Powershift Hub

Brand: Classified

The Powershift Hub is a wireless, electronically actuated two-speed gearbox built into the rear hub of a bicycle. Developed by Belgian company Classified and first shown in 2019, it is engineered as a replacement for the front derailleur: instead of a second chainring shifted by a front mech, a sealed planetary gearset inside the hub shell toggles between a 1:1 direct drive and a 0.686 underdrive reduction. This gives a clean 1x drivetrain the effective gear range of a 2x setup while keeping a single chainring and a straight, efficient chainline. The two internal ratios are spaced roughly 46 percent apart (1 divided by 0.686 equals about 1.458), and combined with a wide-range cassette the system can reach up to a 530 percent total range. Shifting is fully wireless: a handlebar transmitter signals a receiver integrated into Classified's own Smart thru-axle, and the hub changes gear in about 150 milliseconds. Uniquely among internally geared systems, it shifts instantly under full load, at power outputs beyond 1000 watts, so the rider can change ratio mid-sprint or while climbing out of the saddle without backing off pedal pressure. It works with any standard 1x cassette and rear derailleur and mounts to a thru-axle frame. TYPE CLASSIFICATION NOTE: this component is catalogued as an internal-gear-hub because, mechanically, it is a sealed planetary gearbox integrated inside the rear hub shell that provides discrete internal gear ratios - the defining characteristic of an internal gear hub. This classification is used even though Classified markets Powershift not as a full internal-gear hub replacing the whole drivetrain, but specifically as a front-derailleur replacement that works alongside an external cassette and rear derailleur. No component type in the catalogue matches that hybrid role more closely than internal-gear-hub, so it is placed here with this reasoning made explicit.