Zwift has just announced a look at this upcoming season on Zwift with new roads, Climb Portal updates, a “Climb of the month”, a new multi-player mode for Repack Rush, as well as a host of other updates coming over the next few months.
Alongside these new software announcements, Zwift also announced an increase in price of their Zwift Hub…sort of.
The Zwift Hub shook up the indoor trainer market by offering a direct-drive smart trainer for $499 when it was originally announced in 2022. With most direct-drive smart trainers starting at $799 and up, this was substantially lower than anything else on the market.
The Zwift Hub is essentially a JetBlack smart trainer with Zwift branding but also added some special touches from Zwift, like an easy ordering process as well as a easy setup experience. I’ve actually been riding one over the past year quite consistently to test it’s long-term durability. Look for that video soon.
With this new announcement, Zwift increased the price of the Hub to $599 but this now includes a year of Zwift. There isn’t an option to buy a Hub without a year of Zwift.
I would have to assume that the majority of people who purchased a Hub also signed up for a Zwift subscription if they weren’t already subscribed. So while there is an increase in the price of the Hub, in effect, there’s savings involved if someone subscribes for a year. A monthly subscription to Zwift is $14.99 so one would save $80 over the course of a year if they were to purchase a Hub.
The nice thing about the monthly subscription is that you could in effect “pause” your subscription any time you’d like, let’s say over the summer months. Some may not fully utilize that entire year included with the Hub. However, with a ~45% savings on that year of Zwift, even if you were to only use your Zwift subscription for 7 months out of the year, you’d be coming out on top if you purchased the Hub.
What may be coincidence or not, both Wahoo and Elite have also recently lowered their prices on their entry-level direct-drive smart trainers with the Elite Suito now at $549 and the Wahoo KICKR CORE at $599.
However, what makes this story even more interesting is that Zwift is back to offering Wahoo trainers on their website for purchase, but all of them are now bundled with a one-year Zwift subscription. So while a KICKR CORE on Wahoo’s website is $599, on Zwift.com it’s $699 including one year of Zwift.
It’s clear that Wahoo and Zwift have ‘hugged it out’ after the legal proceedings that have now been dismissed. What’s great about this all is that it seems like nearly everyone benefits from their rekindling, including consumers, with a lower base price across the board for many entry level smart trainers as well as potential savings if you prefer Zwift as your indoor cycling training platform.
