If you liked this video then maybe check out my other ZWIFT related vids - kzfaq.info/sun/PLrGQWjyfEHTBrSg4ziKx9KTis9NflruMM&si=-JSSe8xUiKsWgb3l

Excited for the new bike reveal, can't wait for you to get outside. Gravel bike sounds like a good choice.

Hope you had a good birthday. Really enjoy your content, it's made me get back into zwift

O god. Your cycling videos will be absolutley amazing. Looking forward to them!

Great honest review. Can't wait for the bike review ! good luck with the "play controllers"

brilliant review for this cheers mate!

Well done 👏 😊

Great video thanks amazing enjoy the new controller s😊

Another great video. Keep up the good work. After this training session I’d love to see what would happen if you did the intermediate build me up workout on zwift.

You did well for someone out of practice. You were totally in control for the majority of the race.. great result and it will be great to see how you go once you are used to them..

Congrats on ordering a bike! 🎉🎉🎉 Looking forward to the unboxing and review. Soon you'll be bikepacking as well? 👍🏻

Hi, my Zwift set-up is a Wahoo Kikr with my road bike & a Elite Sterzo Steerer & it works fab, congratulations on buying a bike 😎 I'm a cyclist through & through your going to love it . Keep up the good work 👍

now you need sauce 4 zwift, massive help during races(opinion based on 2 goes) Great review & vid. I'll be hoping to get these as a prezzie tooooo.

I love the play controllers, they make such a difference in races and also help a lot when helping others to keep them in the draft. I really miss using them in races that don't allow them now. Congrats on the podium in the crit race, you're looking strong! Looking forward to seeing your new gravel bike 👊

I really like my Play controllers, if you're riding a setup with virtual gears then they are brilliant for changing gear.

Love my Play controllers. I only really use them for powerups, Zwift bombs and steering, but definitely worth the price for powrrups and steering alone. Also much better option for virtual shifting compared to the click

Top notch review and demonstration Ryan. I got these myself for Christmas and have been toying with a race style review. To be honest I am not convinced yet due to some limitations and bugs. I’ve also experienced the one side not steering and find they often vibrate during a ride to indicate they’ve dropped and recovered signal which is a bit alarming. Good performance during the race and I often get distracted at the wrong moment. Also awesome to see you on the drops during the sprinting the final 3.3km or so with the right technique, that’s worth a few watts deffo!! 👍💪👊

Just FYI there is a current bug in the latest Zwift release related to how it steers you back to the center automatically, so in the next release you may find it behaves differently. The left side of the road is reserved for riders coming in the other direction, so you won't get over there, but the thing that changed is auto-steering you to the middle of your lane.

Hi Ryan, happy belated! I did wonder about these Zwift controls so thanks for putting this review out there. However I’m so new to Zwift I still have to buy a phone holder for my road bike, I’ve had 2 group rides now and never used a power up 😅

I agree with you on the zwift okay, some courses are different where they won’t allow you to cross over the centre line which I think you experienced here. When in a group it will do the same and won’t let you love into another riders position, sometime I find I will have to hit the button twice to get the your rider to actually move. Zwift will also automatically move you into a draft position, that I find I only use mine for minor draft adjustments or for race lines. They are great for going through the menu, power up activations, giving ride ons while keeping your hands on the hood. For $100 they are a decent addition to the experience but wouldn’t be with the $150 they are expecting to be priced at in the future! Love the videos!!

Ryan, You can virtual shift using the play controllers, I bought mine and tried them out today. The gear change is just to the right and left of the orange steering buttons thingy.

Hi Ryan, great informative vid. I’ve been road cycling and zwifting for years. Have been looking at the play controllers, but read on zwift website they don’t fit wattbikes 🤔 Clearly you’ve managed it ok. I have the same fan 😅 Overweight & low power output. Currently lost the cycling bug 😕 Also watching your fan dance videos. I’m ex military and into hiking & wild camping. Knackered ankles means no running but I’d love to do fan dance at walking pace. Looking forward to binging your vids. 😊😊

I’ve had the Play controllers since they came out. For me they are excellent as they integrate with the Zwift Hub trainer and I use them for virtual shifting as well as the other features. Other than shifting I mostly use them for giving reg ride ons and power ups. I primarily only use steering at select times, mostly to get in a draft when another person with steering moves over or to pull out of the draft and attack so others aren’t in my draft. The other time that steering is helpful is when the finish line is close to or on a corner. You can steer to the inside and cut it a little. This will also move you over enough that people without steering aren’t drafting off of you. The steering only lets you move around in your lane of the road. So you can only really move side to side on half of what you see. It does help to cut corners but if you aren’t constantly moving your avatar around it will recenter or move you back to inside the pack.

I think I know what bike you have got, you mentioned it in previous hashtags. Happy birthday

Happy belated. Really enjoy watching your videos. Any more thoughts on getting an IRL road bike? I just got my sub 1 hour Alp Du Zwift last night, after trying for probably 12 months. A 59 mins 39 sec. Never thought I'd get there...Almost 2 minutes better than my previous PB. Not bragging, but you do feel a sense of achievement having a goal for that long. Been back on the bike (zwift) a month in prep for the Lakeland loop sportive on 21st April. It's going to be tough with so much time away from riding, but I've managed it before. Keep pedalling.

