Originally Posted by
Melvang
I don't personally see this as the end of the front mech. There are some notable disadvantages to the 2 alternatives. For typical 1x system, you need ever thinner chain, more finicky rear mech adjustment, and much larger jumps between gears for even close to the same range. Adding a set of hub gears decreases efficiency, increases complexity, hub cost, while gaining really not a lot in the process.
I don’t think this is an accurate assessment.
First, 1x does not require an “ever thinner chain.” Chain width is determined by the cassette spacing, and so the fact is that since Classified are using 11spd, the chain is actually wider than 2x12 chains as well as Campagnolo’s 1x13 chain.
Next, 1x rear mech adjustment is less finicky because the chainline extremes are eliminated, so there’s less fine adjustment required.
With regards to gear range and cog jumps, while a 50/34 x 11-32 11spd offers a 428% range, Ekar 1x13 offers a very close 400% on their tightest 9-36 cassette which has a more sequential or 1-tooth gear gaps than Ultegra 11-32. Even Ekar’s midrange 9-42 cassette offers more sequential gears than Ultegra 11-32, a whopping 7 sequential to Ultegra’s 4 sequential gears.
With regards to Classified’s advantages, I don’t know what your basis is to assert hub gears are less efficient since they claim their hub gear efficiency is actually greater than a 2x system, with the lower 0.7 gear ratio being 99.x% efficient— in the 1:1 ratio it’s the same as a regular hub— but also because you can use a larger, more efficient chainring all the time rather than needing to drop to a smaller, less efficient chainring, so mechanical efficiency is always optimized.
Yes, there’s more system complexity and cost, but it offers better performance and simplified mechanical maintenance; it shifts faster, more reliably, and in more conditions than a front mech, and removes all adjustment associated with a front mech, including cable, housing, horizontal angle, vertical height, and cage movement limit adjustments. It does not require a mech mount or clamp, no mounting bolt, no allen keys or screwdrivers for adjustment.
Yeah, you’ve got to charge it, but I think in the same way that automotive service shops today need electronic tools they didn’t need 40 years ago, that kind of complex tech innovation which has made cars more reliable and easier to live with can do the same thing for bicycles with systems like Classified PowerShift. Disc brakes are another example of that, providing better braking, simplified adjustment, and lower maintenance compared to cantilever brakes of the ‘80s, while simultaneously affording more options in tire size, aeodynamics and wheel design.