Recent social media activity, surveys and reports suggest the rumours might be true
(Image credit: Zwift / TrainerRoad)
While neither can claim to be market leaders in the indoor cycling space, Zwift and TrainerRoad are both among the most popular platforms available and have long existed as competitors, catering to two different sets of consumers within the indoor cycling market.
Zwift, with its virtual world, group rides, social connectivity and competitive scene offers a great in-the-moment motivator to cycling indoors. Meanwhile, TrainerRoad's data-driven and machine learning approach to training offers for-the-future motivation, coaching you and training you toward your goals. Many cyclists - myself included - use both.
However, recent activity has suggested that the two companies may be about to merge, with the larger of the two, Zwift, reportedly on the brink of acquiring its competitor. A report by DC Rainmaker has unearthed a chain of events that in the beginning seem coincidental but quickly gather steam toward the claim.
To begin with, on the 12 January, Zwift founder and CEO, Eric Min, shared a post to Instagram from a hotel room in Reno, Nevada, the city which happens to be the home of TrainerRoad's headquarters.
Min, a resident of London, UK, had previously been spending time at Zwift's HQ in California, and his detour home could quite easily be written off as a coincidence. However, that was just the first in a series of events that continue to tie the companies together. In the weeks since, the Zwift CEO has joined the TrainerRoad club and followed Pearson on Strava, suggesting that the reason for his visit was indeed related to his company's competitor.
However, the most compelling evidence actually came a day after that Instagram post, when Zwift published a survey to its users. This survey, originally reported by Cyclingtips, surrounds the potential launch of 'Zwift Premium', a higher-cost subscription to the platform.
(Image credit: Zwift)
The additional features that Premium would include are not just similar to what is currently offered by TrainerRoad, they're exactly the same, and much of the terminology used is straight from the TrainerRoad playbook, too.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
'Adaptive Training' is the machine learning algorithm currently used by TrainerRoad. The 'AI-powered workout recommendations' is equivalent to TrainerRoad's TrainNow feature, while the 'Automatic FTP detection' would be the FTP Predictor that is coming soon, as leaked (probably intentionally) by TrainerRoad CEO, Nate Pearson. The final upgrade, 'take your workouts outdoors' is Outside Workouts, something which has existed for a number of years on the TrainerRoad platform.
Cyclingnews has reached out to both companies for comment and is yet to receive a reply.
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
