Elite Square In-Depth Review: Where Does It Stand?

The Elite Square is one of those reviews where I just couldn’t figure out how/where to review it, as the goalposts seemed to keep on shifting, both in terms of the product and how to review the product. So instead of doing a crazy detailed review of every tiny bit that you probably already know, I’m going to do a slightly more streamlined in-depth review focusing on the unique aspects (and what does and doesn’t work). This is based on usage last spring/summer, and then revisiting the unit this week after ensuring it had all the latest updates as of December 16th on it. The goal of this streamlined review is to simply get this review out the door for those that need the information, and then tackle any extra bits in the comments section (or future updates).

Elite’s goal here was to break the mold on indoor smart bikes, or rather, smart bike frames (bike frames that go atop trainers). Up til now, that was Zwift with the Zwift Ride. In Zwift’s case, they allowed multiple trainer brands (including Elite) to integrate with the Zwift Ride frame via both proprietary hardware (Zwift Cog), and proprietary software (Zwift Protocol), all linked to a proprietary software platform (the Zwift app). End to end, it 100% required being committed to the Zwift platform. It did not use any long-established industry standards in terms of communications or compatibility.

Whereas smart indoor bikes from traditional trainer companies up till now have largely platform agnostic, exempting some like Peloton or such. But otherwise indoor smart bikes from Wahoo, Tacx, Elite, and Technogym have all worked with any indoor cycling app/platform, across industry standard protocols (ANT+ FE-C, Bluetooth Smart FTMS, etc…).

Thus the Elite Square aimed split the difference. Elite wanted a smart bike frame that was compatible with not just any platform, but also any trainer. Meaning you could theoretically take a Wahoo KICKR trainer, put the Elite Square atop it, and use it with Zwift, Rouvy, or BikeTerra. Your choice.

In reality? This is incredibly difficult technically, mostly because there are in fact no virtual shifting industry standards. They couldn’t use the Zwift Protocol to connect to 3rd party apps, let alone the problem of having the smart bike frame tell the trainer what to do, which wasn’t going to listen to a different company’s commands it didn’t understand. Thus, Elite would have to add a software layer atop this, trying to trick both trainers and apps that it was just another normal smart bike.

If Elite could pull it off, it’s be a great way to thread the needle between what Zwift wanted, and what the rest of the industry wanted. The question is: Could they pull it off?

Change in Plans:

Spoiler: Elite did not pull this technical needle-threading feat off. Well, at least not for now, for 3rd party trainers. But fear not, it’s not all bad news. Nor the final news.

This past fall, Elite largely admitted temporary defeat in their ability to act as a smart bike frame for non-Elite trainers. Meaning, if you had a Wahoo/Tacx/Magene/Saris/whatever trainer, Elite was no longer going to try and be that middle-man option. They formally removed those claims from their marketing, and issued a statement as such, noting that if you had an Elite trainer, you were good to go, but that for now, they didn’t want to mislead people on the experience.

Here’s a message sent out late October 2025:

Dear Partners,

We initially announced that our Smart Frame Square was fully compatible with all third-party trainers on the market. However, we have noticed that, in some configurations with trainers other than Elite, performance is not always optimal, and the user experience may not meet the quality standards we aim to ensure.

We deeply regret this situation, which was not identified in our internal testing, and we want to ensure that communication with customers is as clear and transparent as possible.

For this reason, we have decided to update our communication regarding compatibility to 100%, to avoid conflicting expectations.

The Elite trainer + Square + software configuration is fully guaranteed.

The trainer configuration from other manufacturers + Square + software cannot be fully guaranteed at this time.

In the meantime, our technical team is working on firmware improvements that will allow us to further expand compatibility: we expect to be able to offer an optimal solution in the coming months.

We will keep you updated on developments, confident that this path will lead to an increasingly complete and satisfying experience for all Square users.

Kind Regards,
Elite srl

Now, there is some good news. As of December 17th, 2025, Elite has confirmed they are still working on 3rd party compatibility. In fact, their current target date for a new firmware version that is more stable for 3rd party trainers is March 2026. They sent over a beta version of said firmware this morning as well, but I’m traveling today and didn’t have a chance to try it yet.

