First Impressions: Vistar // Powershift Wireless Group

Introducing Vistar // Powershift

TRP and Classified teamed up to launch a wireless group named Vistar // Powershift. The new group moves the industry a step further away from the front derailleur and a step toward a viable 1x group for almost all drop bar riding contexts.

I have a drawer full of old front derailleurs. Most of them came off cyclocross and mountain bikes that were converted to 1x for my family and me. I joke that they make great ornaments for the Christmas tree. That said, I am not a complete 1x convert across all my bikes. I still prefer 2x on my gravel bike because I find the gear jumps on 1x gravel setups to be too great—always in search of that in between gear you don’t have. All my road racing bikes are 2x because I live and race in areas of the country where I often need to climb short, steep river valleys.

The Vistar // Powershift group is well positioned to nuance that hard distinction between preferring 1x where you can get away with it and needing 2x in some riding circumstances. The internal gearing in the Classified hub reduces the single ring by a factor of .7. For the Vistar // Powershift group I am reviewing here, the single 52T ring is effectively a 52/36. I paired it with Classified’s 11-30 12-speed cassette, which matches most of my other road bikes.