Zwift "Premium", TR Merger or Add-In speculation

More likely, just a result of the difference in size and brand recognition of companies like Zwift and Peloton vs. that of TR.

True, but that means my friends will potentially get faster. Do I want that or do I want the social ride to stay at a social pace for me? :stuck_out_tongue:

Goodness, How many watts have I dropped in lost training, by skimming through these over 1000 posts. :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

TR is supposed to make me faster :joy:

Multitasking is key :grinning:

Can’t have your friends get faster. :smile:

Tell me about it! This must be what it’s like to be an astronaut when their muscles atrophy when in space too long.

There’s been comment on the size of the equivalent thread on the Zwift forums but how big is the thread about the “survey” asking about Zwift Premium and AT, etc.?

Not sure it’s as simple as brand recognition, round here the only ones that go for TR are those that are ALREADY fast, or at least aspire to the fast groups, those that aren’t (and in my club, largest in the area by far, that’s most… ) know about the options, but suggest they stare at blue bars (supplemented by entertainment)rather than ride around a virtual world or watching actual routes/rides and they look at you like you suggested you shove your manhood between the spokes of a spinning wheel…

There’s a fair portion of the “pure” (i.e. non spin class) cycling market that react strongly negatively to things not “feeling like” outdoor cycling. SF and Zwift may achieve it in different ways (and with varying levels of success), but they scratch a different need, for a lot of people, performance benefits are just an added extra, these guys wouldn’t go for TR even if they are marketed to heavily.

The biggest thread I can find has 18 posts. There are a few various other posts, but they’re all under 10 replies. Maybe I’m using the wrong search terms?

https://forums.zwift.com/search?q=Survey%20order%3Alatest_topic

https://forums.zwift.com/search?q=Premium%20%20order%3Alatest_topic

I filled in the podcast survey early to avoid winning an Zwift swag :grinning:

Drawing comparisons of TR to Peloton provides very little info. Peloton (for better and worse) is a very high profile public corporation that is covered extensively by all of the major business outlets. Even the unsubstantiated acquisition rumor by Amazon appeared on CNBC and in the WSJ.

For comparison, the TrainerRoad name has never appeared in the WSJ or NYT. Even on Bloomberg, it has appeared only twice - once in an article on Zwift (as a competitor) and once in an article on tech in Reno

TR is a very important company in the world of training, and particularly to us TR users. But from a business news perspective, it is pretty unremarkable and of little interest [as of yet].

HOWEVER, Zwift has appeared in all of the major business pubs/outlets (WSJ, Bloomberg, NYT) at least 20x each (by my count) based on the massive funding they have received AND that their lead investor in their most recent $450M round was KKR, one of the largest and most respected private equity firms in the world.

IF a Zwift acquisition of TR comes to fruition (i.e. a definitive deal signed), you will see it in these major pubs due to Zwift’s participation in the transaction which will translate to a lot of chatter in many forums, including business, fitness and cycling, including Zwift.

A final thing to keep in mind regarding current chatter on Zwift, and even here in this TR thread, about a potential Zwift-TR acquisition: The level of “definitive” acquisition activity could be summarized in any of the following news headlines :rofl::

  • “Eric Min makes travel stop in Reno”
  • “Nate Pearson misses appearance in his own podcast”
  • “DCRainmaker’s news dry spell draws him into the world of M/A speculation”

Yeah, my comment about lack of discussion on the zwift ride squashing the rumors was tongue in cheek.

As impatient as several of us may be to learn what is (or is not) happening behind the scenes, the truth may not be revealed any time soon, if ever.

Any ongoing acquisition or partnership negotation process could easily last at least a couple of months, and if no deal is struck, we’ll probably never get to know about it either. Such processes typically include signing of a letter of intent along with NDA’s (which in itself can take some time), a set of (lengthy) workshops where strategic opportunities are thoroughly reviewed, a due diligence process (that easily lasts a few weeks), and then there’s a signing and an announcement of the deal. And THEN whatever synergies and development can start. And such processes may stop during any of the steps.

Assuming that there are no similarily vibrant, ongoing discussions on other or relevant forums that support the idea that there is an ongoing process, I suppose the most healthy thing is to consider this speculation to be entertaining and interesting for us TR users, and it is probably quite amusing for @Nate_Pearson and the rest of TR’s staff and shareholders too.

Hopefully whatever comes from it will for the better both for TR users, employees and shareholders - and definitely for Zwift. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy both TR and Zwift on my indoor trainer and scroll through this thread frequently. :slight_smile:

The funny thing is…if no TR Zwift partnership is going to happen…there might be no statement of Nate nor Eric ever…and this thread will keep rolling and rolling :joy:

This group will just flood podcasts with asking about Zwift until they’re forced to address it. :smile:

If there was ever talks and if they die out. Then hopefully can at least at some point they can say, “We have no plans currently of selling or partnering with any other entities” or something along those lines.

@dcrainmaker

At first glance I saw, “DCRainmaker’s news dry spell draws him into the world of MMA” which of course made me stop skimming and go back for a second look. :joy:

not very good for the w/kg, but solid on the flats.

it’s possible, but I think the reason for getting it from TR would be so they don’t. Otherwise, what’s the point?