Winter is tough for cyclists
We were working on our broader roadmap: new wax recipes, Black Friday, and a new heater planned for 2026. Big moments. Important moments.
But in between those, we were also sharpening our view on who Cyclowax is really for. Not every cyclist. But the organised cyclist.
The rider who rides year-round.
The one with goals, competitive, adventurous, or simply personal. The one who wants to be ready when spring comes. That’s when winter started to stand out.
Not as a season to “get through”, but as the most fragile part of the year. Motivation drops. Structure gets harder. Training becomes lonely. Indoor riding helps, but it’s not always fun.
So we asked ourselves:
can we do something for cyclists in winter that’s not promotional, but supportive?
"We didn't want a campaign to sell. We wanted to help cyclists to keep going during winter.”
Listening before building
Before doing anything, we talked to a small test group. We asked how they handled winter riding.
What works. What doesn’t.
A few patterns came back every time:
Most riders own two or three bikes
They keep riding outside when possible
They ride indoors once, twice, sometimes three times a week
There’s always a goal in the back of their mind
But winter requires discipline. And discipline is easier when you’re not alone. That’s when the concept of a winter community came up. Not a strict training program. Not another race series. Something more social and fun. Something extra for those who are already riding in winter.
Graph that came out of our test group:
Riding through winter
The idea became simple:
Let’s get together weekly to train together and have fun. We’ve created high-quality group workouts where everyone stays together. No pressure to win, just showing up and finishing together. On top of the workout, we added a more playful weekly challenge where you could chase a pro. Not to beat them, but to see how long you could hold the wheel.
It turned out to be the perfect balance. Challenging, but fun. Competitive, without being intimidating. Week by week, riders kept showing up. 20. Then 30. Sometimes 50. And then something unexpected happened...
"Before we realised it, 5000 cyclists signed up for our Winter Club..."
From a simple idea to a global community
Riders started inviting other riders. Suddenly, we weren’t just riding with people from Belgium or the Netherlands, but from Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland and far beyond. Australia. Brazil. Canada. Finland. Denmark. Even Jamaica.
Before we really realised it, 5,000 riders had signed up.
Not because of prizes. Not because of ads. But because it felt good to be part of something during winter.
We managed to set up a great, authentic vibe and brought a lot of people together. Brands such as Zwift, Isadore, Bonk, Thrive & Lidl-Trek helped us spice things up with nice giveaways and support from their teams & athletes.
We know you like data, so here are the results
- 5.000 Winter Club subscribers
- 8-week program
- 13 Zwift rides
- People from all over the world joined: Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, The UK, Australia, The US, Brazil, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Jamaica, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Denmark
- Giveaways from Isadore, Bonk, Thrive,Zwift and Cyclowax of course
- Chasing awesome athletes such as Greg Van Avermaet, Freddy Ovett, Tim Declercq, Frederik Van Lierde, Lawrence Naesen & Hanne De Vet
- Fastest "Chase the pro ride": Chasing Greg Van Avermaet with 41,5 km/u
- Total kilometres ridden: 425,85 km
- Total metres of elevation: 2663 m
The Big Giveaway
On the 10th of February, we're organising the Big Give Away Zwift ride. One final ride where members of our Winter Club can win a Zwift Ride indoor bike worth €1,199,99. Pretty cool, right?
How? Well, everyone will be able to guess my highest power output, my peak power, during that ride. The person with the best guess wins.
