Classified and Tektro Racing Products (TRP) have collaborated on a 1x electronic groupset called Vistar Powershift with up to 16 gears.
Classified and TRP say the Vistar Powershift has the widest range of any gravel or road bike groupset on the market.
With 16 speeds for road or 15 for gravel, the Vistar Powershift is said to have a gear range of 528 per cent.
Integrated shifting
Unveiled at Eurobike ahead of its official launch in October, the new groupset was an opportunity for Classified to integrate a shifter for its two-speed Powershift hub into a groupset.
The Classified Powershift two-speed internal gear hub replaces your front derailleur. It offers the range of a 2x drivetrain and promises quicker and more reliable gear shifting.
In the past, Classified relied on an auxiliary shifter – a bit like SRAM’s blip shifter – to change between its hub’s two speeds.
Yannick Mayer, product manager at Classified, says TRP was the first groupset manufacturer that was open to integrating a Classified shifter into a groupset’s levers. The Vistar Powershift is TRP's first road and gravel electronic groupset.
The gear shifters are configured like Shimano levers, with two buttons on each Vistar Powershift lever. The left lever controls the hub and the right controls the rear derailleur.
“The synergies between our brands have been useful for this project and we’re happy we can launch it now – it’s been quite a while in development,” says Mayer.
How many gears?
The Vistar Powershift uses a 1x drivetrain, 12-speed cassette and Classified’s Powershift hub.
Classified and TRP say Vistar Powershift has ‘virtual shifting’, courtesy of what they call QuantumShift.
Some simple arithmetic, however, may lead to some confusion. A 12-speed cassette paired with a two-speed hub does not make 15 or 16 gears.
But Mayer says you do not get 24 gear ratios on 2x systems.
“In traditional 2x systems, there is always an overlap,” says Mayer. “So those systems have about 14 unique gears.”
“With our cassette spread and QuantumShift, we can extend that to 16. “The 16 are programmed in a way so it is the most seamless ratio spread that you can have.”
“The gear range with the biggest cassette we sell – which is the 11-40t cassette – is 528 per cent.
“For comparison, with other gravel groupsets, which usually have a 10-52t cassette, the gear range is 520 per cent.
“With our option, you have small steps between the gears and still more overall range than the competition,” he says.
Despite this, Classified and Powershift say you can still use the Powershift hub and rear derailleur independently, enabling all 24 gear options.
Chain management and braking performance
In their press material, Classified and TRP highlight the aerodynamic benefit of a 1x drivetrain, but they state their new groupset also optimises drivetrain efficiency through chainline management.
The Vistar Powershift groupset is available with a lightweight or aero crankset in four sizes: 46 or 48 teeth for gravel bikes, and 50 or 52 teeth for road bikes.
Mayer says the cranksets are available in different offsets for the ideal chainline.
“The road chainline is 45mm and the gravel chainline is 47.5mm.”
“Then we have a long gravel spindle. So that, in combination with the less offset chainring, gives you a 50mm chainline to clear the very narrow chainstays of some gravel bikes,” he says.
The TRP cassette also features the brand’s Wave Technology to ensure direct and quick shifting.
TRP – which has also released an electronic drivetrain with Bosch at Eurobike – says it has brought its 35 years of experience producing advanced braking systems to the Vistar Powershift groupset.
TRP claims the Vistar’s brakes are ergonomic and enable powerful, one-fingered braking “irrespective of hand size”.
Raced at Unbound
Classified’s first full groupset was raced at Unbound 2024 by Arno Van Den Broeck (Ridley Factory Team) who completed the 200-mile gravel course in nine hours.
Classified and TRP cite this as proof of the Vistar Powershift’s durability and reliability. They say the groupset uses high-quality materials and advanced engineering techniques, and “is built to withstand the rigours of intense cycling”.
The collaborating brands also highlight that riding with one large chainring reduces the load on the chain, cassette and bearings, improving the lifetime of the components.
Tooth profile helps durability but Mayer adds: “No front shifts increases the durability because you don’t have side forces on the chain, or dirty parts grinding down on the chainring.”
While it’s not available to the public yet, the groupset has already received recognition, winning the components category at the Eurobike Awards 2024.
