Wahoo acquires RGT virtual cycling platform, folds into new Wahoo X subscription
Wahoo acquires RGT virtual cycling platform, folds into new Wahoo X subscription
Wahoo has announced the acquisition of the virtual cycling platform, RGT Cycling. RGT, formerly known as Road Grand Tours, has built a fan base on its (partly) free to use service, racing calendar, iconic routes, advanced physics engine, and so-called “magic roads” which let users replicate outdoor routes indoors. The popular indoor training platform will now be known as Wahoo RGT and available through a new Wahoo X subscription service. Wahoo X will combine the recently released Wahoo Systm app and RGT to offer riders access to both platforms for a single monthly premium and account.
Wahoo launched the Systm training platform last September with lofty goals of creating the “world’s most complete training app.” With the inclusion of RGT, Wahoo now offers riders a virtual world to ride, race and explore alongside the existing training plans, workouts, and video options. The addition is a significant step toward those one-stop training app goals.
Both platforms are now available in the Wahoo X app on iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows for the same price as the previous Systm only subscription of US$14.99 per month or US$129 per year. Systm subscribers will automatically gain access to RGT and vice versa. Subscribers to either platform will now have a chunk of extra training tools at hand and Wahoo is offering a 14-day free trial, allowing new users to explore the entire suite of content and functionality in both apps.
Hardware player ups its software game
It’s fair to say Wahoo played a big part in kick-starting the smart and virtual indoor training boom. Its range of Kickr trainers made interactive riding on Zwift possible. It’s also fair to say Wahoo and Zwift have both relied on each other, to varying degrees over the past decade, to get to where they are today. With the RGT acquisition, Wahoo is now a direct competitor to Zwift in a way that even the Systm app hadn’t created. All signs point toward virtual roads becoming a lot more competitive in the near future.
On the indoor training platform expansion topic, CyclingTips understands the previously rumoured Zwift/TrainerRoad merger/acquisition is now off. The possibility of a TrainerRoad and Zwift partnership first gathered pace when Zwift surveyed members on the possibility of a Zwift Premium offering, which included many TrainerRoad-like services and described Zwift Premium as “everything you need to train and cycle at your best – from adaptive training plans to advanced analytics.”
If that Zwift premium offering is now dead in the water, today’s Wahoo news gives the company a few first points in the training world battle as it combines RGT with its existing training plan offerings. That said, CyclingTips also understands Wahoo has made serious pivots in recent weeks, laying off dozens of staff across multiple departments last week. We will bring you more on this if/when we have it.
More information on the Wahoo X subscription service, Wahoo SYSTM, and Wahoo RGT is available at www.wahoofitness.com/wahoo-x-subscription.
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