But that still left a question: Was it worth it for Elite trainers? After all, for Europeans (where it’s more readily available), the Elite solution could still be more compelling than the Zwift solution. Even with an Elite-only trainer, it would offer multi-platform compatibility (e.g. Zwift, Rouvy, etc…), it had more adjustability than the Zwift Ride in terms of rider fit/positioning (especially around the saddle position).

Further, It also worked with the Elite Rizer, which can lift the bike up/down, which the Zwift Ride doesn’t have. And finally, it’s far quieter – virtually silent due to the belt design.

So, let’s talk about where it sits today.

In the Box & Building It:

The Elite Square comes in one big box, which in turn contains multiple boxes inside of it. The core of the Elite Square frame is pre-assembled, but there’s a bunch of accessory bits that need to be attached, as well as of course the trainer itself.

Here’s all the parts laid out:

And here’s a little gallery of said parts more close-up:

When it comes to assembly of the main unit, essentially, you’re attaching the main front ‘fork’ piece and handlebars. If you had an Elite Rizer, you’d skip attaching the front fork, and would attach that instead. This was quick and easy.

Notably, up front there’s an inclusion of a small Garmin/Wahoo mount. This is a nice touch, making it easy to mount your bike computer. You could also mount phones here too, with adapters.

Next, you need to swap out the cassette on your trainer, for the Elite Square belt drive system. First, remove your old cassette using a cassette tool:

Then, grab the new belt-drive cog, and toss that on. This is not hard, just like swapping any other cassette and takes about 30 seconds.

After that, you’ll install the actual frame onto the unit. This part did require multiple confirmations with the manual to figure out, specifically around this skewer. I wasn’t exactly expecting this.

And more critically, wasn’t expecting to need to have the Elite trainer quick release skewer adapters handy. Neither the skewer or adapters came with the Elite Square, but rather, your existing trainer. I don’t know about you, but I don’t often put these in a logical place after my initial setup. Especially for people who may have thru-axle bikes. Luckily in my case, I had semi-recently unboxed a different Elite trainer that I could steal these from. Nonetheless, I feel like Elite should include these in the Square box.

After that, there was some wrangling to understand exactly which levers to push up/down to apply tension to the belt. This was not hard at all (mere seconds), but just understanding what the manual wanted was slightly confusing. The setup videos Elite has are far better though, so I’d recommend just watching those instead first.

With that, stick on your pedals and you’re ready to roll. I’ll talk about the pedals in the next section though.

Oh, and for lack of anywhere else to stick it, here’s teh current compatibility list of Elite trainers with the Elite Square:

– Avanti, Avanti Cog
– All Direto home trainers (Direto, Direto X, Direto XR, Direto XR-T, Direto XR Team, Direto XR Cog)
– Justo and Justo 2
– Rivo, Rivo Cog
– Suito, Suito-T

In case this changes over time, you’ll find that list here.

The Hardware Basics:

Let’s quickly run through the post-build hardware aspect, most notably (and starting with), the handlebars. There is where you’ve got a set of buttons on top for interacting with various apps, including steering:

Then, down below you’ve got your shifters, which are mechanical in nature (thank you!!!). I much prefer these real-life style shifters over those found on the Zwift Ride. As I’ve said many times, the indoor bike industry has done so much to try and replicate the ‘real’ feel of a bike. So, changing to non-tactile buttons for shifting on the Zwift Ride has always been counterintuitive to me.

And, as you can see, there’s also brake levers as well. These worked without issue in Zwift. And on the inside of the shifters is another button as well, which like most buttons, doesn’t have any purpose at this point and time.

Note that all of the Elite Square handlebar components are powered by battery. There’s no plug-in power for the Elite Square itself, just your trainer.

Next, on the frame side, there’s multiple adjustment points. And, quite handily, Elite includes this nifty card that shows you a starting point for your height, and where each adjustment should be made. Obviously, everyone is going to be slightly different in terms of their body (e.g. longer legs vs torso), but this is at least a rough guide for where to begin.

From a fit standpoint, here’s the official specs:

For the remaining adjustability, here’s some fit-type spec goodness:

– Minimum rider height: 152cm / 4’11”
– Maximum rider height: 198cm / 6’6”
– Maximum rider weight: 110kg / 242.51lbs

And then here’s a quick page of all the rest of the fit coordinates:

Next up is the front-end adjustment. To begin, you can increase the height up/down of the handlebars, followed by one to adjust forward/back of said fork (located just underneath the ‘I’ in Elite on the frame).

