A year on from first appearing at Eurobike, Classified and TRP’s “breakthrough” 1×16 electronic drivetrain is now available to buy, if you’ve got €2,800 (£2,370) to shell out. It’s the “widest-range road and gravel groupset on the market”, according to Belgian brand Classified, and “redefines drivetrain standards”, offering “improved control, efficiency and durability”.
Marketing-friendly press release quotes aside, what actually is the Vistar Powershift and why has it got plenty of people talking? In short, it’s a 1x groupset that offers 15 or 16 individually sequenced gears (depending on if you’ve got the gravel or road version) thanks to the use of Classified’s Powershift hub.
That system received a glowing review from us back in 2022 and integrates a two-speed gear system into the rear hub, giving the rider 100 per cent of whatever chainring they 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.
Last year, Classified and TRP (Tektro Racing Products) announced they had joined forces to work on the first 1x electronic groupset to integrate Classified’s Powershift hub, the Vistar Powershift now available to riders and dealers worldwide and priced at €2,800 in Europe (£2,370) and $2,900 in North America.
Calling it “a breakthrough in drivetrain design” the brands suggest it will make shifting “easier, smarter and more intuitive for road and gravel riders”, offering “improved control, efficiency and durability in both road and gravel applications”.
It is available in the set-ups 1×15 for gravel and 1×16 for road, apparently the “widest gear range of any gravel or road bike groupset on the market”. Due to the Powershift you don’t need a second chainring up front (so no front mech either, obviously) and you don’t need a monster 16-cogged cassette either, the groupset based on a regular 12-speed cassette.
The Powershift Hub does the rest, meaning riders get 15 or 16 individually sequenced gears in a logical sequence. One of the big benefits, Classified says, is the wide spread of gears available without sacrificing the chainline efficiencies of a 1x set up.
The hub shifts from 1:1 to a 0.7 ratio, the ‘QuantumShift’ technology coordinating the hub gear change with the rear derailleur to offer the logic gear sequencing and uninterrupted cadence, something Classified says its system does better than traditional 1x and 2x drivetrains.
The brands claim that the Vistar Powershift has the widest range of any gravel or road bike groupset on the market, of over 530 per cent when using an 11-40T cassette. The virtual shifting takes you through the 16 gears 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.
> Should you run a 1x set-up on your road bike?
Elsewhere in the groupset, the levers enjoy “advanced ergonomics” and come with the promise that, regardless of hand size, users will be able to brake with just one finger. The brakes are TRP’s “proven braking technology”, leaving the brands confident that it will “perfectly complement” the shifting performance.
As the groupset is electronic the rear derailleur has a removable and rechargeable battery, while Classified says the system “favours” larger chainrings so its Aero Crankset (46t to 52t), TRP’s road crankset (50t and 52t) and gravel crankset (44t to 48t) are the available options. The cassette is one of TRP’s monoblock steel designs.
The brands involved say the Vistar Powershift has already been tested at the highest level, and was raced by Arno Van den Broeck at Unbound.
Classified’s product manager Sander Laseur commented: “Vistar Powershift marks a true technological breakthrough. With Vistar Powershift, we’ve unlocked 15 or 16 individually sequenced gears that make shifting easier, smarter, and more intuitive. It’s a solution that’s both simpler and more innovative, pushing us ahead in the groupsets offer. This collaboration with TRP reflects our shared vision for innovation to enhance the rider experience and performance.”
Yannick Mayer, from TRP, added: “With Vistar Powershift, we’re ushering in a new era of shifting: intuitive, wireless, and limitless. Our QuantumShift technology takes the guesswork out of gear changes – riders simply shift up or down, and the system intelligently handles the rest. Full wireless communication keeps the cockpit clean and setup effortless. And with up to 16 unique gear combinations and a 530 per cent range, Vistar is ready for any terrain – gravel, road, and beyond.”
The groupset is priced at €2,800 in Europe and $2,900 in North America. We have asked about availability in the UK and more details can be found on TRP’s website.
28 thoughts on “Classified and TRP’s new 1×16 groupset hits the market for £2,370, promising “a breakthrough in drivetrain design””
Can we nip this 1×16 nonsense
Can we nip this 1×16 nonsense in the bud journalists. It’s 2×12, end of. Nobody is going saying around saying 12 speed dura-ace is 1×17… which it would be if you discounted the overlapping gears just like classified are doing (go on, count it yourself on ritzelrechner.de) Just because you’ve moved your 2x from a front derailleur into a igh doesn’t suddenly make it 1x. And yes, the dura-ace example automatically shifts the front too when you reach the overlap, it’s called synchro-shift, they’ve done it for years.
