Why the Zwift Click is a must for fair-weather cyclists this winter

Making the jump from real-world cycling to Zwift is about to get a whole lot easier – and leave a smaller sting on your wallet. The online virtual cycling platform has just unveilled a newer, sleeker set of Click controllers and expanded its Zwift Ready programme, ahead of some big software updates due before the new year.

The new Click controllers are essentially a smaller, more universally compatible take on the Zwift Play controllers that debuted in 2023, and which have now effectively been retired. The two puck-like add-ons can be strapped to any handlebar type, and placed pretty much anywhere to suit your preferred riding position.

All of the buttons can be customised, so the ones you use the most are the easiest to reach. They make navigating Zwift’s menus, steering through virtual courses, and triggering RideOns or PowerUps a lot easier than either tapping the device you use for Zwift, or reaching for a keyboard if you use a computer. As well as a D-pad and Xbox-style face buttons, there’s an extra pair of buttons for shifting virtual gears. That’s a lot more ways to control your onscreen avatar than the original Click controller could manage.

There are Cog and Click upgrade kits for all Zwift Cog-compatible smart trainers, including big names like Wahoo, Elite, JetBlack, Van Rysel, and Garmin-Tacx. You won’t need specialist tools to swap out the Cog, so can be up and running in minutes.

The kits are available to pre-order right now, directly from Zwift, for $50/£50/€50. Indoor cyclists can expect them to start shipping from September 9.

Zwift has also made it easier for newbies looking to try an indoor trainer for the first time. There are now 12 Zwift-ready trainers available worldwide, with prices starting from $300/£280/€250. Each comes with a Zwift Cog pre-installed for virtual shifting, and should start appearing in traditional bike shops as well as all the usual online retailers from September 9.

Hardcore Zwifters haven’t been forgotten, either. The Zwift app itself is getting a range of updates over the next few months, including auto-adjusted goals that use the last few weeks of activity history to encourage continuous fitness gains. There’s also a new, more detailed progress report screen that appears after finishing a ride, and new content recommendations that use machine learning to work out which workouts or routes would suit you best.

Riders who’ve had enough of Watopia will be happy to hear Zwift’s version of New York is getting 31km of new roads and 20 new routes to master, taking in parts of the Subway network and the Brooklyn Bridge.

New Power Segments make their debut here as a new way to see how you stack up to other Zwifters; rather than see how quickly you can cover a given distance, these ask you to go hell for leather in pursuit of maximum watts. As someone who isn’t a fan of pedalling though rain showers and snow storms, this’ll be top of the list for my autumn and winter workouts.