Zwift Specific Frame - no other options?

[bsharp77]

Hi all,

Now that my outdoor bikes are all sorted (thanks LCR018-D!), ive moved on to sorting my indoor setup.

Looking at all options, it looks like a Zwift Ride is on the cards.

I currently use an old frame on a Zwift One direct mount turbo - but I need the option to be able to rip the frame off the turbo and hide behind the sofa as im hoping to set everything up in a living room space.
Having the front wheel on there takes up a lot of extra room, plus the chain and derailleur hanging down from the bike make storing the frame off the trainer problematic without damaging anything.

2 really nice features on the Zwift ride frame are the front fork, which is very minimalist and space saving, plus the way they have the chain setup with a little tensioner - its all "inside" the frame - so easy to leave the frame on the floor and there's nothing to damage as it touches the ground.

Im really surprised thats there's no cheap copy cat frames out there - Zwift are charging a premium price for what is a simple frame design which could be easily copied / adapted.

If I could find a single speed conversion kit that routed the chain in a similar way to the Zwift frame and meant nothing protruding from the rear derailleur area, I would try it, but that coupled with finding a nice integrated front fork stand makes buying an out of the box solution much more appealing.

Granted, im being picky and rather niche in my requirements, but I like a nice finished product - a tool thats designed exactly for purpose.
Anyone seen any other options out there?

[POTOOOOOOOO]

My friend is having one of these delivered tomorrow. I’ll probably check it out at the weekend and be able to offer an opinion based on seeing it 1st hand.

Until then, I don’t think it could easily or neatly be replicated - I think you could easily spend a few hundred attempting to copy the idea and making something less neat, more complicated and hideous looking 😂

Sometimes it’s just best to spend the money and be done with it.

[Yoei802]

I picked up a Zwift ride in the fall. It is very nice for just having a dedicated Zwift bike. I would 100% recommend. I had thought of going down the path of just getting a frame to through on my Wahoo Kickr but once you factor in all the parts (chainring/chain/handlebars/etc) it starts to make less sense.

[Tpower59]

Well bought this used Decathlon Triban 100 for 100€ used
It does the job

[bsharp77]

Thanks all.
Yeah, I think I’m going to just pay the premium for the convenience and design.
Totally agree I could mess around, spend a few hundred pounds and still not have as refined a finish.
With all the thousands of frames flying out of China these days I thought it would be an easy copy, but I guess the demand isn’t there.
Thanks all.

[bremerradkurier]

A 4x4in/10cmx10cm wooden post with a hole drilled for either a 9mm QR axle w/locknuts or 12mm thru-axle attached to a square plywood piece would be a fairly cheap way to save front wheel space.

[offspring_fan]

A 4x4in/10cmx10cm wooden post with a hole drilled for either a 9mm QR axle w/locknuts or 12mm thru-axle attached to a square plywood piece would be a fairly cheap way to save front wheel space.

You can also go fancy and get one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007592915101.html

I'm in the process of making a front wheel stand with a nice piece of oak. It will rest on a wobble cushion

[bremerradkurier]

You can also go fancy and get one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007592915101.html

I'm in the process of making a front wheel stand with a nice piece of oak. It will rest on a wobble cushion

Yeah, that would the easy mode and probably doable with paired 2 x 4s cut to length.

[clubber]

Saw this https://www.reddit.com/r/Zwift/comments/1lajf6w/space_saving_front_wheel_replacement_on_the/

[bsharp77]

That’s pretty neat - but still means having to miunt and unmount after every session.
The front fork issue is the easier of the 2 issues, finding a system to make the chain run within the frame is the real deal breaker.

Think I’ll go for the zwift bike, although sorely tempted by the new Cycplus T7 smart bike.
Looks amazing, but zero reviews as it’s only really going into production and I’d be worried about support in the UK.

[BeeMC]

I was in a similar situation as yours but the Zwift bike only (without kickr core) is not available in Canada. I built a dedicated trainer bike using a twitter C6 frame cheap Ali express parts and parts that I already had on a wahoo kickr and found a climbr for cheap on marketplace. I use the Zwift cog with Zwift play and Zwift click for virtual shifting - no shifters or brakes in this bike.

[ricchirock]

I was in a similar situation as yours but the Zwift bike only (without kickr core) is not available in Canada. I built a dedicated trainer bike using a twitter C6 frame cheap Ali express parts and parts that I already had on a wahoo kickr and found a climbr for cheap on marketplace. I use the Zwift cog with Zwift play and Zwift click for virtual shifting - no shifters or brakes in this bike.

what did you use instead of RD to keep the chain tension?

[BeeMC]

what did you use instead of RD to keep the chain tension?

Had an old mechanical rear derailleur and inserted a shifter cable in reverse as shown in this video