{"id":539767,"date":"2026-03-16T08:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/539767\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T08:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:45:12","slug":"how-to-run-zwift-outside-on-your-bike-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/539767\/","title":{"rendered":"How to run Zwift outside on your bike computer"},"content":{"rendered":"

While in the midst of writing this year\u2019s buyer\u2019s guide, the Hammerhead Karoo 3 came across my desk. Uniquely, the Karoo runs Android, which means it\u2019s possible to sideload all sorts of apps on the device. So I got to thinking. What would be the funniest thing to run on a bike computer? Zwift was my answer, but was it possible? The Karoo has Bluetooth and ANT+, and Zwift is available on Android, so in theory it should work.<\/p>\n

I found a DC Rainmaker tutorial<\/a> on how it\u2019s done. Armed with this new knowledge, I was confident I could pull it off. I started out by enabling developer options on the head unit. Then I downloaded the developer tools on my computer.<\/p>\n

I actually had to write a few command lines to get this working. It was here that I thought I might be in over my head with an expensive piece of tech my editor had entrusted to me. But I pressed on, the motivation of a few laughs at the office getting me through various forum threads on the subject.<\/p>\n

The first serious obstacle: I downloaded Zwift as an XAPK (a file format for Android apps), but when I tried to load it through the command prompt, my window filled with error messages. It turns out XAPK files weren\u2019t compatible with the software I was using, only the smaller APK files.<\/p>\n

But I found salvation in the comments section of that DC Rainmaker tutorial. By sideloading the app store where I got the Zwift XAPK, I could install the file directly on the device. So I opened the store on my bike computer, dodged a few ads, and found the Zwift file.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, it opened. I logged into my account, paired my power meter, and I was off. As the head unit rested on my desk, the frame rate was choppy. The device got quite warm. But once I hit the road, the real road, with the computer mounted on my bars, the air cooled it down. I swear it was running a bit smoother. So there I was, doing laps of the block, watching my avatar ride through Watopia on my bike computer.<\/p>\n

Spurred on by this success, I wanted to see what else was possible. I sideloaded the FloSports<\/a> app and tried to sign in. The app thought the bike computer was a TV, so it gave me a QR code to sign in on my phone. Because the head unit\u2019s display is much smaller than that of a TV, it was impossible to see the confirmation code I needed to type in on my phone.<\/p>\n

I had an idea: if all I needed was a bigger screen, could I just plug this thing into my monitor? Android has a developer mode where you can basically use your device like a PC. When I tried to boot the Karoo into desktop mode, I hit another snag. How could I plug a keyboard and mouse into a bike computer to actually open the app when the head unit is essentially acting like a desktop PC? Hypothetically, I could buy a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. For now, I\u2019ll still need to choose between watching the Tour de France live on July mornings or riding my bike on the open road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While in the midst of writing this year\u2019s buyer\u2019s guide, the Hammerhead Karoo 3 came across my desk.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[210844,49,48,635,157426,210845,82,60709],"class_list":["post-539767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-bike-computer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-hammerhead","tag-karoo","tag-sports","tag-zwift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}