Cyclist
Insider training: three leading indoor framesets compared
‘We were seeing no movement in the marketplace when we were working on this and then suddenly two came out before us. It was kind of funny, but also nice to have the concept validated.’
So says Jason Haney, CEO of Caveworks, which along with Zwift and Elite released an indoor frameset last year. These indoor-only frames stand on an elongated fork while the dropouts mount to a turbo trainer. They cost and weigh much less than a smart bike while providing similarly easy fit adjustment.
In removing the need to ride your outdoor bike on a turbo they offer some clear advantages for those seeking a halfway house between full-blown smart bike and a traditional bike-and-trainer setup. Zwift was first to the draw with its Ride frame in June 2024.
‘When we were designing the Ride we landed on this idea of modularity and simplicity while bringing really good value to the customer,’ says Jessica Rowley, Zwift’s product manager.
You can buy the Ride in a ready-to-pedal bundle for £1,199, which includes a Wahoo Kickr Core trainer and single-speed Zwift Cog drivetrain, or you can buy the Ride frame on its own for £799.99 and mount it onto an existing trainer. Either way, Zwift is your only choice of indoor cycling app. In terms of aesthetics, Rowley says the focus was to design something for the home but still for cyclists.
‘I think the result is very simple and sleek,’ she says.
Beauty was a lower priority for Elite with the Square. Elite’s Mattia Gomeiro defends its boxy design, saying, ‘This shape makes the Square frame size more adjustable than a triangular frame. Indoors, what’s the point of using traditional frame design? We wanted to do something different.’
At £1,199 for a frame and finishing kit, the Square is pricier than the Ride, but Gomeiro says the Ride comes with fewer features and you can only use it on Zwift, whereas you can use the Square with most trainers and apps.
‘The third advantage is that you can make more size adjustments than on the Ride,’ he adds. Elite’s smart frame offers a choice of five crank lengths, but the 170mm crank length on the Ride isn’t adjustable.
‘We didn’t think it would be that important but when we presented the feature on the Square, people loved it’, says Gomeiro.
The Square also offers more saddle fore/aft adjustment because an in-line seatpost is not available for the Ride. However, Rowley says Zwift worked with bike-fitters during the design process to ensure that the majority of people could find a comfortable riding position on the Ride.
What do you drive?
Zwift specced the Ride’s drivetrain with a chain, mainly so it was compatible with the Zwift Cog for virtual shifting on Zwift, and partly to make the frame look more like a bike. Meanwhile Elite says the Square’s belt-drive gearing means it runs almost silently and requires even less maintenance.
Colorado-based Caveworks went a different way entirely when it launched its Rivet frameset last year. The base frame undercuts both competitors at £633, though riders will need to build it up themselves. [Note: since this article was first produced, the frame’s price has risen to £750.]
The steel frame uses common industry standards, so Caveworks’ thinking is that the rider can customise the Rivet using their preferred drivetrain and finishing kit. However, the brand does sell the Rivet with single-speed and geared versions as well, which are priced at £843 and £1,180 respectively.
‘We had in mind cyclists who ride a lot, want to maintain fitness, probably have spare parts and don’t mind tinkering,’ says Haney. ‘The frame opens up options and is very flexible.’
Haney says the inspiration for the Rivet came to him during an indoor workout on his custom-made gravel bike: ‘I was pouring sweat on this thing and that got under my skin.’ He also questioned the mechanical efficiency of pushing watts through an outdoor frame that isn’t really designed to be fixed in place.
‘My desire to create the right tool for the job resulted in the Rivet: a sweat-resistant steel frame with tubing strengthened specifically for indoor cycling,’ he says.
In describing the Zwift, Elite and Caveworks products as ‘different answers to the same question’, Haney points out that there is already a range of options for consumers even though this is a very young market with only three players.
‘I’m excited that without looking over the fence at each other, we differentiated ourselves because we wanted slightly different things,’ he says.
The product category might be contained to these three pioneers for now, however the positive reception of the indoor framesets among smart trainer manufacturers and indoor cycling app developers, who are working to make their product compatible with the frames, suggests they are here to stay.
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