Totally agree with the commentary on price point. I suspect they will sell a decent number of them at $99, but at $150 this is a complete non-starter for this Canadian Zwifter, especially when you factor in the CAD/USD exchange. That's getting very close to $200 CAD for something that adds marginal functionality to the Companion app (never mind not being able to actually buy it in Canada - thanks Zwift!!).

Always need to be thoughtful when thumbing up someone. This could be a gamechanger peripheral for me. I wanted these features ever since I rode the original Expresso bikes many years ago

Got my 17 year old daughter into cycling and she had just started doing Zwift. I told her to watch this guy Ray! She might learn a thing or two 👍 I know I did and continue to do. Thanks Ray. Love your work!

I bought a set of these and it’s really useful and improves the Zwift experience in many ways 👍🏾. My 11 year old also loves them as enjoys Zwifting when the weather isn’t great.

Their new action bar menus make a lot more sense now. I am quite impressed and looking forward to a broader steering implementation. Also figners crossed ita a generic controller that can be used on other platforms too.

The 2 features I use the most are virtual shifting and Ride On bombs. The shifting is great since I use an older bike hooked to my Zwift and I just keep the chain on the big ring and in the center of the cassette and don’t have to worry about the mechanical bits much.

Not a impulse buyer most days, but today I am! A good addition for my setup.

The part where you said 'oh nee' when you failed a couple of time bonuses made me remember that you are a Dutch person and laugh a bit. Good review :)

I totally agree on the impulse at $100 and probably not at $150. Unless the $150 comes with a few months of free riding. Maybe that's how they eventually sell it at $150.00

Thanks Ray, good review. Zwift has right idea to attract early adopters with the reduced price. If the protocol is available to 3rd parties then we may see either less expensive models or more functional models....maybe permutations of both. I can see someone programming view buttons that could cycle through the options and select automatically. More 💵 for my Zwift bike...

Yep, definitely an impulse purchase for me too. I considered it a birthday gift to myself. B/c I'm tired of using my keyboard. I even use Commander, but now I lost it .. oh well. It's very convenient being able to brake (finally), So I don't keep shooting out the group ride or robo-pacer, then have to soft pedal, then chase back. Now I can just brake. And yeah the ride-on bomb in one button! ✊.No need to scramble my phone again to give a ride-on.

When Zwifting on PC I simply use the companion app and unified remote (free) on my mobile. This will enable the keyboard/mouse features you need in the game, you can even customize additional hot keys if you like. These Zwift controllers would be a nice upgrade to add steering but not at this price point.

I love it, ordered. I can’t imagine life without Zwift. I haven’t ridden outside in three years due to insane city drivers and losing two friends on the streets in five years. It’s just not worth it to me anymore. I miss riding outside somewhat but I really love riding Zwift. Zwift is better than riding outside in so many ways. Thanks for the video Ray.

Cool...steering that works with the kickr climb😊

Can't wait for this to arrive. Perfect for those that can't reach the keyboard while riding.

I have to admit that these are pretty cool. Zwift is all about gamifying the indoor training experience, and what better way to gamify it than to provide you with basically video game controllers. You don't have to reach for keys on your laptop, or have your phone in your hand, you just press the button on the controller. And the price isn't too ridiculous either.

Coffee break has been available for a few days already. You just need to be in a group ride mode. Thanks Ray for the review as always.

Great video Ray. I wish they were available in Australia 😢

This was my impulse buy of the week. At 150 this looses it shine.

Thanks for nice and clear video. May I know whether they would affect your holding on shifters when you pushing a hard session?

kegland and then the yeast ones. thanks enjoying it

I would have liked to see steering assistance for the TACX Blacktrack, which is much more intuitive than steering the bike via buttons. All other functions could have been solved via voice recognition in the companion app.

Great review. Unfortunately for us in Australia/NZ/Asia, we can't order these at the $99. They are not even available to us. Why is it only available to US/Europe/UK, in this beta phase?

Grrrr, you & Shane & my inability to resist toys. Love the vids

I have a KICKR Bike V1, these are a big improvement compared to what's built into my bike.

After doing a bunch of research, watching this and other videos and deliberating, I decided to go for it and spend the $99 to get a pair. What convinced me was the recent addition of virtual steering to the Core, which is what I have. The other features are nice, but it's what I most got these for as I'm finding that physical shifting on the Core is noisy and annoying plus I'd prefer to use an old cassette and save my new cassette for the road. When riding outside ambient noises and the sound of the wind rushing by mostly mask the noise of shifting, but indoors it just annoys me and I'm sure anyone who's around. But it should be nice to be able to do all those other things like steer, brake, ride on, change pov and direction, etc. I haven't gotten them yet and have yet to see how well they'll work with my Campy Ergo shifters though.

