'In the beginning, there was a lot of hype' – Classified is developing new multi-speed hubs and gearboxes as it builds for the future

"The first jolt of energy was brought into the company by SRAM, killing the front derailleur, championing 1x drivetrains. We said, ‘Why do we need just 12 speeds when you could have 15 or 16 with our system?'" Classified Cycling's co-founder and CEO, Mathias Plouvier, told Cyclingnews about the beginnings of his brand, and how the motivation to create its two-speed hub gear system came about.

Classified has established itself effectively. It’s an independent brand with a product that is familiar to many cyclists now. While the roots of the company stretch back to 2005, the company was officially founded in 2019 by Plouvier and Dr Roëll van Drutenen. Several members of staff, including Plouvier, are also ex automotive powertrain specialists who worked for Punch Powertrain in Belgium, and who switched to the cycling industry.

The group's vision is essentially to have "Bicycle drivetrains benefitting from automotive principles; shifting under full load; efficient, compact and very light." This is the philosophy behind the Classified hub gear system.

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At its core, the Classified system centres around a two-speed internal hub gear that does away with the need for a double chainset, front derailleur and any associated cabling. The hub gear ratios provide a wider range of gearing than a regular double chainset, along with a rear cassette. The system improves aerodynamics, shifts instantly under loads of up to 1500 watts, and overall results in a small but clear efficiency saving. Hit that rear hub shift button, and it's light-years faster than a front mech; it's guaranteed to make cyclists stop and take note.

Classified has achieved a lot since it launched its system and first products in spring 2021. It's said that the cream rises to the top, and perhaps this is one way to summarise the brilliance of the Classified system and go some way to explaining the progress the company has already made.

The Classified Powershift system can be fitted to most road, gravel and MTB bikes now. The brand has various bike and wheel partners, as the hub needs to be built into a wheel, and the components installed on a bike. There has been use by several pro teams, and the brand launched its TRP / Classified Vistar groupset this year, as well as adding Shimano Di2 groupset integration, which really feels like a win.

But is it enough? On a recent visit and tour of the company's HQ in Antwerp, Belgium, it was fascinating to get a close-up look at the very clever technology and engineering that goes into the system, but the company's roadmap and plans for the future got me thinking.

It seems essential from a business perspective that the brand's equipment needs to be available on bikes off the shelf and as part of wheelsets from the get-go, rather than hoping potential customers will choose to retrofit it to their bikes post-purchase.

So, where does Classified go from here, and how does it scale its business? Plouvier is planning for the long term, and despite the hype surrounding the product in the last few years, he insists the company is ready for "a marathon, not a sprint."

Things seem to have moved quickly for Classified. Perhaps in particular thanks to investment from cycling royalty in the form of Tom Boonen and later Philippe Gilbert, amongst other famous ex-riders. This attracted a lot of media attention in the brand's native Belgium and elsewhere. Classified told me Boonen borrowed a bike equipped with the system for two weeks and was sold, saying he would have won more races had he had it during his career.

Cyclingnews' review team tested an early Classified Powershift CF system in the first half of 2022 and were quickly impressed, and word spread about the 'front derailleur killer' system, which fitted into today's world of optimisation and marginal gains perfectly. It eliminated the need for a front derailleur, as well as solving cross-chaining inefficiencies, and the risk of an inopportune front shift causing problems, a bugbear of road and racing cyclists for decades.

Victor Campenaerts' 1x 68-tooth Ridley / Classified equipped classics bike then caused a big stir in early 2023, and things moved forward again in 2024 when teams like Ineos Grenadiers used Classified hub-equipped disc wheels to great effect at the Tour de France and in a specific Giro d'Italia time trial, where a maiden WorldTour win for the system looked to be on the cards thanks to Filippo Ganna, until a certain Slovenian broke hearts - surprise, surprise.

Most recently, the brand has achieved a big milestone by introducing Shimano Di2 groupset integration with its system, an achievement that should not be underestimated. This means that a Shimano Di2 gear shifter can be used to operate the Powershift hub, eliminating the need for an additional Classified shift button on the handlebars, cleaning things up and boosting integration.

It’s interesting to stop and consider what Classified has achieved up to now. In several years, the brand has launched a solid product, developed it, and seen it adopted by non-sponsored WorldTour teams. It has also skillfully manoeuvred itself into a space dominated by some of the sport's biggest brands as aftermarket componentry, and it seems from the outside that they have done so by making friends, not enemies.

At face value, Classified could represent a rival drivetrain manufacturer potentially encroaching on Shimano’s space. Instead of creating friction - something Classified attempts to minimise on various fronts - the brand partnered up with Shimano to give users seamless Di2 integration with their Classified equipment, but it also sends a message to the wider industry, which is part of the brand's longer-term plans.

You would think WorldTour teams adopting the equipment would be an automatic win, but due to existing sponsorship or supplier agreements, the fact that teams were using technically non-sponsor correct Classified systems couldn't be shared particularly clearly.

Ineos Grenadiers' use of Classified equipment couldn’t really be advertised; this is often the case with some special components, but if you're the brand whose product can’t be spoken about, it’s probably frustrating. The team, I’m told, also just purchased the equipment and tested it, without the brand's prior knowledge.

