latest update means outdoor rides will count on the virtual training platform

Outdoor rides will soon be rewarded with ‘experience points’ (XP) in Zwift, allowing users to unlock new virtual equipment through miles ridden off-platform.

In an unveiling of Zwift's new season launches and updates at a press event in Mallorca, it was announced that data, complete with recorded metrics such as heart rate and power, will be imported into the brand’s Companion app, informing Training Status and Score.

Eric Min, Zwift co-founder and CEO, told Cycling Weekly that the new features give “a little taste of where we’re going”.

From the 8th April, Zwift subscribers using Wahoo or Garmin will be able to use the update, with Hammerhead compatibility expected later in the summer. For every kilometre recorded, five XP will be awarded (up to a cap of 200km). The lower conversion reflects the difference between riding indoor and outdoors, say Zwift.

“As we start investing more in training, it’s hard to ignore the activities that happen outdoors,” said Min, explaining that the updates will allow for better training recommendations. “If we want to deliver on the promise of helping [users] get fitter, stronger and faster, [then] we need to be more holistic about training … Indoors or outdoors, we need the full picture.”

Another major update for Zwift, and a move that will inevitably draw comparisons to Strava, is the ability to track fitness progress using the Zwift Companion app, that will also allow users to set weekly goals. These will include time, distance, calories, stress points, or kilojoules.

According to the California-based tech company, the significant update and new look to the app will be live from 8th April. Zwifters will also benefit from a training score, which averages recent training load over time into a single daily number, and will be able to access a training status that reflects current training load compared to long-term fitness (42 days) and short-term fatigue (seven days). The training score and training status will be further informed by pulling in outdoor cycling data, explained Zwift.

Additionally, a second update will roll out this summer, giving users the opportunity to dive deeper into historical trends for their training score, training status and weekly streak. Zwifters who complete a 4-week, 12-week and 24-week ‘streak flair’ will unlock Scottie the squirrel themed novelties, in an expansion of the popular feature, say Zwift, with outdoor riding counting towards keeping it going. According to the brand, 53% of active users have a 4-week streak or greater.

Feeding outdoor cycling data into the platform has been on the cards for years, Min shares, with various unspecified updates and additions in the pipeline. “It’s a little taste of where we’re going,” says Min. Ultimately, he explains, Zwift want riders to stay on the saddle year round, whether that be indoors or outdoors. Notably, the launch of riding streaks and now counting outdoor miles/kilometers, give users a greater incentive to keep their membership rolling throughout the summer months.

“I’ve seen it with my kids," says Min of tracking usage streaks on apps and the part they play in habit formation, plus tying into their outdoor riding integration. “Zwift is a way to get more people into cycling and then, of course, we’re going to do everything to keep you in the saddle, whether that’s indoor or outdoor. We just want to help you create that early habit.”

As has been seen with Zwift’s sponsorship of the Tour de France Femmes and Paris Roubaix-Femmes, the platform, which saw 2.3m solo workouts completed over the past 30 days alone, has big ambitions. “We want the association around cycling, so I think stepping into our customer experience being outdoors, it’s sort of a natural evolution,” says Min. “It’s like a whole new frontier for us,” he adds. “It creates a whole host of new opportunities for us.”

While Zwift’s latest updates will draw comparisons with other fitness tracking platforms, Min is confident that his company will find their niche. “We’re a little bit different from other providers who focus on just outdoor riding, so I think we have the opportunity to just kind of figure out how to bring the two [indoor and outdoor riding] together.” This will be done predominantly through investment in the Companion app, says Min.

Although the headline from Zwift’s latest announcement will centre around the indoor cycling platform embracing outdoor cycling data on its app, Min explains that the fitness tracker, weekly streaks and gamification also at play all mesh together to create that habit formation of getting on the bike more often. “It’s incredibly powerful, [people] want to chase the next thing, right?” he says, sharing that leaning into gamification of training, which Zwift are so well-known for, will play its part in outdoor riding.

Other updates this season on Zwift include new roads in France, hub updates and the ability to enable splits via the action bar, a popularly requested feature to make manual interval training simpler.