As the Northern Hemisphere steers itself out of the depths of winter and into the metaphorical and literal light, indoor cycling platforms face an inevitable drop in users.
Keeping those users engaged, or at the very least subscribed, is part of the annual cycle of their respective business models, and in a timely move that sees the driest week of the year so far here in the UK, Zwift has today unveiled its latest attempts at doing just that.
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Many regular Zwift users will already be familiar with the Personal Recommendations feature, which offers a simple recommended activity upon logging into the Zwift Companion app. The aim of this, according to Zwift, is to help users spend less time thinking and more time riding, by serving sessions such as workouts and Robopacer rides.
From April onwards, the Companion app will give you an outdoor recommendation too, should you want to take your training outside as the weather improves.
Zwift says this will allow you to “make the most of those sunny summer miles” and essentially maintain your training productivity as you spend less time in the heavily structured world of Watopia and into the freedom of the open road.
Separately, coming later in summer, Zwift’s ‘Challenges’ feature is also being taken into the real world, so rides completed outdoors and uploaded from your Wahoo, Garmin or Hammerhead computer will contribute to the completion of set challenges.
Another update to the Companion app, coming in April, means users will be able to plan their week ahead, turning it into something more akin to a training planner, albeit restricted to the short term, rather than season-long planning tools such as TrainerRoad.
Notably, those using third-party apps such as TrainerRoad will see their week ahead automatically populated, so there’s less of a need to bounce between apps to see their upcoming sessions.
Gravel goes indoors
If the updates above suggest that indoors is moving outdoors, then balance shall be restored by this next one.
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