Interoperability the other way around would be great - e.g. Zwift Play buttons working with the Wahoo RGT platform.

F-Zero. Man, what a call back.

The USB-C-A comment killed me 😂 USB is such a hot mess of naming conventions... 😭

Great review! How would you attach this to a mountain bike with the T-style handlebar?? Thanks

I wish there was a way to simply top on the Di2 protocol, and use the standard Di2 shifters as controllers.

Impulse buy. Can't wait to test with ATV. Thanks Ray.

I could imagine Zwiftetris tourneys in the future. Win the race by either completing a course or beating your oponent on tetris. Like Chess Boxing, but with biking and tetris

Great review thanks 🙏 and I agree, £150 is too dear. Tempted at £99 though.

Thanks

so cool - about time though

Thank you

Zwift is still missing a single button to turn ERG mode on and off, this should be something simple to implement, but still you have to go in the menu and search for this option, which is dumb. The ERG mode toggle button would be extremely useful for some trainings that include short sprints (where you always have turn ERG off, and then on again afterwards), and also to avoid the ERG spiral of death (where if you slow down on a red zone you cannot spin up again, so you it would be easy to turn ERG off, spin to right cadence, and then turn ERG on again).

Ray I simply need to know what that stem is please? With the Garmin mount built in. It's super clean

I just want Zwift to bring back the ability to pay for a year at a time. I'm okay with the potentially diminished value during the summer months knowing that I have the yearly rate locked in. I just see the "monthly only" option as a way to raise rates without having to worry about some subscribers being locked in at a lower amount. I will still probably buy these. $99 is a buy, $149 is a pass. Maybe they'll open up the ability to use an XBOX controller, since it's basically that cut in two and without the joy sticks!

Can we also move into the menu, select worlds and workouts ?

Why did they not put accelerometer for steering…

I tend to do my punchy efforts on the hoods and out of the saddle so I need a good grip at that point. Do these need to be installed lower to do that and would they then be too low to easily reach them when I am sat down again?

Would this work using Apple TV? I've read there is a 2 device limit for BT, so if you've got HR and power connected, then this would not be able to connect, right?

Can you zoom & rotate the camera view with the D pad, like you can with the arrow keys on PC? 🤷‍♂️🤔

anyone with stages sb20 bike try them out? would you just need to relocate the sprint shift buttons or does it block the shifter buttons them self?

How about these with the Tacx Neo Plus Smart Bike? Is there enough added value since they already have steering buttons?

Would love one of these but will probably never get my hands on them in South Africa 😔

You can use this with any Smart Rainer, But what about the new shifting mode?

Ordered

Will it work pre game as in the workout page scrolling and such that’s still horrible with the Apple ATV remote ?

Any idea how to mount this to MTB handle bars, please? I already have Zwift steering, so I’d want this purely for the 8 buttons. Thanks!

Hi, great video. These look great. So much easier to navigate than with apple tv remote. Do you know if these would fit onto a Wattbike atom ng?? Without interfering with the atom gear change buttons?? Looks like they would as seen on your bike and brake/gear leavers. Any info greatly appreciated 👍

Would like to understand what happen if I use with another steering device like Elite Rizer...

Is there a way to keybind the actions on a keyboard or mouse?

Thank you for this in-depth video. So far I've seen several articles that just say "Zwift released this" with no real information. From your video, I can see that for me at least, it really is an impulse and something I really don't need.

I have two questions about these. Firstly, and this is subjective, I wonder if these will get in the way for my hands when sprinting in the drops. Secondly, navigating through submenus looks irritating to do during a race. It would be great to have assignable 'hotkeys' to carry out common functions, like switching to the rear view with a single press. I wonder if that's coming.

Can it do virtual gear shift on a cassette. Or do I need both click button and this

any idea on campagnolo mechanical thumb shifters? would that be in the way you reckon?

I have a Steerzo that does not work with the Tacx Neo Rockers, so enough peripherals sitting around not being used, maybe at $99 but no to $150. With $150.00 I would buy something for my road bike.