There's a little more wiggle room when it comes to time trials, but road team sponsorship requirements require exclusivity. It seems adding in at the very least another brand's hubs and cassettes doesn't really fly. Potentially putting a limiter on any major progress in the pro and WorldTour road scene. Don't expect to see every pro with a 1X Classified system anytime soon, even if the benefits are fairly clear.

Therein lies the rub in the pro world; the Classified system potentially causes a sponsorship issue. Brands probably don't want to see several of their components switched out in favour of another brand.

There are barriers in the pro road world, and the equipment used by professional teams does help sales. However, Classified recognises the value that comes from a partnership with a brand as big as Shimano and the validation that comes from one of the world's biggest teams using its componentry in races that really matter.

"I don't want to sound disrespectful to Shimano, and we are very happy with what is happening and with OEM (original equipment manufacturer) adoption, but we need to look at it from the marathon perspective. It's about gaining trust time after time, deepening relationships and and showing that we remain here to stay."

Team sponsorships come and go, as does the hype around the kit a certain team is using. Pro team use serves a purpose, and Classified wants to embed itself firmly amongst the cycling world's OEM (original equipment manufacturer) suppliers as part of its long-term plans, something that aligns with the founders' automotive backgrounds.

An OEM manufacturer produces components or parts that are used in a brand's final product. In cycling, that means brands speccing Classified components from their bikes from the off.

"I think the usage by Ineos shows that the technology is validated. I think this is a very important validation from the industry. It's the usage by WorldTour teams and individual athletes, with serious results, but we have a partnership with Shimano now; we are both drivetrain companies.

"That for us is oxygen to keep on running the marathon, showing that we are getting the support. We are on the right track. We are getting validation. This has been noticed by OEMs."

The Classified road map

The aftermarket part of the Classified business model is the most difficult for them. Getting customers to switch to a Classified system is the hardest thing to accomplish, and the brand acknowledges there's a certain reluctance to buy anything not from Shimano or SRAM. There's also some technical chat around the system's mechanics that may be difficult to convey on the bike shop floor as an aftermarket buy.

Bikes and wheelsets fitted with Classified systems from the factory are the brand's focus. To date, it has 600 retail points, 45 partner brands, and 25 distributors. Some big players like Ridley and DT Swiss spec Classified, and it's these OEM relationships that can reduce overall prices for customers and add value. In short, more and more bikes should be available to buy equipped with the system.

However, the scope of Classified's plans range beyond its current system and distributor network. The brand explained that it is working on multi-speed hubs, integrated gearboxes and motors for the future, with the view of establishing itself as a key OEM provider in the e-bike market, amongst others.

This is what the company is working on, and Plouvier explains that the brand is looking far beyond the initial 'front derailleur killer' hype that the Classified system garnered in the first few years.

"In the beginning, there was a lot of hype around Classified. But we actually want to build a very long, lasting, serious company out of serious transmissions, proper developments, and very good relationships with the industry and the OEMs.

"It's step by step, and it is a marathon. It is not a sprint. We are building upon the foundations, from a tech product development and user experience that we have with the first product, and are evolving more and more, but OEM is a core focus of the company."

Bike sales cycles need to be factored into this goal. Brands can't just start specifying Classified components at the drop of a hat. Classified is aligning its company roadmap with other brands and OEM suppliers so that when its new components are ready, brands will be fully in the picture and ready to start working together.

New Classified products are coming, though the brand is staying tight-lipped for now on specifics; more news should come in the next several months. However, with its focus being the OEM market, groundwork needs to be done to help ensure those components are specified, thus guaranteeing the company's continued success.

"Generally, it's three, four years for a product platform cycle. So we need to take that into account if we want to be on the bike, if you want to be specified. So for a new Classified product, to be available on such a bike, we need to make sure that we have those conversations early, and that we involve the OEM as much as possible in the specification process, testing, development, validation."

Classified isn't going anywhere, and the brand seems determined to transition from the 1X pro bike headlines into a larger provider of quality drivetrain components by forming relationships and doing things the right way. Which seems perfectly in keeping with the original philosophy and automotive industry structure, something certain areas of the bike industry could maybe benefit from.

"In reality, it's a long haul. If you want to earn a seat at the table with the OEMs", says Plouvier. "They're very long-standing. It takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of trust, it takes a lot of work. So we acknowledge and realise that it is a marathon. So the stamina everybody needs to have is entrenched in the culture of the company. We are not here for a short-term, quick win."

Finally, I ask the man whose company has been credited at least with the tagline of killing the front derailleur over the last few years and is possibly ahead of its time, whether the front derailleur's days are truly numbered. 1X usage is becoming more common on road bikes, though, of course, it's dictated by terrain right now. Is the clock ticking for the front derailleur?

"It has been a great piece of technology, but, yeah, it feels very old-fashioned. I feel it has an expiry tag on it. I'm not the person to say what that expiry date is, but I feel it has one."

Bikes have changed so much in the last few decades. Classified has ambitious plans for the future and could be one of the brands that help usher in the next new era of bike technology.