From Gear Hell to Shifting Heaven: Zwift Cog & Click Saved My Muckers Racing!
Right, let me tell you about the rollercoaster I’ve been on with indoor cycling gears lately. It’s been a proper saga, but thankfully, it’s got a happy ending thanks to the Zwift Cog & Click!
It all started with that Rouvy 3.10 update. Sounded great on paper – virtual shifting and all that. But for me, with my trusty Wahoo Kickr Core, it turned into a bit of a nightmare. Suddenly, virtual shifting was ON, even though I didn’t have a Zwift Cog or Zwift Click! Next thing I know, I’m in a Muckers race, stuck solid in 13th gear. Seriously frustrating! I even downgraded the app, which sorted it for a bit, but the gear gremlins weren’t finished with me.
Fast forward a week, Muckers Championship Race time again, Colorado route, Boulder Climb looming. And BAM! Gear cable snaps clean in half, right by the shifters. Top gear, instant race over. That was Championship race number two, scuppered by gears. I was starting to think I was cursed!
Something had to change. So, I bit the bullet and ordered a Zwift Cog and Click from Sigma Sports over in the UK. Fingers crossed this was the answer. Tuesday, March 5th, 2025, it finally arrived! I couldn’t wait to try it, but work and all that got in the way. First thing I did was attach just the Click switch to my bike. Quick tweak of the rear cassette to lock it in the middle gear, and I hopped on for a quick spin. Half a mile in, and things were feeling promising!
But the real test? Thursday night, Muckers Championship Race. I’d missed two weeks of racing, so my fitness was definitely off the boil. Honestly though, from the second I started pedalling, the Zwift Click was incredible. Seriously, the best £79.99 I’ve ever spent on my bike, hands down. “Click, click, click” – I was flying through all 24 virtual gears. My old Wahoo Kickr Core suddenly felt like a top-of-the-range turbo trainer. It was like night and day!
The only slight thing was I’d stuck the Click switch right on top of the handlebars at first. It worked, but it wasn’t quite natural. So, on my recovery ride, I moved the Clicker down, closer to where my normal gear levers would be. Perfect! Now it feels totally natural, just like shifting on the road.
So, massive thanks to Rouvy for adding virtual shifting, and thanks to Zwift for the Click. It’s totally transformed my indoor racing. If you’re on Rouvy and thinking about virtual shifting, especially with a Wahoo Kickr Core, get yourself a Zwift Click. You won’t regret it! Happy Muckers racing everyone – catch you on the virtual roads!
Thank you Kyle for the review,
As a rider with whose 57 year old knees are screaming for me to replace my 11-28 cassette on my dedicated indoor bike/Wahoo KICKR Core set up I was excited to hear that Rouvy were introducing virtual gears. However my experience with Rouvy 3.10 update was also poor. After I updated my MacBook and In anticipation of the Muckers Championship race I attempted to download the route, multiple error messages told me my downloaded route was corrupt. Sensing something was amiss I attempted to join the event in plenty of time with the intention of using the warm up to ensure all was well – it was not and much rushing around to fire up an old ipad with the previous version installed meant I rode the race almost blind as I could not see the screen. Comms with Rouvy resulted in me rolling back the update. Once I get a break in my indoor racing season I will re-attempt the update, if all works well and virtual gearing is an option I will order a Zwift Cog & Click from Sigma Sports based on your positive review – many thanks.
What I hate the most in Rouvy, is that, there are so many bumpy roads, that it is a magic that my shifters are still in one piece.
Okay, here where I live outdoors I mostly use shifters only at the traffic lights, and other slow down point (which don’t exist in Rouvy ofcourse), and I almost can get a 200km route that I can make at 90rpm, without shifting at all, eg at the Great Plains.
But on an average hill it is also true that you have to shift 3-4 times the most, because it is rare that the gradient changes many times. But not in Rouvy 🙂 So yeah, this virtual shifting is a must. When I’ll buy a new trainer it surely should have this ability.