Speaking of that fork, if you’ve got an Elite Rizer, it’ll of course attach to that, and allow the bike to go up/down accordingly.

Next, working our way back, there’s no method to raise the entire Square frame, but instead, you just move the seat post up:

And then additionally, up near the saddle you’ve got adjustments as well by shifting the entire saddle forward/back, as well as shifting within the saddle rail system. In fact, now’s a good time to note that all of the adjustments are made with this handy tool that just slides into the back of the saddle rail system. Super clean and clever:

As with all these bikes, you can put on any pedal type you want. In fact, we had some non-cycling friends staying with us at one point that didn’t have cycling shoes but did Peloton normally. We ended up throwing some flat pedals on there, and then just used the app to adjust resistance levels in a simple manner.

However, more notable is that you can adjust the crank length, by adjusting this little component. This is a bit different than the bear-claw style crank length setups we’ve seen elsewhere. Still, it supports 165mm ,167.5mm, 170mm, 172.5mm, and 175mm crank lengths.

With that, all that done, it’s time to talk software.

The Software Basics:

Next, there’s effectively three apps you might use from Elite. Well, at least one or two that you have to use. They are:

Elite Square App: This is used for pairing the Square to your trainer, configuring various other settings, as well as configuring virtual shifting profiles. Finally, it lets you see what gear your in, from a virtual shifting standpoint.

Elite Upgrado App: This is for updating the firmware on the Elite Square, as well as any other Elite product (including their smart trainers):

Elite myETraining App: This is Elite’s training app, if you want to do/create workouts and other training bits without use of another 3rd party app like Zwift. It’s not the most glamorous app, but, it gets the job done.

From an upgrade standpoint, that’s all super straightforward and easy to do, taking a few mins at most to upgrade the Elite Square, when a firmware update comes along.

Instead, let’s look at the Elite Square app. The two key pieces that it does here are around virtual shifting, with allowing you to create your own virtual shifting profiles, as well as see the current gear status. Plus of course, it lets you pair the trainer to the Square frame (last screenshot above). Virtual shifting profiles are ‘required’ because they tell the gearing how to shift. For example, do you want one big set of 24 years that just sequentially shift? Or, do you want to mirror your Shimano or SRAM shifting? And then within that, you can get even more fancy.

On the virtual shifting profile side, you can create a pile of different virtual shifting profiles, each based on a core shifting pattern first (Sequential, SRAM, Shimano, Campagnolo), and then from there, the number of gears you want, followed by a quick-gear setup (e.g. flat, hilly, mountain), followed finally by the ability to customize every single cog if you want:

This is cool, but my only complaint here is the Elite Square app is super fiddly. It crashed like 3 times just getting these screenshots, and the rest of the time it hung a bit (like, a long long bit) between each profile creation piece. Thankfully, you have to do that rather rarely.

Instead, the second core piece aside from pairing a trainer, is to see your gearing live, on your phone. You can then place your phone wherever you want, to be able to see exactly which gear you’re in.

In my case, I’d just use a phone case mount for my handlebars, to do this most easily:

These gear shifts are instantaneous when it comes to the app display. Beyond that, there’s really no other Square-specific software pieces. The Elite myETraining app is the same as used with any other trainer of theirs, and honestly hasn’t changed in about a decade.

So, with that sorted, let’s start with Zwift.

Riding With Zwift:

With that, we’ll load up Zwift. In the pairing screen, you’ll see your Elite trainer as normal, and you’ll pair to that as normal. The Square doesn’t show up here yet.

Note however, previously, when Elite was supporting 3rd party trainers (e.g. a Tacx NEO or Wahoo KICKR), this is where after pairing your non-Elite trainer to the Elite Square, it’d create a new ‘trainer’ connection called Square, and you’d have paired your app (e.g. Zwift) to that Square ‘trainer’. This would have allowed the Square frame to act as a middle-man and control the trainer. Whereas with Elite trainers, they have special firmware (just like trainers compatible with Zwift Cog) that knows about the Elite Square frame and handles it all behind the scenes.

In any case, in order to have controls within Zwift (specifically, steering controls), you’ll go to the controls menu and pair up the Elite Square there:

It’ll also offer to do a steering calibration, though, that’s not applicable here. We’re just going use the controller buttons to steer, akin to any other Zwift controller.

