Classified and TRP launch a 16-SPEED, 1x electronic groupset that provides "superior efficiency and durability"

Belgian brand Classified and component manufacturer TRP (Tektro Racing Products) have teamed up to release a 1x groupset, said to be the "widest-range road and gravel groupset on the market" and offering a whopping 16 different gears. The Vistar Powershift groupset integrates Classified's Powershift hub, offering a range of over 530% and is currently being shown off at Eurobike 2024. We've taken a closer look.

What is Classified’s Powershift system?

Classified's Powershift system, introduced four years ago, has steadily gained traction, being adopted by an increasing number of brands and receiving a glowing road.cc review back in 2022. Most recently, it has been used in the pro peloton by Ineos Grenadiers riders during time trials.

It's also being used in road racing, with the original system designed to combine the gear ratios of a 2x setup with the fast shifting of hub gears, and the clean design of a 1x configuration. Inside the rear hub is a two-speed gear system that gives you 100 per cent of whatever chainring you have fitted, and then a reduction gear of 70 per cent of that chainring, essentially doing the job of your 'missing' smaller chainring and mimicking a front derailleur, except it's hidden away in your rear hub. 

How does the Vistar Powershift groupset work? 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by road.cc (@road.cc)

> Should you run a 1x set-up on your road bike?

Now, Classified and TRP have joined forces to release the first 1x electronic groupset to integrate Classified's Powershift hub, named the Vistar Powershift. The brands claim that the Vistar Powershift has the widest range of any gravel or road bike groupset on the market, of over 530% when using an 11-40T cassette. It is offered in a 1x16 configuration for road bikes and a 1x15 version for gravel riding.

TRP's CEO Leo Chen said: “We’re proud to have joined forces with Classified on our first electronic drop bar road and gravel groupset.

"Both companies are driven to disrupt the market with innovative, new technologies, and with VISTAR // Powershift, we have delivered a unique groupset that provides top-tier 2x performance with all the benefits of a 1x system.”

While the headline news is that the groupset is 16-speed in its road configuration, you may have noticed that this doesn't mean TRP and Classified have hit us with a 16-speed cassette out of the blue; the cassette - physically anyway - is 12-speed, but a combination of Classified's hub and virtual shifting means you get access to those extra gears. 

The virtual shifting takes you through the 16 gears (15 on a gravel set-up) on a single brake lever, but you can also shift the powershift hub and derailleur independently, enabling all 24 gearing options you'd find on a standard 2x, 12-speed system.

As added bonuses, we're told that the single front chainring and 12-speed cassette "offer a simplified gearing setup while minimising aerodynamic drag."

"The groupset, which continues to feature Classified’s two-speed Powershift Hub, is wirelessly controlled by VISTAR’s shift levers via TRP’s wireless CMD (Command) protocol", says Yannick Mayer, Classified's product manager. 

"This combination produces a new type of precise and responsive shifting – and it hasn't required Classified to change much at all in its established Powershift hub to make the partnership happen."

Riders can choose between two new chainsets: the Classified aero chainset, which is said to offer increased aerodynamics and efficiency, or the gossamer styling of the Vistar chainset.

Brakes

The shifters have been designed by TRP who have decades of experience in advanced braking systems, featuring "ergonomically designed" hoods and levers that allow for "powerful, one-finger braking, irrespective of hand size."

> Your complete guide to electronic gears

Regarding the integration of the system, Mayer told us: "We have a different driver body now – but that's just like the driver interface for the cassette. So that's not actually an integral part of the TRP system, because the TRP still starts with the 11T.

"So in the end it's all Powershift, our well-known and trusted Powershift hub. What we do is we actuate it with the TRP shift lever instead of the satellite blip that we had. And the big advantage there is that you can program it in any way you want. And don't need to carry the button anymore.

"We're pretty stoked that TRP made this happen with their first groupset, and that we were launching this as a partner of theirs. It's just the integration that we've been asking for so much, and TRP made it happen with us." 

The official launch took place at Eurobike this week, the same behemoth of a bike show that we were first introduced to THAT valve from Schwalbe, and the Vistar Powershift groupset won the components category award.

While it's not available to the public yet, the groupset is expected to hit production sometime during the third quarter of 2024, but has already been used by Classified Ridley Factory Team during the Unbound Gravel event this year.

There will be four chainring sizes from 46cm to 52cm, but pricing is TBC at the moment. 

For more information visit Classified Cycling or TRP Cycling.