Virtual Shifting

Smart trainers in simulation mode adjust resistance based on terrain, but until now there was no way to shift gears. Virtual shifting adds a full drivetrain simulation to Ride Cave. You shift up and down through a sequential gear list, and each shift changes the resistance your trainer applies. It works with keyboard controls, on-screen buttons, or a Bluetooth shift controller.

How It Works

Virtual shifting builds a gear table from your selected drivetrain preset. Every chainring and cog combination is sorted by gear ratio from easiest to hardest, creating a sequential list you shift through one gear at a time. You start in the middle of the range at a neutral position with zero grade offset.

Each shift adds or removes a grade offset that your trainer applies on top of the current terrain. Shift to a harder gear and the resistance increases. Shift easier and it drops. The offset is smoothed through an exponential moving average over two seconds so transitions feel natural, not jarring.

Gearing Presets

Five drivetrain presets are available: Road (50/34 + 11-28, 20 gears), Climbing (50/34 + 11-36, 20 gears), Flat/TT (52/36 + 11-25, 20 gears), Gravel (42 + 10-36, 10 gears), and MTB (32 + 10-52, 12 gears). The 2x presets interleave chainring and cassette combinations so shifting feels like electronic sequential shifting rather than separate front and rear derailleurs.

Shifting Intensity

The shifting intensity slider controls how much resistance changes per shift. It sets the total grade range distributed across all gears, from 8% to 24% with a default of 16%. At 16% across 20 gears, each shift changes the grade offset by about 0.84%. Lower intensity means subtler differences between gears. Higher intensity means more dramatic resistance jumps.

Controls

Arrow Up and Arrow Down on your keyboard shift harder and easier. On-screen shift buttons appear in the player UI when virtual shifting is active. A complication cell shows your current gear ratio, chainring and cog combination, and position in the gear table (e.g., 8/18).

For a hands-free experience, Ride Cave supports two Bluetooth shift controllers: the Zwift Click 2 and the Cycplus BC2. Connect either one from Settings and its buttons map directly to shift up and shift down. Battery level is displayed once connected.

Audio Feedback

Each shift plays a short synthesized click — a higher pitch for upshifts and a lower pitch for downshifts. The sound is generated with the Web Audio API so there are no audio files to load.

Getting Started

Open Settings, go to Trainer Controls, and toggle Virtual Shifting. This automatically enables simulation mode. Choose a gearing preset, adjust the intensity if you like, and optionally connect a Bluetooth shift controller. Start a ride and shift with the arrow keys or your controller.