Totally agree – I was getting
Totally agree – I was getting more and more irritated reading through it, wanting to find out “what is the cassette then?”.
So it’s 2×12 with semi-auto shifting, which I think at least one of the big brands can do (I’ve never used an electronic groupset, much less configured one, so I don’t remember where I’ve read this feature before). EDIT: just read fully the parent comment – clearly it’s called “synchro-shift”. Apologies for not reading properly first time around.
Is it guaranteed that as you shift repeatedly up (or down), the hub only changes gearing once, rather than flip-flopping, or, given how good the classified hub is, is it actually preferable to flip-flop the hub if it means you get intermediate gear combos?
Also, given the rear derailleur and the hub are physically so close to each other, any chance they share a battery? Or do you have to charge them separately (from memory I can’t remember how often this needs doing on the classified hub)?
Obvs I realise this is just a dumb press release rather than an in-depth review, but a few more details would be handy.
There is a image on this page
There is a image on this page that shows the path the gears take: https://trpcycling.com/pages/vistar-powershift?srsltid=AfmBOorhEhDZIkI_L0momYER2FdwbE2ly6xzWR-Hg-LwdlkvRRfXciU4
tl;dr it only changes the hub once, rather than flip-flopping. If it flip-flopped they would presumably label it “1×24”, as there are 24 unique gear ratio options.
No evidence that they share a battery. It looks like the Classified hub hardware is bog standard (including battery) with the collaboration solely restricted to the electronic control. Classified claim the battery lasts “Approx 10000 shifts or 4 months” (https://www.classified-cycling.cc/products/powershift-set)
On the Classified I have in
On the Classified I have in one of the office bikes it’s probably seen a couple of thousand miles of use and has been charged once in a year, the battery was not low I just didn’t want it running out at Reiver
It would have been better if
It would have been better if it was in quotes ie “1×16”. It is 1x in the sense that there is only one chainring!
Hybrid gearing systems aren’t anything new. The now obsolete SRAM Dual Drive was around years ago. And it is a staple of Brompton groupsets.. It is possibly a breakthrough in terms of control and getting close to the weight of 2x groupsets, but then the Bike Radar reviewer turned off the “1×16” shifting and went back to 2×12. And the chainline is going to be rubbish at either end of the cassette.
On the other hand it would seem to be a way to get more extreme low ratios for loaded touring bikes if combined with a 2x chainset on a downtube shifter: like a crawl gear on a 4×4.
Pub bike wrote:
I had 3×7 dual drive on a folder and loved it although it was overkill for my commute.
the key difference is that fitting this electronic version is faff free compared to the cable on a dual drive.
Not sure the chain line comment is warranted – its no worse than any other 2x solution. “Rubbish” is an exaggeration on that basis.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
It has the same chainline as a 1x solution since there is only one chainring, so it is a worse chainline than 2x if the rider can be bothered to shift chainrings.
1x have the worst chainlines, but this depends on the rider: With a 1x there is nothing the rider can do about the chainline in a given gear.
With a 2x or 3x the rider can shift chainrings to get a better chainline if they wish, and they can also shift chainrings to get a worse chainline than is possible with a 1x.
Interesting price point.
Interesting price point. Does that price include the whole backwheel or just the hub?
Its priced around the RRP for an Ultegra 12sp DI2 set but obviously you can get that significantly discounted.
It will be interesting to see if any OEM’s pick this up and at what price point. Not sure where they are getting “linear shifts” from as it obviously will have to shift back up the cassette when the classified reduction (small chain ring) kicks in just like DI2 Synchroshift does.
Bonus points if they can do 11 speed and 13 speed versions with just a software change.
There’s a first ride review
There’s a first ride review on Bike Radar.
@Road.cc why do the competition consistently do first ride reviews for major launches at the same time that you’re repeating press releases?
I would guess because the
I would guess because the competition are higher up the PR departments’ lists of who to send test product to. That’s a bit of a self-perpetuating situation – PRs send you stuff first > you get your reviews up first > readers come to you first for the review > PRs want to be where the readers are, so send you the product first…
Yeah, my guess would be they
Yeah, my guess would be they don’t get invited, but I find that a bit odd. I’d love to know the stats for road.cc vs Bike Radar. Judging by the number of comments on articles, road.cc gets much more engagement.
You forget that Bike Radar is
You forget that Bike Radar is owned by Immediate Media (who are owned by Burda).
