Neo2T Zwift virtual shifting software support required

"One shouldn’t overlook the fact that Garmin has held back on doing Zwift Cog/Click. My discussions indicate they are keenly aware that if they were to jump into that arena, without protocol openness, it’d pretty much kill off the rest of the indoor trainer apps within 1-2 years."  See the DCRainmaker blog post on Rouvy enabling virtual shifting posted 2/12/25 on dcrainmaker.com.  Everyone needs to understand the virtual shifting by Zwift without protocol openness is simply Zwift's attempt at complete market monopoly both in apps and trainers. To reiterate, the folks in the know, DCrainmaker, Gplama, & Garmin, all realize that Zwift virtual shifting is bad for cycling folks market wise. ***, Zwift virtually owns Wahoo and Jetblack at this point. Both have had to completely rearrange their business models around Zwift with contracts with Zwift.  Wahoo would have gone under without them.  Zwift virtual shifting is bad, extremely bad for the app market and trainer market.  Thank god Garmin is the only light at the end of the Zwift tunnel.  Think about it, of the major three just a few years ago, Saris is all but dead and Wahoo hangs on with a deal with Zwift.  Jetblack survives only with deals with Zwift.  The market has to have app and trainer competition.  Zwift will love the day when trainers are only capable of virtual shifting in Zwift's protocol.  As an aside, it's worth mentioning that MyWoosh opened virtual shifting using their app only to do the shifting.  Maybe clunky but you can shift with it apparently.  So, your Tacx can shift with MyWoosh virtually now.  Just put it in the middle cog of your cassette.  Hope this helps folks understand the major huge downside of virtual shifting.  You'll all be locked into a one trick pony if Garmin enables virtual shifting and in two years the only training app will be Zwift and the only trainer manufacturers will be those that contract with Zwift.

Another item I forgot to comment on is the financial viability of Zwift long term.  Remember that just a year ago Zwift laid off 150 or more people and their CEO quit.  This has come to be a yearly occurrence with Zwift since 2021.  Why would we all want our trainers locked in to Zwift virtual racing only with Zwift play controllers etc., if Zwift takes a crap and goes out of business.  They certainly wouldn't be the first app company to go out of business.  To the point, as far as I can find, to date, Zwift has still never turned a profit in any year.  Just how long will their investors tolerate this?

I appreciate your concerns and you reasoning why Garmin don't want trainers locked into Zwift but all the trainers that come with a Zwift hub could be used with any other software platform by just removing the hub and replacing it with a cassette.

We don’t want transition to Zwift virtual shifting. We want to have this as an option. Like it -use it, don’t like it - don’t ! Why you think that you can’t use your trainer as usual having OPTION to also use with virtual shifting ?

I’m chiming in too.  Why isn’t it just an option?  Are you saying that somehow Zwift demands that if your trainer can use it, it can never go back to normal or use anything else?

I can only suggest that you reread DcRainmaker's comment that I posted above as to why.  He certainly has a better grasp on the situation than any of us and he is very clear that if Garmin allows it, it will kill all the other indoor trainer apps.  That's a situation that none of us want.

Nah. Nothing like this. You always can remove zwift cassette and use regular one with garmin edge or Tacx app. 

In my opinion, Garmin does not want to reach an agreement with Zwift on virtual gears. This will cause customers to leave in the long run. More and more new bikes have only one cog in the front and during a virtual ride on such a bike, generating the appropriate power for effective virtual training becomes impossible. Customers will start switching to other equipment that supports virtual gears on Wachoo. I do not understand this approach, especially since Neo2T can work with virtual gears (preload) generated, for example, using the Edge 1040 computer. It is strange that Garmin does not react to our requests because so far (as Tacx) they have reached an agreement with Zwift on the road feel in Zwift...

What are you talking about? Zwift Cog is just an option that you can install instead of a cassette and it is a good option for those who use several bikes and one trainer. The problem is that some people who have a 1x11, 1x12 or 1x13 drive in MTB or gravel bike are not able to train at all because they cannot generate enough watts due to the lack of gears. For this, additional initial resistance generated by virtual gear is needed. I have this problem but I solved it with the QZ app. I would prefer Garmin to support me in this because I trusted them by buying their expensive trainer. The QZ app works but I hope it is only a temporary solution.