Zwift
Zwift shelved its connected bike but didn’t quit hardware.
For context: A digital cycling platform for training and racing, Zwift’s focus is software.
In recent years, as connected fitness boomed, the company’s hardware efforts endured a series of fits and starts.
In May, Zwift laid off 150+ employees while scrapping plans for a Peloton-like connected bike.
The latest: Easing into hardware, Zwift unveiled a smart bike trainer called Hub, wirelessly syncing a wide range of road bikes to its virtual training universe.
Between the lines: Upon closer inspection, Zwift didn’t make this hardware; it white-labeled a drive trainer called Volt from manufacturer JetBlack.
And this aligns with CEO Eric Min’s renewed emphasis going forward: “We’re a software company.”
Of note, it cut the usual price for the hardware nearly in half — undercutting just about every other maker of smart bike trainers (like Wahoo’s KICKR and Saris’s H4).
Takeaway: With integration available for other platforms like ROUVY and Wahoo RGT, Zwift isn’t trying to win on hardware alone. Instead—with VR fitness taking shape—The Hub will be just another spoke in Zwift’s content-focused world.
