I’ve spent A LOT of time on the TPC Blog and YouTube channel proselytizing about 1x drivetrains.
I ride a 1x road bike and big stars like 2-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard are occasionally ditching the front derailleur too, but we represent a small minority. The detractors of 1x are quick to point out the 3 key criticisms of the system:
- Less gear range
- Bigger jumps between gears
- High chain angles and lower efficiency
A few years ago, Classified Cycling came along to address these concerns with its innovative Powershift hubs. Powershift hubs replace the front derailleur and small chainring of a conventional 2x drivetrain by incorporating a two-speed transmission in the rear hub. Essentially, it allows riders to have the best of both worlds.
To test the system out for ourselves and learn how it works, our mechanics built up a couple of bikes with Classified wheelsets, including this 2024 ENVE MOG gravel bike. They’ve been a big hit at the shop. Nearly everyone in the building has taken a spin on our Classified demo bike, and we’ve come away fairly impressed with how smooth and seamless the whole system feels.
If I had the money to build up a new bike for my upcoming race goals, I might consider a Classified hub or wheelset for a potential dream setup. I think it might represent the future of 1x.
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The Story Behind This ENVE MOG x Classified
Before I dive into the hub, let’s take a quick look at the bike it’s installed on. The MOG is ENVE’s first foray into gravel bikes, coming after the Custom Road and Melee aero road bikes. I don’t want to go too deep into the frame because I already wrote a long overview when the bike was first released.
The gist is that it’s a VERY nice and versatile carbon gravel bike that is also VERY expensive. If you’re a fan of domestic gravel racing, then you may recognize it as the bike ridden by Life Time Grand Prix athlete Alexey Vermeulen.
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When TPC decided to start carrying Classified Cycling products, their team came to our headquarters in Louisville, CO to train our mechanics on how the system works and how to install it.
To test out their new knowledge, the mechanics built up two bikes — a Trek Domane and this ENVE MOG — with Classified Powershift CF G30 carbon wheels. The Domane ended up as a demo bike that has been on display in our retail store and at local TPC events. It’s the bike our team has been riding around to experience how the Powershift hub feels to use.
The MOG on the other hand was built as a bit of a test to see if people will buy a Classified Powershift-equipped bike if we offer it on complete bikes. Apparently, they will. This brand-new 58cm frame was built up with Shimano GRX, plus an ENVE SES AR cockpit and G-Series gravel dropper post. It was priced at $8,000 and it sold in less than 2 days. Honestly, I’m kind of blown away. This might be a sign that we have to build up more!
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What is the Classified Powershift?
Belgian legend, Tom Boonen, is an investor in Classified. Photo: Classified
Classified is a Belgian brand that was started over 10 years ago in 2013 by an automotive engineer named Roëll van Druten. van Druten is a cyclist obsessed with efficiency who became annoyed by a poorly performing front derailleur. So he began to reimagine the bicycle drivetrain using automotive tech — namely, planetary gear sets. Planetary gears are used in automatic transmissions, and they’re actually already in use in other internally geared bike hubs which are usually found on hybrids and commuters.
The big difference with the Powershift is that it only provides two gears to maximize efficiency and reduce weight. The planetary gear set provides a 1:1 direct connection gear and a 1:0.7 reduction gear that provides easier gearing. The other big difference is that it’s controlled electronically and wirelessly.
The “brain” is housed inside the "smart thru-axle." Shifting the Powershift hub is controlled by a satellite shift button installed on the handlebars. Shifts are instantaneous — 150 milliseconds — and they can be done under a load of up to 1,000 watts.
Personally, I was super impressed by how fast and smooth the shifts were between the direct and reduction gear. Di2 and AXS front derailleurs are pretty good these days, but they’re NOTHING compared to the smoothness of an internally geared hub.
