WILMINGTON, Del. (BRAIN) — A year to the day after Zwift announced its first stationary trainer, the Hub — which led Wahoo Fitness to quickly file suit for patent infringement — Zwift and Wahoo are announcing terms of an "amicable settlement" that include each company selling bundles containing the other’s products.
Wahoo and Zwift asked the court last week to dismiss the case, which had been on track for a jury trial sometime in 2025. U.S. Circuit Judge William C. Bryson approved the dismissal on Tuesday.
Wahoo and Zwift had coexisted for years, with Wahoo primarily a hardware brand and Zwift a software company offering a gamified simulated riding program. But in recent years the startups appeared to be on a collision course as Zwift began developing hardware and Wahoo got into software with the 2019 acquisition of Sufferfest, which it incorporated into its Wahoo Z training software package.
The days of competition and lawsuits are over, the companies said Wednesday in a joint statement.
“The agreement will see both parties embark on a renewed approach to collaboration, with a view to growing the indoor fitness category and delivering continual, ongoing improvements to customers — through increased innovation, ease of use and better value,” they said.
“The goal here is for the two companies to work closely together again in collaboration to push the category forward,” a Wahoo spokesman told BRAIN on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, they announced terms of the agreement, which include:
- Zwift will license Wahoo’s patents for its Zwift hub trainer model. Zwift will continue to sell its Hub trainer in its existing e-commerce markets, the U.S., the United Kingdom and the EU.
- Zwift will resume selling Wahoo smart trainers, bikes and accessories on Zwift.com. All the Wahoo products that Zwift sells will be bundled with a one-year subscription to Zwift. The agreement is not exclusive, so Zwift could also sell trainers from other brands if it chooses.
- Wahoo will bundle Zwift with its smart trainers and bikes, starting Sept. 13, for trainers sold on WahooFitness.com. The bundles will include a year Zwift subscription at a discount. The bundles will be optional for consumers who buy on the Wahoo site, with the exception of the Wahoo KICKR CORE trainer, which will be offered only as a bundle with Zwift. From mid-October customers buying from Wahoo retailers will also be able purchase the same discounted Zwift subscription, when registering their purchase with Wahoo. The companies will release full details and pricing on the bundles on Sept. 13.
Retailers including IBDs will also be able to offer the bundle with Wahoo trainers they sell starting this fall. Customers who buy trainers in stores will be given the option to add the Zwift subscription when they register their new trainer through the Wahoo mobile app. Retail packaging will eventually promote the offer as existing inventory moves through the channel.
Zwift will carry most of the Wahoo Kickr trainer and accessory line, except for the ROLLR trainer and a new Wahoo product being announced later this fall.
Prior to the settlement, Wahoo lowered the MSRP of the Kickr Core, by $300, to $599, positioning it at $100 more than the Zwift Hub (although the Hub includes a cassette and the Core does not). Elite has also lowered the price of two of its direct-drive trainers, a change first reported by DCRainmaker.
Last year, Wahoo settled its patent suit against JetBlack, the Australian brand that manufactures the Zwift Hub. JetBlack agreed to stop selling its nearly identical model, the JetBlack Volt, in the U.S. and the EU.
Wahoo recapitalized this spring, bringing in new equity partners to pay off a bank debt that was hobbling its growth.
Zwift, like several other indoor exercise brands, also had to make staff layoffs as it adjusted to the post-pandemic market.
