Classified Powershift hub
€1,399 Seamless replacement of your front mech
CLASSIFIED’S POWERSHIFT HUB has been garnering much attention since its launch in 2022 – the two-speed hub replaces your front derailleur, giving quicker, more reliable shifting. Once I’d got through the installation process (though Classified expect most people will buy it fitted), the hub impressed, with instantaneous shifting between its two ratios, and adequate shifting performance across its proprietary 12-speed cassette. My hub was built into Classified’s G30 carbon gravel rims, though it can be built into your own rims or bought as part of a wheelset from partner brands, which include Hunt and Parcours. The obvious sticking point is the price, as well as navigating the various options on offer.
The Powershift hub is a planetary gear system, housed in the rear hub, with two ratios (1:1 and 1:0.7) designed to mimic a road compact chainset ratio of 50/34 when run with a single 50t chainring. You can, of course, use other chainring sizes. The system is controlled via an on-bar sprint shifter wired to a rechargeable bar plug, which connects wirelessly to the supplied rear axle (powered by a coin battery). The shift is said to take 150 milliseconds and the oversized hub shell is only compatible with Classified’s own cassettes, available in 11, 12 and 13-speed options, giving ranges as broad as 11-44t. The Powershift can be paired with a range of computers.
I fitted the Classified G30 wheel to my Lauf Seigla, replacing an e*13 XCX Race Carbon wheelset. The bike was running a 1x12 SRAM Rival groupset with a 10-44t cassette. The 11-32t Classified cassette gave a 424% gear range, similar to the 440% I had originally, though I doubled the number of potential gears, and reduced the steps between them, thanks to the tighter ratios of the cassette. The Classified wheel weighed 1,404g, while the e*13 wheel was 1,161g. The axle and shifter added weight, but my chain was shortened. In total, I added 296g to my bike (more weight would have been saved if I was converting a 2x system).
The shifting performance of the hub itself is second to none; it’s incredibly quick and ignores how much power you’re putting through the cranks and how fast you’re riding. The shift is effortless and almost silent, save for the freehub clunking to keep up. If anything, it might be too quick, given the instant change in cadence. The reduction gear really does feel as efficient as Classified claims. I occasionally didn’t realise I was in that gear, so silky is the feeling. If you’ve been put off planetary gears by the likes of the Shimano Alfine, this is a completely different beast. Claims of 10,000 shifts per charge are perhaps a little optimistic, but I only charged the axle twice in six months. Also, the hub’s mechanism is fully sealed and thus, other than wheel bearings, there’s no servicing needed. I’d like a slightly more ‘clicky’ click from the satellite shifter, and occasionally it would take a few clicks of the button before the system woke up at the start of a ride, but these are minor niggles.
It’s fair to say that Classified’s cassette doesn’t have quite the same smooth shift of the SRAM cassette I removed, especially when you’re exerting efforts. The feeling through the cranks as the chain moves from one sprocket to another is not as fluid. However, the shifting is still relatively smooth and quiet, compared to budget drivetrains, and those from a few years ago. Add in some gravelly dirt, and I don’t think you can really criticise Classified for the shift performance. Cost aside, the Powershift hub is an exceptional piece of bicycle engineering, reliably replacing a front derailleur with seamless shifting under any power and in all conditions.
Tom Marvin
“Cost aside, the Powershift hub is an exceptional piece of bicycle engineering”