Would love to see you review the Avotro controller :) at a similar price of $150 AUD, it's a fully functional general purpose bike handlebar game controller - but it's very low on reviews at the moment (see: 0) - If you're able to find out if it's any good, would be happy to purchase through an affiliate link :)

Tempted by the impulse buy but is this another Sterzo ? Or will any glitches be ironed out by firmware updates ?

I use an iPad Pro (for the display) and iPhone (for companion app) on my Stages SB20. Doesn’t seem like these controllers really add any value over the companion app. Am I missing something?

As an ATV user my Bluetooth connections are already used up so this will push me down the Companion App connection route. Question though, will my Kickr and HR monitor have to go through Companion app too? Reason I ask is that prior to getting my Kickr two years ago I used to have to connect via the Companion app and I found it pretty unstable back then. Has it improved?

are these standard game controllers? meaning can you use the buttons and controls with other games?

I notice your hands are not placed on the drops when you are using the controller. How do the controllers work when you are actually on the hoods? I did a 5-second test at lunch and I didn't think I could reach the buttons if I had my hands fully on the hoods.

These look cool. Do the controllers, when they're attached to the handlebars of a Kickr Bike, infringe on the Bike's steer buttons? Is there enough finger room between the Zwift orange steering keys and the Kickr Bike's shifters? And does choosing Zwift controllers render the Kickr Bike's brakes unusable?

Would be disappointing if Zwift no longer works with my Elite smart steering block. Sometimes actual steering helps break up the monotony of multiple hours ride and provides some real positional movement. Pulling levers seems silly. Also, what's the point to brake?

When is the TT version coming?

How does it affect your grip on the hoods?

A xbox controller is 65 USD, is capable of a lot more and can be connected to any device with Bluetooth. Implementing something like that would be cheaper and better for the environment, since a lot of people already has a controller for gaming etc.

There is only one thing as an eRacer... You want to sprint in the handlebar and not on the hoods. Missed change. Besides that it looks nice

Is there actually a way to brake on Zwift without the Zwift PLAY controllers? And what would you use it for, apart from not having to wait a few seconds before being able to change your bike setup?

4:09 “press the blue purple button” 😅

Picked up a set of these but question regarding using with Apple TV I use kickr bike, and HR monitor and tv only lets me connect 1 of the controllers as it reaches max connections. So have to use Zwift companion app? Pity Zwift couldn’t have the two controllers talk to each other and need only 1 connection

(Typo in video title, sir!)

I want this just for the sticker to stick on a small child 😂

Do I need this for stage sb20.

If someone doesn't need it anymore I will give it a try. Otherwise 100$ (discount) is a lot. Thanks for the information though!

If you use steering to zig-zag on steeper gradients, does it take some of the gradient out? Asking for a friend ;-)

Is it possible to connect this with other indoor cycling apps, like Rouvy?

I think it’s amazing but I’m gutted it’s not compatible for the wattbike atom

Can one use this AND sterzo same time? Steering with sterzo seems more intuitive to me….

Can you turn erg mode off or on .

Curious if there’s a mounting method for TT bars

If you buy the controllers in beta will they upgrade to the final firmware?

Not compatible with Campy shifting or have someone experience with controller on bars with Campy shifting?

Hmm 🤔 when’s the tron trainer coming

I guess I'm on an island with this opinion, but I think $99 is already steep for this. Maybe I'm more broke than the average cyclist but $100 items, especially ancillary items that aren't the core value, are never an impulse buy.

This is just sport gaming. Helpful to make swift biking more joyfull / less hard. It looks a bit like the Xbox Kinect.

So I tried with kickr bike and it would work well but I have no idea why they also have auto steer you have to constantly fight or try to compensate for….not sure why.

Were those dolphins having a seizure @ 6:32 ?

Did you just say "o nee"? 😎👊🏻

Did I miss this? Does this take up 2 bluetooth spots? I use Apple TV for Zwift right now.

Hmm.. I'm zwifting on a MTB? Is it possible to mount them in some way on a flat bar?

8:14 I think the steering responsiveness is something in the game itself because I have the Elite Sterzo steering device and I have the same complaint. Seems to lag a just a bit.

What will be the difference between Beta and final version? Smaller Hardware?

Do you have to steer during the game? Or can you decide to not steer and simply use the buttons?

It seems like they need to add games to make these truly useful and a big seller. Repack rush is a good start. Hard to understand why they have never added multi user competitive games like repack rush that combine exercise with skill based gamification..

Would have liked to hear about the Apple TV experience via Companion App.