What the heck is going on at Classified?

It’s great that the two-speed hub transmission is now directly compatible with Shimano, but what about TRP?

There are two gear ratios living inside this thing.

Belgian brand Classified created quite a splash when it introduced its clever Powershift two-speed hub transmission to the world in 2020. Many were immediately enamored with the technology as it essentially offered the gearing flexibility of a traditional front derailleur, but in a faster-shifting and more reliable form factor that lived entirely inside a special rear hub.

As neat as the idea was, the lack of integration with existing brake-shift levers was viewed as a major impediment to adoption. However, that changed last year when Classified and TRP announced a co-developed wireless electronic groupset called Vistar // Powershift, which combined Classified’s hub transmission with an entirely new traditional rear derailleur, integrated brake-shift levers, crankset, and brake calipers that TRP had developed specifically for the purpose.

After a bit of delay, Vistar finally became available for sale a few weeks ago.

There’s an awful lot of work involved in developing a drivetrain – and TRP doesn’t exactly seem to be getting what it bargained for.

So far, the groupset seems to have been pretty well received (and I’ll have my complete review up sooner than later). The levers feel impressively refined, rear shifts are quick and crisp, the carbon crankset is lightweight and befitting to the groupset’s premium ambitions, and brake performance is very good, too (which I’d hope it’d be given TRP’s long history in hydraulic disc brakes). Vistar’s QuantumShift mode has been particularly intriguing, taking advantage of the nearly-instant “front” shifting to effectively offer a sequentially shifting transmission with either 15 or 16 distinct and relatively evenly stepped gear ratios, depending on the configuration.

With the recent announcement that people can actually now buy the stuff, you’d think the goal would be to plant a seed that would eventually grow to a reasonable portion of the market from which both TRP and Classified would benefit.

Or maybe not.

Classified just announced a surprising new collaboration with Shimano that allows its Powershift hub transmission to directly pair with both current-generation and 11-speed Shimano Di2 levers (the latter requires a Shimano D-Fly wireless module). The Shimano Di2 and Classified Powershift combo unfortunately doesn’t get the virtual sequential-shift function that TRP’s QuantumShift mode offers, and it requires both the Classified app and Shimano’s e-tube app to play nicely together. But this is nevertheless fantastic news for Classified fans, and a development that surely many of them have been eagerly awaiting for years. It’s not only another option, but one of the biggest ones at that.

Given what was undoubtedly a lot of time, effort, and money invested into getting Vistar off the ground – not to mention the fact the groupset only just recently became available to buy – this announcement seems more than a little confusing. Even if Classified had never planned to abandon its ambitions for broader compatibility with other brands, I’d have figured that there would be some sort of exclusive for maybe a couple of years, but that clearly isn’t the case.

In other words, doesn’t this new collaboration with Shimano undermine TRP’s efforts to some degree?

That depends on who you ask.

Not surprisingly, TRP doesn’t seem super excited about this latest development.

“TRP and Classified are independent companies, and ultimately, each must make decisions that best support their own long-term success,” Lance Larrabee, TRP USA’s managing director told me. "While we remain confident in the performance advantages developed through our collaboration on the Vistar // Powershift groupset, we respect Classified’s decision to explore compatibility with other shifting systems.”

Reading between the lines, that sounds… diplomatic.

Classified, on the other hand, isn’t holding back in powering full steam ahead toward its own aspirations of global domination – which we perhaps should have expected given how much investment has been poured into the company since its inception, not to mention some of the very prominent names associated with it, like Tom Boonen, Anna Van der Breggen, Andre Greipel, and Marcel Kittel. And those ambitions may be so big that Classified isn’t too concerned about stepping on a few toes along the way.

“It's a very good point you raise, but ultimately from Classified's side it's about providing more choice to the rider for a unified system,” said Tom Copeland from Classified’s PR agent, PaceUp. “The rider can now choose between two options depending on their preference using TRP or Di2 with Classified.”

Fair enough, and it’s clear that Classified benefits greatly from this latest partnership. Its users get to enjoy a far more integrated and refined overall experience than the somewhat tacked-on feel it once had, and it also gets to offer that to its customers without having to develop its own complete groupset.

But what does Shimano get out of this deal? That’s not so clear to me. The company’s front shifting has long been the best in the business so there shouldn’t be a ton of motivation to seek an alternative technology, and Shimano doesn’t exactly have a long track record of spearheading technical partnerships with competing brands.

Is this perhaps something its sponsored teams requested? Is it a tacit admission that a Classified-based drivetrain somehow has more performance to offer than what Shimano is able to do on its own? Or looking at it more cynically, is it possibly some kind of defensive move to scuttle TRP’s nascent ambitions of becoming a bigger player in the drop-bar market?

Regardless of the answer, this doesn’t seem to be the end goal for Classified, though what exactly that is I’m not entirely sure. Even with the TRP collaboration, I wouldn’t entirely rule out the company developing its own groupset at some point, but an easier target in the shorter term would be bringing SRAM into the fold as well – maybe even Campagnolo, too.

Is SRAM next? Given its steady progression toward ditching traditional front derailleurs, SRAM and Classified getting together makes even more sense than pairing with Shimano.

When I asked Classified about that, the company certainly didn’t say it was off the table.

“The goal is to be open for collaboration with everyone, and this year Classified has reached two major milestones with two different partners and product configurations,” Copeland said. “Regarding further compatibility and SRAM, Classified will remain open to integrations moving forward.”

Interesting times.

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