Efficiency testing. Photo: Classified
Internally geared hubs are generally less efficient (there's more power loss) than traditional derailleur-based drivetrains, which is a big reason derailleurs are still king in the performance-oriented side of cycling. The Powershift hub, however, is reported to have an efficiency above 98.5%, which is very close to the 99.2% of a traditional drivetrain on DT Swiss 240 hubs. You can read Classified's whole report on how they achieved and measured this.
The other common concern with internally geared hubs is weight. The G30 carbon wheelset, for example, weighs 1,375 grams WITHOUT the rear hub. The rear hub then adds 476 grams.
That’s quite a bit of additional weight compared to a traditional drivetrain, but at least it is centralized at the hub, where the rotating weight has less of an effect. You could also think of it as being offset by eliminating the need for a front derailleur, second chainring, and a heavier wide-range cassette. As it gets refined in coming years, the weight will surely come down too.
A proprietary hub means a proprietary cassette.
The biggest cons in my eyes are the high price, proprietary parts, and installation. The easiest way to get a Classified Powershift hub on your bike is to buy a complete wheelset. That will be $3,000 for the Powershift Hub, the rims, a cassette (because the hub needs to use a proprietary cassette), the Powershift 12mm smart rear thru-axle, the Classified satellite shift button, and the Classified Smart Handlebar Unit.
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For it to work on your particular bike, the smart rear thru-axle needs to have the correct thread pitch for your rear dropouts. This is one of the reasons Classified came to train our staff. They now know all the details, so if you purchase a wheelset from TPC, one of our Ride Guides will reach out to determine the thread pitch on the rear dropouts of your frame and make sure the correct thru axle is sent with your order
Why I Might Be Drinking the Powershift Kool-Aid Soon
As I said, I’m already a 1x fan, but I do acknowledge the key disadvantages mentioned in the intro. I mostly choose to ignore them, but I am extremely intrigued by the potential solution the Classified Powershift provides. It allows you to use a more traditional cassette that's lighter and has smaller jumps between gears while maintaining a massive (up to 530%) gear range. The ability to shift at the hub gives you more gear options that maintain a straighter, more efficient chain angle.
Rob Britton winning Belgian Waffle Ride on a Classified hub. Photo: Classified
The Powershift hub has also already been used successfully by high level racers. Rob Britton has used it to take a win at Belgian Waffle Ride and the brutal Badlands ultra-distance race. The World Tour’s ultimate marginal gains nerd, Victor Campenaerts, has used it for the Spring Classics, where it allowed him to run a massive 62t chainring.
Oh my god, Becky. Look at Victor's chainring. It's so big. Photo: Classified
A massive chainring is the biggest thing I’d love about switching to a Classified hub. Not only does it look badass, but it also improves efficiency. Beyond the chain angle, 1x drivetrains tend to be less efficient than 2x drivetrains because they require riders to run smaller front chainrings. Smaller chainrings require the chain to articulate more, so you create more frictional losses. With a Powershift hub, I could run a 50t or 52t front chainring (I currently run 42-44t), which would provide notable watt savings.
CLEARLY it's the hub and not the rider ;). Photo: Classified
Another thing that has intrigued me is the supposed extra "torque advantage" of the 1:0.7 reduction gear. Classified says it actually “amplifies the input torque.” When the rider shifts into the 0.7 ratio, the internal clutch disengages within the hub, causing the 6 planet gears to rotate around the sun gear, so the cassette actually rotates faster than the wheel. Paired with a big chainring, this makes the easier gears of a Powershift system much more efficient than using the small chainring of a traditional 2x system. I don’t know how legit that is (I’m no engineer) but climbing is my biggest weakness and I’ll take every advantage I can get.
You also get some aero savings with a Powershift system too. A single front chainring with no front derailleur already saves a few watts, but that’s often negated by a massive wide-range cassette and long-cage rear derailleur. With Powershift, I can run a regular short-cage derailleur and a smaller cassette that stays more out of the wind.
Ultimately, the big thing holding me back is the price. At $3,000, this is something I need to save up for, and I probably won’t have my own setup until the next season (if I even go this route). Right now, it’s just a dream for me, but a very cool and geeky one.
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