Zwift’s new Smart Frame rides solo, and it’s here to complete your indoor setup

Zwift takes the training wheels off with its new standalone Ride Smart Frame option

Zwift Ride Smart Frame
(Image credit: Zwift)

When Zwift launched its affordable Ride smart bike a few months ago, it instantly became everyone’s favourite accessory to use with the popular training platform, including me.

The main criticism of the otherwise excellent Zwift Ride was that it forced you to buy the turbo trainer as well as the smart frame, which meant that people who already had a trainer felt a bit left out.

Zwift didn’t wait long to respond to this, as the company just announced that it will start selling Zwift Ride Smart Frame as a standalone exercise bike without the turbo trainer attached.

This program expands Zwift’s virtual shifting capabilities to a wider range of smart trainers, ensuring that almost any 8-12-speed bike can be seamlessly integrated into the Zwift ecosystem.

The Ride Smart Frame is equipped with Zwift's latest Cog and Click technology, which includes in-built indexing for quieter, smoother rides.

The Ride Smart Frame also retains the benefits introduced with the bundled Zwift Ride with KICKR CORE earlier this year, including the integrated shift buttons that can be customised to match your preferred shifting style – be it Shimano, SRAM, or sequential.

The Zwift Ready program is said to simplify identifying smart trainers that support Zwift’s virtual shifting.

The Zwift Ride Smart Frame is now available to buy directly from Zwift US and Zwift UK for a recommended price of $799.99/ £749.99. It's not available to buy in Australia at present.

Matt Kollat
Section Editor | Active

Matt Kollat is a journalist and content creator who works for T3.com and its magazine counterpart as an Active Editor. His areas of expertise include wearables, drones, fitness equipment, nutrition and outdoor gear. He joined T3 in 2019. His byline appears in several publications, including Techradar and Fit&Well, and more. Matt also collaborated with other content creators (e.g. Garage Gym Reviews) and judged many awards, such as the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance's ESSNawards. When he isn't working out, running or cycling, you'll find him roaming the countryside and trying out new podcasting and content creation equipment.