With that, off we go to start our ride. As always, doesn’t really matter what we do, but I chose a rolling/hilly course, in order to validate the latest firmware. One of the first thing you’ll notice is a lack of gearing indicator on the screen. While most smart bikes (and all Zwift Cog implementations) do show the gearing indicator, it doesn’t show on the Elite Square today.

I found this challenging, and instead, really had to use the Elite app on my handlebars to show current gear indications:

For reference, here’s what a typical gear indication screen looks like on Zwift (see upper left corner, Gear 2-7). But unfortunately, this isn’t shown with the Elite Square. The example screen below is with the Zwift Cog.

The reason this was more challenging than the handful of other smart bikes that lack gear indications is the speed to shift. While Elite has made tremendous progress here on the speed to shift, it feels slower than others. In reality, I don’t think it’s actually slower, but rather, is ‘smoothed’. Meaning, when I shift on most smart bikes/cog implementations, there’s a near instant change in resistance. But in the case of the Elite Square, the power change is gradual, so it’s hard to know in that first 1 second whether or not the shift actually happened.

This means that shifting just once or twice is really challenging to detect immediately, whereas if you fly through the entire virtual cassette shifting quickly, you’ll notice this since it does get through that cassette quickly, but does it in a very ‘smoothed’ way. Ultimately, this smoothed aspect is what requires (in my opinion) the gear shifting indicator, so you know whether or not it’s actually shifting and just hasn’t seemingly caught up yet.

I’d say this is really my single biggest criticism of the ride feel. In a realm where most smart bikes are actually aiming to trigger a slight ‘jolt’ on each shift (akin to your real bike), this feels like that super fancy limo driver who accelerates in the most gradual and smooth way possible.

In any case, the next bit is the steering. With Zwift, you’ll use the X/+ (left side) and O (circle, right side) buttons to steer left and right. This is pretty much the same as most other indoor bike (or Zwift controller) implementations. No biggie, this worked fine.

The biggest gap thoug,h that exists here compared to the Zwift Ride, is the lack of any use for all the other buttons. The other buttons don’t do anything in Zwift today, there’s nothing connected. In talking to Elite this morning (December 17th, 2025), they noted that Elite is close to finishing the Zwift Protocol implementation, which will include lighting up these buttons to effectively act like a Zwift Play controller. This would be a *HUGE* step up, and really make this a much more compelling purchase for Zwift users.

When I asked about the timelines for this, Elite said they are aiming to release by March 2026. So not really ideal for this winter, even assuming no delays.

Beyond that, riding in Zwift is just like any other trainer/bike: You pedal, you suffer, you sweat, no biggie. However, one thing that’s worth mentioning is that it’s entirely silent. Very much like a Peloton bike or such, rather than the Zwift Ride, which due to its chain-based design, has more noise (though, not a ton). The only sound you’ll gear is very faint noises from the trainer internals, but again, since there’s no cassette with metal bits touching other metal bits, it’s very very quite.

I will note that at the start of some of my rides, I did hear a slight squeak sound from somewhere down there. I don’t know where it came from, or why it exists, or why it stops within a minute or so of the start of my ride. It’s not loud, and unlikely someone sitting in the same room reading a book would even look up and ask about it, but it was faintly there briefly most times.

In any case, here’s a quick look at the accuracy from a Zwift SIM ride:

As you can see, virtually identical to the power meter pedals. Crazy close.

I point this out, because there had been some concern from folks (prior to shipping) around the belt and tension impacting accuracy, but I’m just not seeing it in real lfe. And this is across rides from last winter till now, so plenty of time for the belt to do some drifting, but that just hasn’t happened. And the unit has effectively been ‘outside’, albeit undercover, so searing hot temps in the summer, and some cooler near-freezing temps at colder points (though not quite freezing). Meaning, lots of environmental variability. Albeit, less riding than a typical user, probably.

And then another just yesterday, to validate the latest firmware, as well as any shifts that might have happened since last winter in terms of the belt stretching or whatever.

As you can see, spot-on with the Favero Assioma Pro RS. So, let’s move onto the next bit.

