Zwift Cog vs cassette — which setup fits you?
The Zwift Cog is a single 14-tooth sprocket plus virtual shifting: nothing to match to your bike, and it accepts any 8-to-12-speed chain. A real cassette shifts mechanically and works identically in every app. 5 trainers in our database ship with the Cog, 5 can run one, and 10 ship with a cassette already fitted.
What the Cog actually replaces
On a cassette trainer your derailleur moves the chain across sprockets exactly like outdoors, so the cassette must match your drivetrain (speeds and freehub body). The Zwift Cog replaces that whole stack with one 14-tooth sprocket: the chain never moves, and the app changes the trainer’s resistance electronically when you press a shifter button. Cassette matching, spacers and lockring tools disappear — what you give up is mechanical shifting and app independence.
Which one should you pick?
Pick the Cog setup if you ride mostly in an app with virtual shifting (Zwift today), share the trainer between bikes with different drivetrains, or put a bike on and off often — any 8-to-12-speed chain just works, so swapping bikes needs no tools at all.
Pick a cassette if you use several training apps, race with the exact gear feel you have outdoors, or already own a spare cassette matching your bike. Mechanical shifting also keeps working when the app (or the trainer’s controller battery) does not.
Trainers that ship with the Zwift Cog
The 5 trainers in our database that come with the Cog fitted out of the box:
Zwift Hub One, Van Rysel D100, Van Rysel D500, Van Rysel RCR, JetBlack Victory
Trainers that can run a Cog
These 5 trainers offer the Zwift Cog as a fitted or optional freehub, so you can run either setup:
Zwift Hub One, Van Rysel D100, Van Rysel D500, Van Rysel RCR, JetBlack Victory
Trainers that ship with a cassette instead
The 10 trainers that arrive with a cassette already installed — ready to ride if it matches your bike’s speeds:
Wahoo KICKR CORE 2, Wahoo KICKR V6 (2022), Wahoo KICKR MOVE, Tacx NEO 3M, Elite Direto XR, JetBlack VOLT V2, Elite Justo 2, Wahoo KICKR V5 (2020), Zwift Hub (classic), Kinetic R1