A 23 minute shorter video. Love 'em. Fin 😂😂😂😂😂

Nice one Ryan, I’ve been looking at these and like you I’d heard they weren’t great for novice runners (which I definitely am) so it’s really good to hear that doesn’t tally with your account and that you liked them. They’re supposed to be really good for plantar fasciitis as well which I’ve not had but am a bit cautious of as I’m upping my mileage. I might give them a try for off-road running road here. Also recorded and going to edit a ‘cyclist tries Zwift run’ video as ive just bought a treadmill….does that make me a real runner now?!? Great video as always mate 👊

Zwift play is so awesome thing. It's just a must have for races and workouts. The only problem is software and connectivity issues sometimes.

I've had them for around a month now and really like them. I got them mainly for virtual shifting, which is really nice although I'd prefer the ability to customize gear ratios as some of the jumps are a bit too big and I doubt that I'll use the 2 or 3 largest and smallest ones that much. Steering is nice too although I already had a Sterzo Elite Smart which is what I usually use to steer, but the controllers allow fine-tuning your position when trying to draft. I've tried braking but although there's a force feedback reaction from the controllers it doesn't seem to do anything in-game. They're also useful for navigating Zwift when selecting a workout or route, or giving a Ride On bomb. I've yet to use the other buttons and functions much and still tend to use the Companion app on my phone but I'll gradually migrate to using them as I get used to it. Not a must have but some of the features that they open are really nice.

The only "right" bike for anyone is the one that gets them out riding. Hope yours is inspiring.

Hi Ryan - bonus video treat! I have the play controllers and while it feels like you can't use the whole road, it does allow you to get as far over as possible within your side of the road. I guess otherwise on group or free rides you'd be riding into oncoming traffic?

Steering is fantastic, especially in big groups so you stay in the middle than being pushed out to the side. I noticed your right leg sticks out rather than along the frame, just checking that's natural and not a twisted cleat?? (as you dont want any knee injuries with all your Special forces training) 💪💪

Hello Ryan, good review I love my plays although they don’t seem to last me very long, first lasted 5 months before the brake stuck on, warranty replaced that set then I’ve just got a new set after one wouldn’t turn off 💁‍♂️. Usage wise the brake is pointless, a few times I’ve touched the brake mid sprint whilst trying to steer 🤦‍♂️. The sensitivity takes a little bit of practice to not swerve about, I do a gentle tab to move over into the draft and full grab to steer into a corner on a crit coarse but as you’ve noticed it limits you to how much of the road you can use. Are you able to rotate them around the bar a bit more I think ( I might be wrong) but the buttons should be flat level not tilted away from you, but your trainer bike hoods might prevent that it’s hard to see. As for your new bike congrats and are you going with clip in pedals? If so do practice clipping in and out, we’ve all crashed forgetting to unclip but it really isnt pleasant and would be quite easy to break bone. Also you might want to consider different tyres or a pair of wheels and tyres one for road and one for gravel. Gravel tyres on the road would work but a bit slow and road tyres on gravel might be a bit crashy! The most important bit on the bike is the engine! Have fun and stay safe!

I use the wattbike v2. How do I get the gear display on your hud. I don't have that.

I got them for virtual gear shifting the Y button is great for power ups and when the gear shift works it is great but I get drop outs mainly for the steering and mostly the right hand unit. I do not get drop outs for and other gear that I have working by Bluetooth and it seemed bad today so don't know why. The steering has no feed back and sometimes the left hand one is fine tuned more than the right and works OK. Are they value for money no are they worth it for the virtual gears yes if you race on Zwift and the power up Y button is worth it. They are beta version so expect them to improve £99 but set to go higher in price. I have no problem going across the road on Zwift it does not bring me back to middle unless I cross to wrong side of road what they do let you do is take the shortest line on a corner which makes a big difference like I said when they do not drop out they are not bad.

In groups the steering is not as much of a benefit, because you do not want to take the shortest line in corners and loose draft from the other riders, but in break-aways or if you fall behind your group you can benefit from taking the shortest line in corners

I have the play controllers, and they work about 50% of the time for the whole ride. When i have issues, they are that the controllers connect and disconnect every 15 or 30 seconds. The other issue is coming out of the pen, my trainer provides very little resistance, thus very low power output until I shut off the controllers.

With steering activated ,without steering it should put you behind the fastest rider just ahead

I have read you cant cross the centre line on races with the controllers

Stearing won't let you cross the middle of the road ........when you see people cutting the corner .....it's always on the inside of their side of the road

Why was everyone banging on about the Zwift RIDE bike when all anyone has to do is get these things? Why would anyone pay 1300 or whatever it is when you can just buy the controllers??? Something other reviews said couldn't be done?

I'm glad I didn't race you two weeks ago 😂

Grats with the new bike! The reason you cant cut corners in zwift, is because you can only be in your own lane. Zwift hasnt implementet full road dynamics

Steering seems like the stupidest thing ever. What they should have done if they really wanted to is have 'lines' like a running track, and you can move across on each click (like a derailleur) and you stay there till you change again. Instead of constantly having to micro adjust steering to not end up back in the middle. Not just to reduce the stupidity of it all but also people with small hands, or if you are sprinting etc etc. If anything they should have had a way to control the steering as you turn the handlebars. That's the best way I could imagine it making any sense. I'll stick to my companion app lol Also seems like another way to have peoplehave to pay to get advantages over others. Imagine a world where it was literally JUST about your power and managing it...not trying to micromanage shitty streering. Each to their own though.