Riding with Rouvy and 3rd Party Platforms:

In most ways, it’s the same as Zwift, except no integration for steering. So, starting off at the beginning, you’ll pair up your trainer as before. In my case again that’s the Justo 2, but practically speaking it doesn’t really matter.

I then went to try and pair the ‘Virtual Shifting’ option:

But nothing would enumerate:

So I tried the ‘Display all and search for everything in my city’ button you see above, and that did find the Elite Square:

However, upon tapping it, it just just circled forever and never connected. I’ve confirmed with Elite that there’s no controls integration today with Rouvy, so this wasn’t supposed to work either. Elite did however say that they are working on 3rd party integrations with various apps, but that’s a bit further away than the Zwift controller integration, and there’s no timeline for that.

In any case, once riding, it’s just like Zwift. Shifting worked identically there.

I’d expect this to translate to other apps as well as being the same, since there’s literally no awareness from these apps they’re talking to a virtual shifting unit. Everything is just happening outside the purview of the app, akin to a normal smart bike. To these apps, it’s just a smart trainer.

Riding with TrainerRoad (ERG Mode):

This section is easy, because it’s the one that Elite does best at, since there’s no shifting involved. Here, the trainer is doing all the work internally, just as any other trainer on any there platform is. In fact, ERG mode is the one mode that you can use non-Zwift apps for on the Zwift Ride (or equally, any other trainer with the Elite Square). The trainer app simply uses an industry standard protocol (ANT+ FE-C or Bluetooth FTMS) to tell the trainer what wattage to set it for, and then boom, it’s done.

In my case, I had zero issues on either TrainerRoad or Zwift using ERG mode. It worked, and worked flawlessly. And again, critically, did so entirely silently. Note that while TrainerRoad did show ‘Square’ as a pairable thing, and could pair to it, nothing happened with an Elite trainer connected (and no data came through). You can see below as I pedal that the Justo 2 shows my current wattage, but the Square option doesn’t.

For fun from an accuracy standpoint, here’s how ERG mode looked on one ERG ride I had handy.

Others all looked the same. Again, any initial announcement-era concerns around belt impacts here on accuracy just aren’t manifesting themselves.

Wrap-Up:

There’s many times in life where doing the principled thing is the right thing, and works out as the best overall solution, both for users and the world at large. But when it comes to technology and walled gardens, those two don’t always mix. In the case of the Elite Square, Elite clearly set out to do the best thing for consumers in making a smart indoor bike frame that was widely compatible with any trainer and any app, and didn’t lock users into a given ecosystem like the Zwift Ride. And likewise, aimed to even allow users to choose non-Elite trainers too.

The challenge though came in the implementation of that. Whether by choice or forced hands, Elite wasn’t really able to achieve that level of independence due to lack of industry standards. Each of the trainer companies has effectively created silos for how trainers interact with new controllers, accessory hardware, and new features, largely driven by the way Zwift has forced the industries hand on the Zwift Protocol (and avoiding existing common standards, or expanding them). While the Zwift Protocol is indeed great for *Zwift* consumers, it’s caused the trainer manufactures and the rest trainer app realm to fracture, and the Elite Square as a product has suffered the ramifications of that.

Roughly a year on from announcing the Zwift Square, Elite finally came to grips with that, and thus the change in marketing stance on 3rd party trainer compatibility, and now focusing on implementing Zwift Protocol for better Zwift support. These changes will at least make the Zwift-specific experience great, but it’s unclear what the path forward is for other apps. Those experiences remain similar to existing smart trainer integrations, so there isn’t any real loss there (plus, you get the added benefits of multi-user smart bike usage).

Point is, I think the Elite Square still has an audience, especially for existing Elite trainer users that want to upgrade to a smart frame that is cross-compatible with apps, even without all the nifty button functionality. In effect, that portion remains quite compelling as an alternative to buying a fully $3,000+ smart bike. Thus while I don’t think the Square has the same appeal as the Zwift Ride for Zwift users, for everyone else, it’s still super interesting. And once Elite completes the firmware for Zwift Protocol, then it becomes very compelling for primarily Zwift folks too.

Finally, the Elite Square itself feels incredibly well built, I’m reasonably sure that if this were to ever fall down the stairs, the stairs would lose. Plus, the silence from the belt drive is great (riding, not falling down the stairs).

With that – thanks for reading!

FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!

Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.

Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon

Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.