Immediate don’t just have BikeRadar they have MBUK, What Mountain Bike, ProCycling, Cycling Plus and Bikeradar all under the same brand so it’s most likely a member of staff will be invited on the basis of promoting the product on a few of the channels rather than just BikeRadar itself
Our no-fly policy prevents us
Our no-fly policy prevents us from getting some first ride reviews, but as Tony explains here, we don’t think our readers are missing out much by us not attending product launches abroad: https://road.cc/content/blog/problem-bike-industry-launches-and-how-fix-it-307929
According to Similarweb stats, road.cc generates slightly more traffic than Bikeradar nowadays, but there are lots of different ways to measure the ‘size’ of a website. I’m not entirely sure why they got a first ride ahead of us on this occasion, if it involved a flight that would have counted us out but I’m not sure this was the case. It’s definitely not true that other similarly-sized cycling publications are higher up the ‘list’ than us in general, some things we get exclusives on ahead of anyone else and vice versa.
I wasn’t aware you have a no
I wasn’t aware you have a no-fly policy. That’s very commendable.
Didn’t know about that policy
Didn’t know about that policy. Much appreciated, props to you for taking that decision!
Interestingly a quick back of
Interestingly a quick back of fag packet calculation shows it weighs
similara bit more than DuraAce/Red – this is worst case for the Gravel model and biggest cassette (chain ring weights missing289 – Cassette
26 – Wireless module
632 – Crank
378 – Mech
463 – Lever brake and disc
463 – Lever Brake and disc
495 – Classified hub
-200 for the hub shell
2.546kg.
(Edit Bike radar say 3kg but are counting the the entire classified system. There is a special classified thru axel that makes up the missing ~100g. Review is overly harsh IMO the shifts dont sound any worse than DI2 in synchro mode from a confessed synchro hater )
Why does it have to replicate
Why does it have to replicate the change in the front derailleur at 70%? Why can’t it be something like 50% so you could use a really close ratio cassette and get 20+ actually different ratios? 11-25 if 12sp then becomes 22-50 in low range. Combined with a 50 chainring you’ve got all the ratios you’ll ever need with minimal overlaps
Because upon a change at the
In the extreme case of 24 gears (as opposed to 16) then upon a change at the hub, the derailleur would have to shift from one end of the cassette to another. That would be slow and clunky. Also, the lack of overlap would mean that if you were shifting back and forth between (say) gears 10 and 11, the system would need to make this unfeasible change repeatedly.
What you want is two
What you want is two chainrings the same size, and two chains, and some sort of clutch/dogs system. And then you can have one at the bottom of the cassette and one at the top and you should be able to switch between them in this situation very easily. Each chain services half the cassette. Not sure this would be light, simple, cheap, or practical. But it would be _interesting_ 😉
Nah – what you want is for
Nah – what you want is for the hub to stretch and shrink, so that the cassette shifts in and out and keeps a perfectly straight chainline.
Expanding hub – can do an
Expanding hub – can do an expanding chainring?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XjE3xWhrzEo
For hub shifting in and out to shift gears – I believe this has been done in a velomobile:
(Can’t find the video im thinking of with a mid-drive system, but there’s a paper here: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/7/3/55
)
Alternatively accept always having 1 extra gear- gear transmission step (but only one more) and use a spur-gear system (eg. Pinion gearbox) – wide range, small steps.
Or, some sort of device for
Or, some sort of device for moving the chain between chainrings (which could be different sizes) as well as across the cassette. 4×4 seems like the sweet spot.
I reckon with a suitably
I reckon with a suitably telescoping rear triangle, it would be preferable to have a rear wheel that changes circumference. That way you could avoid all this derailleur m’larky, have a single chainring and a single rear sprocket, and perfect alignment too.
Like a DAF or a Honda Camino
Like a DAF or a Honda Camino with a stepless CVT?
Or the Enviolo AutomatiQ.
Or the Enviolo AutomatiQ.
msackman wrote:
A bit late to post this, but …
https://youtu.be/NnSWDKfT7FQ?feature=shared
I love classified and I love
I love classified and I love new tech, I really do, but the pedant in me is a little annoyed that they call it 1×16 if it doesn’t have a single sequence of 16 gears on a cassette.
They have cleverly hidden a second gear mechanism inside the hub, that’s great, but it’s equivalent to a double chainring. Calling it 2x wouldn’t attract as many clicks, though.
I’d still consider buying it on my next bike, though!
Couple of years ago – at the
Couple of years ago – at the 2023 Marmotte in fact – I passed by the Classified stand and they let me go off for 10 minutes on a gravel bike with the classified hub. Got to say, that hub shift is very impressive. It’s fast, silent and can be done under load. I would like a bike equipped with it but the price rules against doing it on a whim.