Zwift has introduced a Hub One smart trainer where the standard cassette is replaced by the ‘Zwift Cog’ single sprocket and, instead, you get virtual shifting via a wireless shifter that mounts to your handlebar. Zwift promises you “fast, smooth, and quiet virtual shifting that was previously only available on smart bikes” and says that this is a super-easy route to ride its online 3D world.
Zwift already has a Hub in its range, where you remove the rear wheel from your bike and run the chain around a cassette that’s mounted directly to the trainer. That option remains, although it’s called the Zwift Hub Classic from here on in.
> Read our review of the Zwift Hub smart trainer
What’s new with the Zwift Hub One is the use of the pre-installed ‘Zwift Cog’. Rather than your chain moving across a cassette, it always runs on the Zwift Cog. You can still shift, but now virtually. The resistance is altered by the Hub One internally when you hit the wireless Zwift Click shifter mounted to your handlebar.
What are the advantages?
The Zwift Cog allows the trainer to work with most 8-12 speed bikes, Zwift says. Although an 11-speed cassette is the most popular option sold on existing Zwift Hub smart trainers – now called Zwift Hub Classic, remember – 54% are currently sold with other cassette options. A single sprocket simplifies things and allows you to use bikes with different setups on the same trainer.
“Thanks to its unique design, riders can put chain drops in the past as sides act as a chain retention device,” says Zwift.
“In addition to its wide compatibility, Zwift Hub One enables cyclists to take advantage of the many benefits of virtual shifting. Virtual shifting, normally only seen on smart bikes, is now available to those who prefer the value and convenience of a trainer.
“With virtual shifting, cyclists will enjoy shifting free of lag and chain skips, even when shifting under load. Modern smart bikes are now so quiet, the loudest noise when riding actually comes from the bike’s physical drivetrain. With virtual shifting, much of this added noise is eliminated, leaving the rest of your house in peace while you sweat it out in the virtual world of Watopia.”
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As mentioned, it’s the Zwift Click that controls your virtual shifts, and this mounts to your handlebar – road bar, flat bar, or TT bar – via two rubber O-rings. You just push the plus or minus button to move through the 24 different levels of resistance.
“To ensure consistency between bikes, Zwift Hub One is able to detect the gear ratios on your physical bike which allows it to set the virtual gears accordingly,” says Zwift. “It achieves this through a process called ‘real gear ratio calibration’. The trainer does this within the first few seconds of every ride automatically. Magic.”
In fact, Hub One calculates the real chainring size of the bike mounted on Hub from cadence and flywheel speed, and then auto-calibrates resistance.
Zwift says, “In addition to delivering benefits to those with multiple bikes, real gear ratio calibration offers new benefits to riders using smaller chainrings, like those found on gravel and mountain bikes, preventing those riders from spinning out on flat or downhill terrain in Zwift.”
Your current gear is shown on the Zwift screen as you ride.
If you already own a Zwift Hub, you have two options for switching to virtual shifting. Once updated to Zwift Hub Firmware version 5.2 (or newer), Zwift Play (£99) owners can turn Virtual Shifting on from their settings menu. Side buttons on the Play Controllers allow for virtual shifting.
The alternative is to update an existing Zwift Hub with a Zwift Cog + Zwift Click package, the Zwift Cog pre-installed on a freehub. It’ll be priced at £59.99 for a limited time after launch, and will then increase to £79.99. There’s one on the way for review on road.cc but we’ve yet to try it out.
Anyone wanting to use virtual shifting will need to update to Zwift version 1.50 which will be rolled out at some time between now and Friday.
Zwift Hub One is available now and the Zwift Hub Classic, which comes with a choice of 8-speed to 12-speed cassettes, remains in the range. Each is priced at £549 and includes a year’s Zwift membership.
14 thoughts on “Zwift launches new Hub One smart trainer with virtual shifting and single cassette sprocket for max compatibility”
Any idea whether this is
Any idea whether this is Campag-compatible?
should be. it’s a single cog
should be. it’s a single cog and the chain pitch is the same across all groupsets
Wonder if it works on single
Wonder if it works on single speed frames?
i’m going to say: probably
i’m going to say: probably not. the single cog is where the middle of a cassette would be. the chainline probably wouldn’t be right
I don’t understand how this
I don’t understand how this could know if my bike was 10, 11 or 12 speed. Also, how would it know if I was running 11-28 or 11-32 for instance.
The only way I can see how it’s done is if you input onto an app before starting – or am I missing something?
The article explains it – it
The article explains it – it does it by magic.
Thanks for the explanation
Thanks for the explanation
I’ve just watched the GCN Tech video on it and that says the same – ‘Magic’
I put my bike on it and it can sense that I ride 50/34 and 11-28???
I guess they’ve imbued it
I guess they’ve imbued it with magic just after the manufacturing process, to give it a basic form of sentience, which can then give your bike sentience when you connect it. The Hub and your bike then talk to each other.
Quote:
For those non-magical folks, I think this gives an idea of how they do it. If I am interpreting it correctly, it doesn’t really know how many gears you have, it works out how fast your legs are spinning, how quick the flywheel is spinning and “changes gear” if it decides your legs aren’t spinning fast enough/too fast. That would suggest that if your bike is 8speed, but you top out frequently on it, if you put it in this Hub, it will think you are on a 9+ speed
Sorry, not getting that at
Sorry, not getting that at all. In theory if you kept topping out you would have an infinite number of gears?
You change gears with the button supplied with the trainer but I would still like to ride my bike with my gear ratios and I can’t see how this can do it without me settng it up (on an app?) initially.
I don’t understand why they haven’t explained this part properly
Good point!
Good point!
Yup – got to be magic.
kinderje wrote:
According to DC Rainmaker’s review you can’t do that:
He doesn’t seem that impressed with it overall, saying that if he was only using the trainer himself with the same bike every time he would always go for the cassette version. The only real advantage he mentions is that it’s handy if you want to use lots of different bikes on it, e.g. if you’re sharing it with someone else.
Thanks for that, I should
Thanks for that, I should have known DC Rainmaker would have already had a play on it. I haven’t seen anything on the advertising info that says what the gear range is – and this is the bit that I find odd, why not just say that it’s comparable to 52/36 and 11-30 for instance.
My bike has gears of it’s
My bike has gears of it’s own. I may of course be missing the point.