Fastest Zwift Road Bike/Wheel Test: Tron Bike vs Cervelo S5 vs Giant Propel

With the release of the Zwift "Drop Shop" and the Zipp 808 and Super9 Disc appearing (and maybe disappearing?) I've had a ton of people ask what the fastest road BIKE combination in Zwift is. Is the TRON (or the Zwift Concept bike) earned after 50,000m of climbing with the Everest Challenge selected - still the proven fastest? Or is the previous 2nd fastest bike, the Cervelo S5 NOW equipped with Zipp 808/Super9 disc the new king or queen of the bike selections?

Links:

Test:
- Isolated from the Internet. No other riders/drafting.
- 73kg rider. 181cm. Male. No helmet.
- SET wattage of 250W sustained at 90rpm
- ONE Lap of Watopia Hilly 9.1km. Great combination of all terrain.

Results:

Cervelo S5 w/ Zipp 808+Super9
KOM: 3:00.95
Sprint: 32.54
Lap: 15:18.31

Zwift Concept Bike Z1 (aka TRON Bike)
KOM: 2:59.76
Sprint: 32.56
Lap: 15:17.56

Giant Advanced Propel SL w/ Zipp 808+Super9 (Fom the Drop Shop)
KOM: 3:01.20
Sprint: 32.57
Lap: 15:19.36

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#zwift #cycling #fitness

[danjo]

its good that they are close. we can use our fav bike without feeling like its unfair. (i still use the tron racing) :P

[dudewhereismyfitness]

Good video Shane, we were just talking about this y'day morning. My opinion: ride whatever you like up the Alpe, your day to day form matters more than bike selection at this point in Zwift :)

[chills]

Would be nice to see the times against the stock (slowest) bike & wheel combo. The difference between these three is marginal but maybe against the slowest it makes a significant difference? Cheers though, great vid as always. :)

[vedhed]

Thanks for the vid. Would already have the Tron bike if it weren't always so lovely here in California. Rough life.

[tjn]

At some point I want to try Dr.Ferrari's poor-man's wind tunnel test in game: ride a descent at 0w (they would hold the aero position to be tested) and note time between checkpoints and/or distance travelled before stopping, ie. Alp KOM end -> beginning, or tower -> castle. etc. I would think a test of varying wattages would be interesting, how the bikes respond to +-acceleration, but combined with terrain differences would produce muddy results, that's where I think the descent test could possibly show something being equal terrain and physics power imposed on the bike, or they may just be essentially the same as shown here.

[peebee]

From a racing point of view I switched from tron to cervelo, only reason was that when you are taking a rest in the draught or sitting for a bit the cervelo avatar clearly sits up, where the tron not so much . Helped me save precious energy when blowing a bit 👍🏻

[thenerdycanadian]

i'd be curious to see them compared to the base bike just to see how big of a difference it makes

[birkhansen]

I'll like to see a climbing test. Lightest bikes/wheels up the Alpe

[davidkopman]

Great video! Would love to see a similar run comparing Tron bike verse a few ultra lightweight climbing bikes up the epic KOP or ADZ. Thanks.

[simonagnew]

Very interesting and thorough video. Well done.

[ivancajka]

Shane please so the same test with the Tron bike vs starter bike and wheels so us newbies know what we are missing out :D

[kiverrussell]

Like real life then for the leisure rider - choose a bike on looks, that'll get you "out" riding! Interesting to see the head to head, thanks.

[steviesteve]

Interested to see how the Scott foil compares to the cervelo, given that real world testing puts it in the top 2-3 aero frames available

[marty]

Just spent all my drops on a canyon ultimate, canyon speedmax and the disc 808. I’ll still probably use the tron like 99% of the time tho 😬

[maxclark]

Interested in what would be the best hill climb bike now?

[RodrigoDeJaneiro]

How about the TT bike with 808+Super 9 combo? That should be the fastest bike/wheels combo

[zedsprocket]

Great vid 👍. How will the ‘safety’ bike and ‘safety’ wheel combo compare🧐

[joshuagraves]

What is the fastest bike on the flattest courses (Richmond Flat / Volcano Flat)? Is there a difference between the TT bikes? This would be handy for people looking to do solo/workout rides and rack up some EXP.

[KentArnsbarger]

I'm sure the Madone would be VERY close as well. I've been just riding the Madone with the disc wheel for fun!!

[jordywilliams]

Bought the s3 disk for the white bar tape and saddle